When in Italy

Italy - ah - get a dictionary - find all the adjectives - positive and negative - line them all up beside each other like dominos - and that pretty much tells you how it was.
First week and the Eurogate workshop were challenging confronting and unbelievable. Lake Como and the surrounding villages were like a fairytale with sledgehammer beauty. I uttered many a Bellismo upon my arrival. How embarrassment to have such a limited vocabulary. he he he. The language barrier really posed a challenge as I simply couldn't communicate with anyone and that bothered me no end. I realise that that is my THING - I need to communicate comprehensively and I couldn't charm impress or amuse anyone in English. So it was SI - GRAZIE - and lots of smiling. The flashing of cleavage also helped much. :-)

I detoxed from Diet Coke - 19 days fog free - yeah!!! So my first few days in Como were migraine and nausea filled but it was worth it! Everything closes in Italy from midday until 4pm for the traditional midday gluttinous pig out. 2nd day - I ran out of panadol at 12.30pm and freaked out that I couldn't find a Farmaccia that was open. By 4pm I was in a bad state - I no longer attempted to be polite in Italian - the chemist took one look at me - Hair askew, eyes hanging down to my kneed and in unstylish dishevellment - I very slowly and firmly said MAL DE TESTA COMPRESSOH PER FAVORE getting louder with each word. He rambled something back in fast Italian and all I could do was grab his shirt and repeat myself dramatically. He grabbed a box of something and escorted me out the door. He he he!!! I mustve looked a fright. I took 3 pills and slept for 16 hours missing my first bit of the workshop. chemical haze.................yeah...........

Every person I met in Como was a significant actor in my particular illusion matrix - I met spiritual healers, practitioners, speakers, trainers, actors, alchemists, magicians, witches, artists and enlightened beings. What a parada!

The second week was in Tuscany in a tiny isolated village - could have been the Himalayas it was so high and so removed from reality. Vellano is one of the 10 Castelli and over 1600 years old. I was submerged in the culture traditions customs and of course the Pasqua Easter festivals. It was brilliant. I loved being part of the community and totally existed on the kindness of strangers. I felt alive aligned and in tune with nature. Most of the old nonnas practice pagan craft so that was enlightening I tell you!!! My villa was inhabited by the ghost of the previous owner - a villager that was killed by the nazis in 1945. He wasnt malevolent just interested in getting my attention. Only 500 people living in the village and over each entrance door hung the freemasons symbol. Very interesting stuff happening in that place.

Third week in Florence was jam packed. I know that city back to front now. It has become my home town. They speak a little English there so it was easier. By the time I left the village however My Italian was markedly improved. However its not the words. It's the mythology the attitude the culture and the philosophy with their communication. It would take a lifetime to really communicate in their level. My hotel room in Florence opened up to a terrace which faced the Duomo one street away. Florence oozes Art Beauty History Language Culture from every pore. I was in heaven. Took a Chianti Winery Tour with a small group of people. The tour guide I'm sure had alzeimhers and kept forgetting what she was describing. "Here is a 12th century - ah - er - um - oh look theres a deer - ah - er - um - one day I found some beautiful irises - ah - er - where are we again?" OMG - she got us lost in the middle of Tuscany for two hours. The driver was objecting and she just bullied him into taking some obscure dirt road up some gorgeous mountain arriving in some unknown ancient village. How funny! Missed my italian cooking class that night as it took forever just to get back on track again on the tour.

Only in Italy.

Tuscany was settled by the Etruscans who had Greek origins. Florence therefore embraced a Neo Platonic philosophy in the renaisance era. I realised that this is an ancient version of The Secret. Which by the way was talked about by every single person I met!!! In the Uffizzi, I saw many signs and symbols used in the art which was masonic, kabbalistic and even illuminati!!! In the 18th century every single artist, author, scientist and enterpreneur in the western world hung out in Florence. The energy there is incredible - like living The Secret every second. It seeps from every pore in that city and in the people's attitude to life. Florentines expect beauty and wealth and dont accept anything outside of this illusion.

