Month: July 2012

Clean Air Alternatives to Aerosol Spray

Clean Air Alternatives to Aerosol Spray

by Cherise Udell

This is probably not a surprise to you if you have ever used an aerosol spray  can, but these little stinkers are often dangerously toxic to you and the  environment. All you have to do is read the warning label to realize you just  may have a time-bomb in your hand. We all know that if allowed to heat-up, that  pressurized aerosol can actually become a real bomb and explode. But did you  also know that the fine vapor mist, along with the inevitable chemical cocktail  of some aerosol products, has been linked to cancer, brain damage and even death  for the user? Furthermore, aerosols are at the root of some big environmental problems  such as air pollution and global warming.

Next to injections, breathing fine vapor mist is the fastest way to absorb a  chemical into your body. For someone having a massive asthma attack, medicinal  delivery through a fine mist is a godsend. For children getting their annual flu  shot, the new flu mist, in lieu of a needle, is also something to be celebrated.  But for the rest of us just trying to get ready for the day, clean our homes or  finish a project, the user-friendly aerosol can often requires a deal with the  devil. Just as asthma medication is quickly inhaled via aerosol spraying, so are  the hundreds of questionable chemicals that come in other types of aerosol  cans.

Fortunately, there are numerous alternatives to that highly flammable, often  highly polluting, potentially cancer-causing aerosol can.

Sunscreen

The spray-on sunscreen is mighty tempting; who likes the  greasy feeling of hand-applying suntan lotion? I know I don’t and neither do my  kids. But it is very likely your lungs or your children’s lungs like the fine  particle spray laced with numerous dubious chemicals even less. Furthermore, why  trade the possibility of skin cancer from the sun for the possibility of another  type of cancer somewhere inside your body? Do your body and the air a favor and  return to the hand-applied sunscreens — or find a “stick” alternative such as  California Baby.

Odor Removal

We all enjoy a fresh-smelling home, car and office. Yet diaper pails, pet  odors, and food odors are notoriously difficult to dispel….unless you know about  vinegar.  Vinegar has an extraordinary capacity to wipe-out even the  strongest, most persistent odors. All you need to do is mix water with white vinegar (I like 2/3 vinegar and 1/3 water) in a spray  bottle and mist as you would with an air freshener. You will smell the strong  scent of vinegar for about five minutes, but then it dissipates, taking along  the offensive order with it! I spray trash bins, shoes, pet areas, the kitchen,  my car and laundry room with vinegar on a regular basis and without the guilt  and risk of using toxic aerosols. Another plus to vinegar — it is very  inexpensive, especially if you buy the big jugs at Costco.

If just removing the stinky smells is not enough and you want some lovely  scents to escort you through your day, try pure essential oils. You can apply the scent of your choice in a  number of ways: a) just sprinkle a few drops on your carpet, bed linens or wood  floors; b) mix a few drops of the essential oil in a spray bottle filled with  water and spray; c) use a water-based diffuser or d) use a candle diffuser. Try  lemon, lavender, rose and/or cinnamon for some fresh clean scents. Personally, I  love Do Terra essential oils for their purity and high medicinal grade – and  thus recommend these highly.

Clothing Starch

Some people love their clothes starched to keep them extra  crisp and fresh. If you are one of these well-dressed individuals, try ditching  the aerosol spray and use a mixture of cornstarch and water in a spray bottle  instead. Mix one tablespoon of cornstarch for each pint of water. Test the blend  on a dish towel and add more cornstarch if needed (a 1/2 teaspoon or less at a  time), to get the crispness you desire.

Furniture and Stainless Steel Polish

Try olive oil or any cooking oil as a wood furniture polish. Olive oil also  works well with stainless steel. If you prefer a scented polish, again, just add  a few drops of a pure essential oil such as lavender or lemon. Be sure to use a  little elbow grease to polish the oil to create a nice sheen and remove any oily  residue left behind.

