Your Kiss

The breath of your death caress s my lips in their fullness.

Large and African.

Tender with care.

Timidness mixed with the sweet smell of rum.

The harsh lick of tobacco and the whisper of want.

Words do not cross between the two...

...... between the realm of being here and time lost.

Time we thought we had, Time we thought was a given.

Taken by the blows of others in a street on cement.

Our time taken by the fear of humanity against fear itself.

What still remains in the ashes of my grief is the kiss you left on my lips.

as you squeezed my hand and pulled my hair...

this kiss

…...that pierced my skin,

this last kiss that bleeds tears from the eyes that search for you

…....... still.

Samuel.

My Love.

La Havana

died 22/03/2017 

Crowd Funder details to fix the Ceiling of his parents house .

https://www.generosity.com/fundraisers/young-man-killed-by-police-brutality

My Moon Time  Ritual.

Sacred Ceremony.

 

 

I have always dreamt of the Red Tent.

As a young girl I yearned for it but was also intimidated by it.

Inside of me I could feel the reverence for bleeding each month. I felt its power, it's sacredness and gift, but all around me was an under lying current of hatred and shame around women bleeding every month.

Names such as “Rags” and “Thingy” and lines used such as “it's that time of the month” with eyes rolling upwards and sighs to be heard each time man or woman spoke of Menstruation.

My monthly bleed was presented to me by my culture as something that was to be hidden, that others had to put up with and it was smelly and dirty and a complete annoyance.

I had no ceremony held for me, no women's circle to hold me nor an avenue to find out about the sacredness of it all.

Thirty years on I have now made a commitment to myself that each time I bleed I will enter my own red tent.

Inspired by a girlfriend of mine whom has actually just spent a whole month, from one bleed to the next in private ceremony, I committed to myself to be at home and do only what I wanted to do and rest the whole time I was bleeding.

Much preferring the term “moon time” I cocooned myself into my own world where I meditated and listened to my body the whole two days I bled.

Being home in stillness during this time also meant I could indulge in many rituals that have been simmering in my being for a long time now, waiting for this moment to arrive !!

I fully embodied my wild witch-y-ness and set out to re-Wild my WomBan.

I drank my first flow of blood. I ceremoniously give thanks to her as I felt her power re enter my body.

I have to admit I felt like I should have howled up to the sky and beat my chest. But I did not.

After drinking this first flow, I sat in meditation just to be. No agenda, no needing to find answers, just to sit .

I heard that familiar sound of the hummingbird wings.

She was inside of my room.

She came in just as I sat and breathed.

Oh how I welcomed her in.

It is said that Hummingbird brings love as no other medicine can.

It is said that if you take notice of her medicine you will experience a renewal of the magic of living.

Hummingbird is loved by the flowers and plants, for as it sucks the nectar from the flower, the plant reproduces and more of its kind are created.

Hummingbird lives on nectar and searches for the sweetness of life. It's purpose is to pollinate the flowers of the world.

I took her message with the nectar of my blood.

My innate knowing of my nectar that comes with in me.

I spent the next two days ONLY peeing, bleeding and releasing all bodily nations back into mother earth.

I would go into the jungle and squat and release anything that needed to flow, returning to the land I walked on.

In essence I placed a ring of fire around my house.

This in itself is STRONG witch-y-poo magik.

Placing intentions and protection around my house where I reside

Claiming my space of living.

Months ago I started to place my blood beneath the Mango tree by our house that had not bore fruit in years. This season it is FULL of ripening fruits !!!

As my bleed was coming to an end, I would wipe the trickles of the blood off of my inner thighs and then lick my fingers. Oh how my WILD WomBan was in full force.

Then came down the pouring rains on that last night. The quissential tropical downpour that makes everyone and everything stop in its tracks.

I Stood out in the heavy downpour watching the lightning light up the sky in its pinks yellows and hues of blue.

I stood with my legs spread and allowed any last drops of my blood offering to be washed into the land I stood on.

Tow days on from this self appointed ceremony I see so much of what we do as women that does not serve us and therfore does not serve those around us nor the planet at large.

Having taken the time to rest, go inward and honour myself in my FULL womBaness I am not so overwhelmed entering back into the masculine part of my life of work and getting BUZIness done.

I feel grounded and strong. Not behind nor stressed.

