The Art Of Ritual

Rituals

 

Rituals have played an important role for centuries.

Namely religious and spiritual based the act of performing rituals is something that we as humans have been doing since the beginning of time.

( I am sure I was there, but I just don't remember the details at the moment )

Our rituals become our habits. But in place of habits, rituals are moments we create to create our moments of prayer, gratitude and manifestation.

Rituals can also play a huge role in grounding ourselves into our day, at the end of a day and at the beginning of a coming together.

Rituals also play a role in creating a sense of safety and protection and a way to quell nerves before an event. Like going to a job interview, entering your house at the end of the day after a long day away, before a competitive event or when your child comes home from school.

In the late 1940s, anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski lived among the inhabitants of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. When residents went fishing in the turbulent, shark-infested waters beyond the coral reef, they performed specific rituals to invoke magical powers for their safety and protection. When they fished in the calm waters of a lagoon, they treated the fishing trip as an ordinary event and did not perform any rituals. Malinowski suggested that people are more likely to turn to rituals when they face situations where the outcome is important and uncertain and beyond their control – as when sharks are present.

My rituals are a long way from shark infested waters.

But my favourite ones do include water.

On rising in the morning I religiously drink warm water with the juice of a lemon and a decent splash of cayenne pepper, to waken up my sleepy digestion.

I then do a combination of dry skin brushing, face washing with aloe vera and egg white and I say hello to my beautiful self.

In fact before I even get our of bed I smile to myself and whisper “Thank you Thank You Thank You” in immense gratitude to spirit as I hear the sounds of the jungle waking up around me.

After my self care I like to do some yoga and a few of the 5 Tibetans.

One ritual that my son and I make sure we do every morning is our Morning hug.

This entails us laying down on the bed or on huge cushions as we laugh, tickle and re tell our dreams from the night before.

This is one of my favourite ways to connect with my son.

After all of this my all time rock on ritual is self pleasure .

 

And to self pleasure by the river on a rock in the jungle is the best way for me.

I go down to the water hole on the property with my coconut oil and a rug and find my favourite rock to lie on.

And I walk through the jungle bare footed.

Skin on the earth is the surest way to connect to your

Wild Womban.

 

What ever it is that I am wanting to call in I think about and imagine having it in my life now.

With Morpho butterflies and hummingbirds flying all around I bring myself to delicious orgasm shooting my energy up to the universal cup of dreams and manifestations.

After this with the hugest smile on my face and warm fuzzies running through my belly I swim and exercise under the water fall in the water hole.

Pura Vida in deed. 

Pure life at its best.

Happy Ritual making.

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Have a glorious day

Melissa in the Jungle of Costa Rica

Jack Fruit IceCream ... straight from the tree

Vegan Ice Cream...... straight from the tree.

Jack Fruit (my new love )

Banana

Ginger

I served some of my ice cream to a guest the other day, and he said   “oh.  It is just like a frozen smoothie.”

Well yes......

Mainly because in our family we can't be bothered putting it into small cups, placing a paddle pop stick in it and returning it to the freezer.

At this time of year here in Costa Rica, food foraging makes for one of the most delicious and sensuous Vegan ice creams I know.

Jack fruit, banana and ginger ice cream, sorbet,  or as some say a bowl of frozen smoothie.

What ever you want to call it. It is delicious and can be eaten for breakfast lunch or dinner.

Now that is my kind of ice cream .

If you live in the jungle as we do, then there is good chance that you will have a supply of frozen bananas that never seem to end in your freezer all ready. Bananas grow like hot cakes down here and supply us with year round sweetness and on the go snacks.

I have been patiently waiting for the jack fruit to be ready that is growing and swelling in twos just down from my house.

As it is not quite ready I snuffled some sweet orange flesh from a neighbour of mine for this ice cream.

Then I dug up some ginger, washed off the "terra firma" peeled away the skin and blended some fresh pieces with the two fruits.

To make it extra creamy I used both fresh and frozen bananas, about 4 in total.

A very large handful of jack fruit and about 3 pieces of ginger the size of my thumb nail.

Very precise measurements as you can see.

Blend together, throw on a few leaves of mint and try to eat it slowly !!

Or before the kitten gets to it first.

Enjoy.

And always eat with passion and delight.

10 things to do in Costa Rica with kids

Traveling with kids in Costa Rica?

Here are ten things to do that could find you in your very own chapter of the jungle book.

Change your kids names to Tarzan or Mowgli and get your adventure on.