Challenges - I really felt homesick and missed the company and closeness of my children. Not being able to communicate and speak was a great challenge for me! I didnt realise just how much I love to talk. However I got to know myself very well, did heaps of writing and really enjoyed my own company. Yet wherever I went the Italians made such a big deal of a woman eating alone in a ristorante. That was uncomfortable. "Una?" and quickly remove the other cutlery with dramatic effect - ugh - I ate in this magical little café in front of Palazzo Vecchio - near the statue of David - and this waiter just continued with "Ah that's right its just you" "No shes alone" "Only one here" the entire meal. No tip from me. Couldve slapped him! :-) Met heaps of people though, many girls travelling alone yet no guys travelling alone. In fact had only two conversations with 2 guys the entire trip. Really learned so very much, had quite a number of mystical experiences (I actually went to church on Easter Sunday), was invited to speak at heaps of seminars coming up (Italy and Ireland) and really had a wonderful time.

Not one awful thing happened. Not one. The energy was balanced the entire time. One old nonna is the Vellano village declared that I must be protected by invisible angels as I had nothing but good fortune every moment.

Was it the magic of Italy or my magical belief about being in Italy?

Swimming between the flags of Intuition and Logic

I believe in the duality of life expressed in the form of a paradox, based on whatever belief system I currently subscribe to. My current paradox is to swim between the flags of logic and intuition.

Or is it?

Logic, from the classical Greek λόγος LOGOS (the word), is the study of patterns found in reasoning. Of course, it HAD to be Greek. Seems there is no escape for me from that culture! It has been argued that the task of the logician is to create a system for distinguishing between valid and misleading supposition. Logic is the adjudicator between rational and flawed arguments. (Why I was born into my family perhaps he he he....:-)

Traditionally, logic was studied as a branch of philosophy. In a proper scientific form, logic classifies the structure of statements and arguments, both through the study of formal systems of inference and through the study of arguments in natural language. Logic is a rather large and fluffy quilt fashioned with precisely woven squares covering myth, paradox, analysis, reason, probability and causality.

The concept of form is central to any discussions of the nature of logic. Formal, Informal, Platonic or Aristotelian terms – my logic is based on experience, perceptions and belief systems and ultimately can be analysed and expressed in the terms of some questionable Greek philosopher. Hmmm.

My external life casts shadows from those who suggest I am dangerously addicted to all things logical.

In contrast, however, Intuition is a gift I was born with and provides the balance to my structured, systematic logical nature. Intuition is a way of understanding and knowing immediately without any usual sensory or mental process. It is almost as if there is access to a universal energy through various senses. Some philosophers refer to intuition as a form of instinct. Others see it as a form of revelation. It could be an evolved consciousness providing the difference between description and acquaintance of logos. Is there a difference between psychic, insightful and intuitive?

Questions lead to answers that in turn lead to more questions.

The up shot is that I cannot provide a universal classification for the word INTUITION.

However I can describe what it means for me.

One form is attached to a specific place and can be repeated with subsequent visits.
From my earliest memories, I have encountered various energy grids throughout the world, where I can quite literally feel the universe flowing through me - a connection of sorts. The earth, river, sea, sand, air, stars, moon and especially trees all become part of the molecules that make up the frequency of ME and a dialogue is opened up between all of us.

Directly under the large fig tree that sleeps beside The Rocks and the Sydney Harbour, seated inside the Glastonbury Tor at the very base, the great fir trees that line the first wooden bridge you cross from the Switzerland border right before Lake Lugano in Italy, the lurching old swearing tree that held court at the rear of the family farm in Cooran where we as children and our children thereafter cursed sworn enemies, the Glasshouse mountains where my dad lives, the rolling hills of Bangalow where my grandmother grew up, standing high on the slopes of Bali's Mount Agung in the mother temple Pura Besakih, the tallest ancient red wood in the centre of the Muir Woods tourist trail, and two seemingly insignificant pine trees in Upper Mount Gravatt where we used to take evening walks – these are the places where the atoms in my body alter and shift and resonate in harmony with everything around me. As silly as it may sound, it feels like magic.