Hair Spray

Farrah Fawcett probably could not have managed her signature hairdo if it  weren’t for aerosol hair spray, but fortunately having two shellacked wings of  hair framing your face is no longer in style. That is not to say that some of us  still don’t rely on a little help with our locks. If you need hairspray, ditch  the aerosol can and choose a pump hair spray instead. Early forms of aerosol  hairspray contained vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen, as well as, CFCs which  were very effective at eating the ozone in our atmosphere, and therefore a big  culprit in global warming. Fortunately, both CFCs and vinyl chloride were banned  in hairspray products in the 1970s. However, according to a PBS website, even  without the vinyl chloride, it is not known whether the ingredients currently  used in hairspray are safe for human use.

Food Can Nourish the Spirit

Food Can Nourish the Spirit

by Sarah Cooke

Today, a friend and I had a conversation about the role that relationships  can play in our enjoyment of food. For example, when I prepare dishes using my  mother’s recipes, the flavor is the same but the experience is often less  fulfilling than enjoying a meal she has prepared for me. Similarly, when I  prepare a meal for my fiancé and myself, I often enjoy the dish more than I do  when I am the only one eating.

It is not only the flavor of a dish or the quality of the ingredients that  contributes to our enjoyment. It is the energy surrounding the food – and the  consumption of it. When a meal is prepared and eaten with love,  it is generally more enjoyable.

Yes, this phenomenon can lead to emotional  eating when we try to recreate the positive memories and feelings associated  with particular foods. But it also has the potential to be quite beneficial.  When we enjoy food on the level of the spirit, we are often more likely to feel  more fulfilled, meaning we consume fewer empty calories than we do when we eat  processed foods, which are less fulfilling. When we eat processed food, we often  must eat more to feel fulfilled. In addition, when we learn to appreciate the  deep, emotional nourishment that food can offer us in a balanced way, we are  likely to choose high quality foods that can offer that kind of sustenance.

 

Help for Making New Habits Deepak Chopra

Help for Making New Habits

by Deepak Chopra

Every habit is a cooperative venture between body and mind. Generally  speaking, the mind leads the venture and body follows as a silent partner. It is  attention, or awareness, that touches the sleeping powers of the mind and makes  them vital again. The smallest shift of attention can change the world you  perceive and the body you live with.

Guidelines for new habits:

1. The habit should be  acquired effortlessly over a period of time.

2. It should be guided by  positive thoughts.

3. It should be consciously repeated, but always in a  good frame of mind, never forced in as the enemy of a bad habit.

Cultivated in this way, new habits condition the whole mind-body system to  create health and happiness automatically.

I am again reminded of those two sentences from Abraham Maslow about very  healthy, creative people: “What such a person wants and enjoys is apt to be just  what is good for him. His spontaneous reactions are as capable, efficient and  right as if they had been thought out in advance.” It sounds too good to be  true, but is just habit at work.

All that is needed is the awareness that the unconscious mind can be changed  in its routine, and then one simply changes it. People who have been unhappy all  their lives can become happy simply by realizing that the source of change is  inside themselves.

The unconscious can be refined and rechanneled through suggestions,  repetition, and above all, attention. Do not fret too much over “how it all  happens”—that is just an old mindset saying, “It won’t happen, it can’t.”

 

Astronomy Picture of the Day – Volcano and Aurora in Iceland

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

Volcano and Aurora in Iceland  

Image Credit & Copyright: Sigurdur H. Stefnisson

 

 Explanation: Sometimes both heaven and Earth erupt.   In  Iceland in 1991, the  volcano Hekla erupted at the same time that  auroras were visible overhead.   Hekla, one of the most  famous volcanoes in the world, has  erupted at least 20 times over the   past millennium,  sometimes causing  great destruction.   The last eruption occurred only twelve years ago but caused only minor  damage.   The green auroral band occurred fortuitously about 100 kilometers above the erupting  lava.   Is Earth the Solar System’s only planet with both auroras and volcanos?