Your kids will love you all the more for it.

Get covered in Mud.

Lets face it kids love being dirty.

And why not? There is time enough in their futures where cleanliness will be a huge priority albiet a bit boring.

But lets be clear.

If you go to Buenaventura for a day visit ( during dry/high season of November – April ) it is not mud you will be playing with but BLUE CLAY.

With primary mineral compounds such as Magnesium, Iron, Zinc, Calcium, Silver and Manganese found in the blue clay this type if fun benefits all the family.

Looking like a character from Avitar you get to wash it all off under the waterfalls or in the river.

Buenaventura is a private retreat destination with a River-front Mountain Lodge & Eco-Village, Health & Wellness Rejuvenation Retreat & Learning Center, Eco-Adventure Wilderness Rain forest Park & Camp Grounds & Private Wildlife Reserve in Costa Rica. So be sure to make a reservation even for the day as Buenaventura is not operated as a mainstream hotel or adventure park. It is definitely worth the trip out there.

Sleep in a Tree House.

Down in the south west of Costa Rica is a tree house community. Finca BellaVista boasts some of the most beautiful tree houses I have ever seen. You can even buy a lot of land in the community and build your own casita amoungst the canopy.

Finca Bellavista is a magical place where the whimsical merges with reality. Their wonderland of tree houses, scenery, and bountiful wildlife captures the imagination like no other place on Earth can.

Think Ewok Village or Swiss Family Robinson. The tree house pods are connected via bridges that run between the houses and in some of the tree houses even each room is accessed by a swinging foot bridge.

Animal Rescue

Help Feed  Monkeys, Sloths and Toucans.

Whilst on holiday give a little back in the way of volunteering at the Costa Rican animal rescue center

You don't need to be a family armed with vetenary science, just simply people with a passion for saving wildlife. Help from others is what keeps the Rescue Center going.

Volunteers provide hands-on support for every animal at the sanctuary. Main duties include feeding, cleaning, and keeping the animals stimulated, whether it is inventing toys for the howler monkeys, building climbing structures for the sloths to exercise (yes, even sloths need exercise!) or helping to bandage a puppy's burned paw.

I did this with my son years ago and he was delighted to be feeding monkeys every day. The experience has stayed with him and aided in teaching him what I believe is a valuable lesson in the way of being humble.

Witness Turtles  laying eggs.

Depending on the time of year you are in Costa Rica you could be lucky enough to see the babies hatch.

Named an “Arribada”, turtles arrive on certain coast lines of Costa Rica to lay their eggs.

Generally a month later the babies will hatch, having survived the hands of locals given permission to collect a certain amount and the mouths of dogs or vultures.

My son and I witnessed exactly eighty eight baby turtles hatch once in Monte Verde.

In Ostional we watched for many weeks Olive Ridley sea turtles arrive on shore to bury their eggs.

But please note. Although it is an attraction for us it can be very overwhelming for the turtles when hoards of tourists are lining the shore as they attempt to leave the water and make their way up the sand.

Last September many returned to the ocean with out actually laying their eggs due to the amount of tourists lining the beach looking on.

So if you are wanting to see turtles make sure you go on a week day and not in peak season.

For the turtles sake.

Sleep in a Cave

Nestled behind the twin waterfalls of the Diamante waterfall is a cave. Equipped with the comforts of a kitchen, bedding, showers and toilets it is an awesome place to spend the night

Take a tour with the guys from the Tree of Life Diamante Tours and you will get to visit the organic garden, hike through several trails visiting 6 waterfalls, get to visit 3 natural swimming pools on the way, do some cliff jumping, have all four meals included as well as sleeping in the cave overnight.

Rappell or Zip Line

For the adventerous kid and parent rappeling is an awesome way to be in nature.

If this is a bit much for younger ones you can safely zipline. Allow your kids to experience flying through the canopy of a forest. If they are lucky they can see eye to eye with a monkey or find themselves flying next to a vuluture or toucan !

If this is still a little wild for some kids Manuel Antonio has a new 12 min attraction that is a scaled down version of the zip line providing a cheaper and shorter experience of moving amoungst the tree tops.

Make and Eat a truck load of Chocolate

Pick it, grind it and eat it.

Chocolate.

Chocolate making tours are scattered around the country. You can buy various degrees of quality chocolate at all the ferias popping up around Costa Rica as its popularity grows.

Although you won't find Ullaloompas in Costa Rica, a tour around a chocolate factory where you can make your own chocolate can still be fun. Take part in the whole process from bean to bar.