I am also experiencing more flow in my life and feel more open to the miracles that are happening.

As I gave to my most sacred time, I am more open to the receiving of my universal gifts.

During this time I also gave my commitment to ease. This meant my son ate pancakes for 2 days because I just said yes. We laughed more than we have in a long time and enjoyed each others company. I relinquished motherly control, so pancakes it was.

And as I listened to my body by resting and staying inward, my body did not crave anything in order to cover any unrespected needs. No cravings for sweetness nor food actually. On my first day I only drank teas. Nuturing spice filled teas with ingredients I picked from the jungle as I wandered around naked amoungst the green offering my blood back to plant that I took from.

Oh WomBan ReWIld.

I am so happy to feel you again. To know you . To meet you. To embody you.

I am so happy to have spent two days in a complete dream like state.

My innate state of the dreamy feminine.

Manifesting and dreaming up what we want in our family and what I want to bring into my life.

The feminine power is buried with in all of us..”the one who knows” as Dr. Clairssa Pinkola Estes calls her...... our deepest sources of creativity and understanding lie out of sight in darkness, in the unconscious. We must learn how to perceive “ through the eyes of the ego”.

The dual way of seeing, being and acting.

We must learn to see in the dark to mine the raw gems of mystery, dreams, sudden knowings, and the shadows of power as individuals in society.

When we honour our moon time and become more still and silent. We access the depths that lay within ourselves that hold the keys to our innate nature of wisdom.

A woman's Power is within her own self, not with in what she can prove in a masculine driven world.

The woman's world is her own.

Her intuition, her creation, her Magik.

My Cacao Ceremony

My Cacao Ceremony

 

When life is a prayer then our breath is a gift .

All that is available to us from mother earth is a gift given freely.

In gratitude we in turn can use it in prayer.

Plant medicine is one of those gifts and amoungst the plants we can use as a guide in ceremony and prayer is Cacao.

 

Used by the Mayans it was consumed during religious ceremonies and marriage celebrations. Regardless of social status all Mayans used cacao for sacred reasons.

the word ‘chocolate’ is said to come from the Mayan word ‘xocolatl’ which means ‘bitter water.’

It may have been bitter water, but it was held in such high esteem that the Mayans called it the “food of the gods.” Cacao was so revered that images of cacao pods were painted on the walls of stone temples and Mayan artifacts have been found that show kings and Mayan gods drinking chocolate.

Due to it s high regard and it s use as a currency I actually had the thought last night as I was on my way to the ceremony that we were about to pray to (a form of ) money.

I laughed.

But it use to be serious and big business.

Cacao became the force of the Aztec economy. The demand for the cocoa bean and the beverage that it produced brought about a huge network of trade routes throughout the region.

When the Aztecs conquered the Mayans, they were forced to pay taxes to the Aztecs. These taxes were called “tributes” and they were paid in cocoa, so the Aztecs, who couldn’t grow their own cocoa, would always have a supply.

Cocoa beans were kept in locked boxes in businesses, and some enterprising Aztecs actually made counterfeit cocoa beans.

 

 

Photo and art credit go to the INCREDIBLE. Orly Faya

Body Painter extraordinaire

It was recorded that the beans was worth as follows...

hail the Cacao bean exchange rate

4 beans = 1 pumpkin

10 beans = 1 rabbit

10 beans = lady to stay overnight..

.how many beans for her to actually open herself in passion I wonder ??? ..

There is no coincidence that I am so attracted and activated by chocolate then !!!

 

The modern day allure of chocolate is a strong one. Especially said for women. Often craving the indulgence during our moon time it has many health benefits containing compounds that react with the body to limit the excretion of stress hormones.

But to use cacao, the original chocolate bean as a method in prayer and ceremony is a deep reverence for the plant and for the gift it carries for us all.

 

Many medicines from plants can be used for transformation. We can induce visions and release emotional blockages in intentional ways creating a sacred space for our higher selves to bring to our conscious what we need to see, feel and shift.

Using cacao in this way is a celebration of pleasure, of joy and of divine feminine energy. To meditate is to be honouring the masculine side of ourselves, to dance to honour the feminine aspect. I combine both in a ceremony where the dancing meditation becomes a prayer. Bringing forth intentions and desires to a place of reverence and celebration. In the ceremony I create the space where dance becomes the bodily expression of prayer.