Lighten Up – You Know You’re a Chaote When…

You Know You’re a Chaote When…

by Everfool

You Know You’re a Chaote When…

  1. You don’t think it’s a proper symbol unless you only just made it up a few seconds ago while doodling.
  2. Someone asks you if you believe life has a purpose, or whether it is meaningless, and you say “yes.”
  3. You always carry around lots of post-it notes and a pen in case you need to cast a sigil.
  4. People ask you how magic works, and you either A) don’t know and don’t care B) explain in torturous detail, later causing them to seek therapy.
  5. Someone asks you if you believe in the Christian God, and you say: A) “Only if there’s something in it for me” B) “What day of the week is it?” C) “Sorry, I rolled a 6 on the dice earlier, I’m a Wiccan today” D) “Okay, haven’t got any other plans for today”
  6. Missionaries find it easy to convert you to their religion, the only trouble is making sure you don’t convert to another religion as soon as you’re bored.
  7. Other magick workers compare rituals with you.  You think they’re too serious and stuffy, and they refuse to live in the same neighbourhood as you. You don’t see anything wrong with making up your own god, until it starts telling you what to do.
  8. While in trance, a being glowing with pure white light tells you the secrets to true happiness.  You smile and ignore it/laugh at it.
  9. People point out your beliefs are contradictory.  You blush.
  10. Your bookcase contains various holy texts that claim all the other texts are wrong.
  11. You don’t learn Latin in order to understand tomes of magic, you learn Quantum Physics.
  12. You still don’t understand the tomes after learning Quantum Physics, but at least you know lots of big words now.
  13. Your rituals involve the first objects you can spot lying around.
  14. You aspire to schizophrenia.  Your friends think you’ve already reached that state.
  15. Your banishment rituals are usually more fun than the rituals themselves.  You keep a copy of a “certain revisionist” book for whenever you need to banish with laughter.
  16. Even eclectic witches think you need to be more discerning.
  17. You buy one of those glittery spell books to see if you can make the spells work.  You read it and decide you would much rather write insulting letters to the author that will also give her the nasty cold you’ve been trying to get rid of for weeks.
  18. When Wiccans tell you the rede, you ask them to define “harm.”
  19. If someone you agree with turns out to be obnoxious, you immediately change your beliefs to the opposite of what they were.
    And finally…
  20. Shopping for presents becomes so much easier, as you decide to buy random things, mix them up randomly, and leave them lying around for the first person who finds them.

Today’s Tarot Card for July 10 is Justice

Justice

This Tarot Deck: Crow’s Magick

General Meaning: Traditionally, what has been known as the Justice card has to do with moral sensitivity and that which gives rise to empathy, compassion and a sense of fairness. Since the time of Solomon, this image has represented a standard for the humane and fair-minded treatment of other beings.

Often including the image of a fulcrum which helps to balance competing needs against the greater good, and a two-edged sword to symbolize the precision needed to make clear judgments, this card reminds us to be careful to attend to important details. It’s a mistake to overlook or minimize anything where this card is concerned. The law of Karma is represented here — what goes around comes around.

Daily Cosmic Calendar for July 10th

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Much of the cosmic intensity from Monday is still present. This is a good time in the cosmic calendar to remind you that solar and planetary alignments happening on a given day don’t just disappear 24 hours later. They remain percolating, but influential somewhat behind the scenes or under the new astro-psychic radar screen.  Therefore, knowing that yesterday was murky at best, there is some excitement going on early since Chiron forms a contra-parallel with Uranus (12:07AM PDT), the Moon in Aries makes a supportive, 60-degree link with Venus in Gemini (1:19AM PDT) while only three minutes later the Moon unites with Pallas (1:22AM PDT). The Chiron-Uranus tie is similar to a polarity in the zodiac – which, in this case, can represent breakthroughs in higher consciousness. The lunar ties with Venus and Pallas are very welcome – opening up romantic, creative and social doorways, as well as stimulating the problem-solving set of skills all of us humans have in varying degrees.  Adding to the party atmosphere is a highly constructive, 60-degree rapport from Venus to Pallas (3:50AM PDT) and a Moon-Mercury flowing trine (4:01AM PDT). Arts, crafts, hobbies, as well as card, board or word games can give you a boost.  There is a need to cut through obstacles on your mental and even spiritual path later on when the Last Quarter Sun-Moon Phase (activating 20 degrees of Cancer and Aries at 6:49PM PDT) manifests with a strong celestial presence. Quarter Moon cycles are often underestimated in terms of their influence, but they can be as intense as the New and Full Moons that happen every month.