Chocolate does grow on trees and with out all the added nasties the kids can basically eat all they want. Now that is something they would want to hear.

Horse ride along a beach or with cowboys.

Traveling around the world with my son, our most sweetest memories are on the back of horses.

Beach riding is a lazy afternoon activity. Not much else to do, but to get on the horse and stare longingly at the horizon.

Stop for a pipa ( coconut ) along the way and enjoy the view.

Of course there are many different places you can go for a horse ride. Up to waterfalls, into the jungle and following rivers. You can even ride with cowboys, learn to herd cattle and rope calves.

Sight seeing from the the saddle on a horse is a pretty neat way to see some of the country.

Shower in the rain.

Costa Rica boasts some pretty impressive rain down pours. With the rain having a pressure stronger than most of the showers you will find in hotels why not get out in it with your kids.

Not the type to run out of the rain we run into it once it starts to bucket down !!

All those times you are shouting at them back home to get out of the rain, it is time to join them. Take off your shoes, put on your bathing suits, jump in the puddles and even get out the biodegradable soap and take the opportunity to have a good ole wash down. Your kids will love the idea of showering outside. It makes bath time so much easier.

Watch the Macaws feed in the wild.

On the coast of a small town called Esterillos Este south of Jaco the beaches are lined with wild almond trees. Every evening when the almonds are fruiting the macaws come in at sunset to feed on them.

The spectacle is to say the least, spectacular.

Filling the trees with their red colours and the sounds of their screaching as they fight over the best branches filled with nuts, it is a wild experience to see.

Take some food for a picnic and end your day as the sun sets to the macaws feeding.

Basically Just Do It  and think out side of the box.

There is truck load of fun to be had.

Pura Vida.

Almond Butter Chocolate

It is all about the chocolate.

And right now it is all about Almond butter in the chocolate.

Vegan and delicious

Yesterday I discovered a  sensational   way to make the chocolate I make even more tastier... Hard to believe but true !!

So       

for these almond filled pieces of chocolate heaven I used

For the chocolate

Cacao paste

Cacao butter

Almond oil

Sea salt &

Honey.

Filling

Almond butter.

Honey &

Shredded coconut.

Normally I use coconut oil but this time I used the oil on top of the butter that sits in the jar when the nut paste separates from the natural nut oil. 

 

Oh My God...ess

First you need to melt the cacao paste with cacao butter, oil, sea salt and honey on a double boiler. I just use a small frying pas on top of a saucepan.

And.....I do not measure. I just go with feel.

Generally it is about one part cacao paste to ¼ part cacao paste to ¼ to 1/3 part oil then a pinch of sea salt and add honey to taste.

I also add things like cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.

Once melted pour a small amount ( using a spoon ) into each mold ( for these you can use ice trays even ) to cover about 1/3 of the mold. Then spoon chocolate up the sides to coat a thin layer creating a “chocolate box effect “.

You can even use a paint brush to coat the four sides of each mold.

Put in freezer for about 10 to 15 min.

Take molds/tray out and fill each mold with almond butter/honey/shredded coconut mix. Leaving space for more melted chocolate to be poured on top.

Once you have filled each mold with the almond butter mix, pour more chocolate on top to fill the mold and then put back in the freezer.

Eat with Passion.

I Love Ice Cream & I Love You

Why my son  loves  me even more this week.

I am one of the lucky ones.

I get told on average eight to ten times a day “I love You”.

I share a house here in Costa Rica with my ten year old son and the largest geckos on the planet.

Sometimes we get hummingbirds come in and hover with their wings flapping at something like a  billion flaps per minute, and at times the mosquito's try to take over.
 More frequently now friends are coming to stay often saying it is just for a night or two and weeks later we are still sharing dinners, loads of washing and loads of laughs.

But mostly it is just the two of us.

Whether it is early morning, whilst cleaning his teeth, using his machete in the forest adjacent to our house, constructing lego master pieces or even just putting on his shoes, ( a rare thing )  my sweet boy will randomly say “mum, I love you !”
Often he will be running off with his friends racing down the dirt track further into the jungle barefooted whilst shouting behind him “mama I love you ! “

I know, melts your heart doesn't it?

It melts mine and I am full to the brim with mother love for him. I cant help it. Every mother that meets him loves him in fact. But I am the one that gets to live with him, feed him, hang out with him and go on wild adventures with him. Namely to our off the beaten track beaches where he climbs the fallen trees and rocks like a mountain goat.