In these places and in this state, I have received information and inspirations in various forms and in diverse subjects. This is emptied onto endless pages of words awaiting form and order for eventual publication or simple eradication. Most of the time, however, this process is incomprehensible and I breathe it out into freedom.

The second form of Intuitive experience for me is the collection of items in my basket.

People in my life, permanent or fleeting, unknowingly send out transmissions of thought and feelings that for some reason I receive. Usually these feelings and thoughts are unwanted, rejected, unaccepted and more often than not, unconscious by the people who send the transmission. I hear and feel words and emotions – secrets and dreams, fears and plans. Occasionally my body will have a physical reaction in temperature, nausea or headache depending on the transmission. I therefore am careful to mentally collect each frequency of thought or feeling as a delicate white daisy with perfect blue centres to be carried in my basket until they can be loved, appreciated and released into an energy grid and eventual freedom.

I began collecting these flowers as a small child first from my mother. Over the years I have collected thousands. There is a definite pattern – a process that defines the intensity of the intuitive collections. Touching – making physical connection with one for whom I feel an enormous love, opens me up to a deeper tuning and I tend to carry and hold onto their daisies for a very long time. Everyone else’s flowers are released quickly into the universe when I am connected to everything and it all flows together.

At a certain point in my life I forgot which daisies were mine and which ones belonged to others and I have begun to declutter my basket and release the flowers that do not belong to me. The most stubborn flowers to release have been the ones I carried for my first love, my mother, and my last.

So for me, living with intuition is a privilege – a choice made with love, where trees talk to me, the earth groans under my feet and I have a direct connection to the thoughts and feelings of the people around me.

And now I can see that there is a certain logic to it all. :-)

Feel Good

Our weather is a little silly right now. Summer will hold on and humidity will hang in the air thick and low until rain finally gives in and decides to come and share its love and bring that vital water into our environment as promised. :-) (brown nosing potential rain - a new low I have sunk to)

All of this impacts on our wellbeing which means that our circulatory systems will be working overtime and totally out of alignment. More energy will be required to address the unbalance - hence your tiredness.

There are many nasty little lergies scurrying around us as we speak.All you need to fight any lergy is a strong immune system.However as we live here and now with all the 21st century pros and cons, the reality is that our immune systems are not working to their optimum levels.

First place to start to is feel good about yourself. Pamper yourself a little:

1. Long Bath - add some sandalwood and basil oils.Once you HAVE the lergy - boil 6 oranges and 2 ginger stalks (sliced and diced)add a very hot bath. Let yourself sweat and sting for 20 minutes.

2. Get a massage - head, whole body, feet, and hands - use geranium, ylang ylang, jasmine and bergamot oils

3. Pressure Points - 3 inches down from your knee cap - find the sore spot and massage and rub yourself every 30 minutes. Find the sore spot in between your thumb and pointer and massage and rub every other 30 minutes

4. If you have a lingering headache, relieve it by getting 2 buckets of boiling hot water, add 6 drops of lavender oils into each and place one foot into each bucket for 30 minutes or until you have to run to the toilet.

5. Drink herbal teas - peppermint, ginger, chamomile or plain hot water 6 times a day

6. Drink 4 litres of water each day.

7. Begin your day with fresh juice - carrot, ginger, apple, beetroot, pineapple, celery

8. Avoid caffeine, sugar, wheat and dairy

9. East Plenty of Fruit, Soup, Salad, Rice, Curry and Stir Fry

10. Take Echinacea or Olive Leaf Extract - 4 tablets every 4 hours

11. Drink one tablespoon of Swedish Bitters every 4 hours

12. Try to avoid panadol and antibiotics and cold tablets as they reduce the efficiency of your immune system by attacking your liver to take the bodies attention away from the congested bits. Distraction isn't a positive long term remedy for health.

13. Take Valerian if you really need to address pain.

14. MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL: Get some loving - hugs, caresses, kisses (Oh OK not if you are in full lergy swing) and tons of sex.

Feeling loved, wanted and believed in cures EVERYTHING