But to do this we need our car.

And right now we don't have our car...AGAIN.

I am all for getting a lot of attention and self care, but what my car demands of me is ridiculous.

I am questioning my relationship with her and her status of being apart of this small family clan. Presently her long stay at the mechanic is just about totaling up to more sick days than not since we began our working history.

Each and every time I get work and see the very small pinhead light at the end of the very very very long tunnel, she rears her lioness head and starts to spit and spurt and robs me blind.

So with another week of hitch hiking and pulling miracles out of my mouldy crumpled hat my son and I stumbled home yesterday late afternoon just as the first rain drops began to tumble heavily out of the blackened sky above us.

As I saw it I had two options.
 

I could lay down, kick and scream in a long overdue tantrum episode until my temples hurt and my voice went hoarse OR I could just smile like I was on holiday, forget all ideas of making dinner and proclaim that we were having home made ice cream for dinner. 

Just that and a whole damn lot of it.  !

My love stats rocketed !!

To go with the three to four tubs of vegan ice cream topped with home made chocolates were episodes and episodes of “Mr Bean” ( my sons choice ) and episodes and episodes of “Absolutely Fabulous” ( my choice )

Once it got dark we moved our small home cinema into the bedroom, got together all the pillows in the house and made my bed ( which some how is still his bed too ) into one big comfortable soft and cozy hangout lounge and laughed until we both fell asleep.

Just as my son was dosing off unable to keep his eyes open any longer he said “Mama I Love You”

I love you too baby

Jack Can Save the World

Image credit Consciousazine

Mercury Retrograde  has been finally kicked out on its arse.

What a long three weeks that was. And it did not go quietly at all.

She hung on for dear life with her gnarled toenails hooked into all drama around me and my car.

It was nearly enough to send me to the drink. 

Only I don't drink.

Going way beyond “trusting that everything happens for a reason” I am now practicing radical self love in the form of just damn well loving the shit out of every moment. 

The sun rises over the escarpment to the monkeys and toucans calling out to their loved ones.

Love it.

The rain fills my favourite water hole and I sit under the waterfall massaging my neck. 

Love it.

My car breaks down AGAIN, my phone runs out of minutes so I cant call anyone and my son is at someones house whom I cant contact.

Love it.

I cant get home for two days and end up sleeping on a couch and find myself doing naked yoga in the forest.

Love it.

My son comes home dosed up on flu like symptoms and is grumpy and feeling sorry for himself. Love it.

Love it all. 

Why the hell not.

Not loving it only causes me to feel upset, angry and confused. I have spent way too much of my life feeling that way..so now it is time to feel this way. In Love With It All. No need to trust, no need to hope, just pure LOVE baby!!!

As soon as Mercury left its retrograde chaos where we all had the chance to renew, revisit and recharge I personally went into re wild mode under the full moon of May that reached from Libra to Taurus. An auspicious full moon, known as the Wesak full moon, it celebrates the birth, enlightenment and death of Lord Buddha, formally known as Siddhartha.

We are certainly in for some changes on the planet as it is time to shift our attention onto new role models.

As the paradigm shifts we shall see trends in the world where men are daring to live their femininity and are not held back by the social dictation anymore and do what they feel and not just what they think is right for them.  

Aho  to that !! I am so ready for that one and will be celebrating any man I find along my path that dances and eats fruit naked !!

Speaking of fruit, I want to talk about Jack Fruit.

My new love. 

Not only is it a taste sensation to rock your world with the flesh being used for ice creams, smoothies and curries whilst the seeds are used for flour and hummus, it is being hailed as the miracle crop and could be the solution to worldwide food insecurity saving the world from hunger.

No wonder I am in love with Jack !!!

Consuming 10 to 12 bulbs of the fruit you don't actually need to eat for half a day.

It is the largest tree borne fruit on the planet and grows up to 35 kg in Asia...

that is a lot of fruit!! A good source of dietary fiber, protein calcium and iron it could possibly replace crops such as wheat and corn due to its high calorie content.

I generally make ice cream from it but whilst I was cooking for an awesome group of people during the “Secret Energy' retreat with “Sevan Bomar” I branched out and made a rocking curry and a “to die for” birthday cake.

One person went as far as to say it was the best cake they have ever eaten !!!

Oh my love for Jack only deepens.

 

With all of this going for it I have added hugging jack fruit to my loving routine along side of hugging trees, my son and myself.

Generally eating a truck load of fruit is not entirely a bad thing. 
In fact peoples lives are devoted to it with retreats designed solely around eating fruit and entire festivals where you can go and eat a truck load of fruit !! Woodstock has one and so does Costa Rica. In fact I am going to the one in Costa Rica to massage and cover people in the fruit of chocolate !!

The rainy season is upon us.

 Filling up my favourite water hole, greening all that is around us, making soil into mud and putting a stop to afternoon activities.

With the rainy season comes damp conditions both inside and outside of the body.

Neighbours are dropping like flies with the Flu including my son, who is normally climbing trees like a monkey.

So I went into the forest to find us some medicine.

Food foraging is one of my new favourite things to do.

This morning I found a small and sweet pineapple, I dug up turmeric and ginger, collected katuk greens and picked up the pipa ( coconut ) that fell out of the tree last night by our kitchen window.

With all of these ingredients I blended them up to make juices, one green with the katuk and one without it to make some super powerful flu fighting drinks.

Combined, turmeric, ginger and black pepper provides a great immune boosting injection of goodness. 

And so does more hugging. Always hug more. Laugh more and love more.

Yes Life Is Awesome.

So! Lets Talk About Forgiveness.

So........

lets talk about forgiveness.

This past weeks planetary chaos of Mercury, Mars, Pluto, Jupiter and Saturn in frickin' retrograde all at the same time has been a kin to seven one tonne trucks colliding through the brick wall of my protection throwing dirty laundry around like a hurricane whilst still having to get on with business as usual.

Except today was not so usual.

Being Sunday it was a beach day. A day spent on the beach consoling friends that are each going through their own version of heavy shit. Using the crashing waves to wash away our tears and fears our kids played hard on their boogy boards and laughed at the ocean as we women sobbed.

 

Come two o'clock in the afternoon I needed to be on the internet virtually gathering with a rather fabulous group of women in a conference meeting room.

We all know that with Mercury Retrograde every few months for a few weeks we experience mountains of issues with phones, computers and all electronic communication going haywire.

Mercury Retrograde on a Sunday here in Costa Rica is hell.

Any given Sunday the limited band width of small town internet is bogged down with the new culture of screen time replacing lazy family hammock connection with every man, woman, child and pet mindlessly scrolling down fluro flashes of other people moments in time.

So even though I found myself in a cafe with good wifi ( bonus #1 ) and they served REALLY GOOD coffee ( bonus #2, #3, #4 and so on to infinity) I spent in between my soul warming sips of latte trying to consistently re connect, re boot and re trying to get online with these women in Australia.

Frustrated that I was not able to full fill my part within the online gathering I took solace that it had to do mostly with the dance of the five planets whirling above. Much has been written about pausing in this time. BUT as they say when a planet and more so with five planets going into retrograde opportunities are thrown at us to review, re-visit, remember, re-wire, re-do, re-claim and release.

Weather we damn well want to or not.

With our hands tied behind our backs and cream pies thrown into our faces we are forced to look at all the shit we have done, created and had done to us with trillions of opportunities to forgive.

Grumble grumble, holy hell and really? Right now? This minute?

Well yes.

So even though Mercury messes with electrical wires and stuff the same planet can give us a second chance of communicating with someone where things didn’t go well the first time around. Often we get to unexpectedly bump into our past gaining the chance for some juicy closure or simply receive a message helping us on our yellow brick path.

This is exactly what happened for me in Sibu.

Finally giving up on the meeting, ordering another latte I not only received a message from one dark shadow of a male in my past, but three. All at the same time.

Holy shit.

Three different men, three different continents and three different heart breaks.

Bam...

By the end of all three face book calls and messages, forgiveness was in full flight, loads of love was flying around, kisses galore and promises of speaking again soon.

After spending time in my past it was time to look at my present.

Time to forgive those moments of red flags ignored.

Whilst the planets have been causing havoc upstairs, my life on earth has been caught in a whirlwind of promise with big lips that liked to kiss, but at the end of the day it is not enough.

What does it take for a man to rock my world?

A hell of a lot I am finding out.

So the search still continues and in the meantime I will join Pluto who loves a good detox, be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual.

Running again up damn steep hills, concentrating on releasing old habits, purging some issues with and without a swig of Ayauasca, I think I will go on retreat in my own house, in my own beautiful jungle, do some hard core healing, clear out my house and wardrobe whilst continuing to keep on following my shiny juicy inner guidance.