 

Preparing the concoction of cacao , the brew is kept bitter, mixed with cayenne pepper and ginger and other spices. Last night , although sweetener was on offer no one used it. Using cacao this way allows the receiver to fully taste the bean in its raw form and sit with the energy it evokes.

It is strong, it is power full, it is celebration.

AHO.. to the mighty cacao goddess and may your moments of prayer be filled with the flow of dance.

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Liquid Sunshine Tumeric Tea

Tumeric tea 

so... as it was included in a fasting blog and a little tricky to find..here is my recipe for sunshine tea again for all you fabulous people xx

 

to beat the blues into mellow yellow

First go dig up some tumeric root.

If you don't live in the jungle or grow your own then grab a hand full of tumeric root and a BIG chunk of Ginger root.

Peel and simmer in a pot with about 4 cups of water.

Simmer with some black pepper corns, cardamon seeds and cinnamon bark.

 

Simmer for 10 to 15 min.

Blend all together ( yes your blender will turn yellow and stain..but hay... it is a funky colour ! ).

Strain to remove pulp.

Blend again with a few table spoons of coconut oil and some honey to taste.

 

Yumbo

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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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Melissa in the Jungle of Costa Rica

The Long Neck Women

The Long Neck Women.

 

Today I started writing the chapter in my book of my adventures in Thailand.

This particular adventure involves a girlfriend and I ( whom is just as badd ass as I am. We are from the same breeding ground you see. Small country town Australia ) hitching our way through parts of Thailand, meeting a Burmese man that was hiding from the Thai government and sneaking into the refugee camp that he had called home so he could see some of his family.

 

My friend and I were housed behind the tourist gates of the compound where the Dragon women and their families are held. Incorrectly referred to as the "long-neck" women, girls can be as young as five-years-old when they begin to be fitted with brass rings around their necks. To be chosen for this life ritual is a divine sign from birth with many layers involved.

Longer rings are added as they grow older, in effect deforming the chest and shoulders to give the illusion that their necks are abnormally long. 

 

With refugee camp # 3 just meters away behind the water well, many tourists do not realize that these women with their necks ringed in brass are actually Burmese , not from Thai hill tribes.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s due to conflict with the military regime in Myanmar, many Kayan tribes fled to the Thai border area.[

Not unlike a "human zoo," this northern Thailand’s Padaung Karen hill tribe village is amongst the country’s most controversial tourist attractions. My friend and I spent our days there taking tourists aside and telling them what was really going on and even showed a few of them the huge refugee camp just a few steps away.

 

When we spoke to those we stayed with many women talked with pride of their choice to wear the rings out of a genuine desire to carry on with the tradition. Yet for some of these villages have no access to electricity, roads, healthcare and schools. 

To get there we had to hide in safe houses at night and crawl our way through rice paddies to be met with open arms by a family living in a house made of card board boxes.

Making our way past the well we were then welcomed by our Burmese friends extended family where we stayed for three nights whilst he gathered more stories for the book he was publishing.

 

I have moved onto many other adventures, my girlfriend has been further a filed, had many babies and returned back to Australia, whilst our Burmese friend and off the beaten track tour guide has published his book “From The Land of Green Ghosts”, all those that welcomed me into their homes and hearts are still living in their state of no mans land with each day the same as the last.

Please. If you are in Thailand and you know others that are thinking of going to visit these people, know that the money you pay to get in does not reach the people that are on “show”. Go in, take good food and pay them directly.

Then protest that it should be happening at all.

I am a mama of a wild 10 yr old boy living in the jungle of Costa Rica.

FcBk.Jungle Love Wild.

A wild life Living in the Jungle 

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Food Foraging. Super Food Greens.

Food foraging.

3 super food greens 

 

Here in the Jungle of Costa Rica where I live with my 10yr old son we often go out amoungst the plants and collect what we eat. Barefooted and often in the rain we collect greens and roots to eat.

Below are 3 super food greens that are growing around our wooden house.

The Mayan Chaya

 

Chaya, commonly known as “tree spinach”, it could be one of the most important edible-leaved plants in the tropics. Requiring little maintenance it is an excellent source of vitamins, fiber, proteins and enzymes. The levels of Chaya leaf nutrients are two to threefold greater than most edible leafy green vegetables. Chaya is significantly more nutritious than spinach, amaranth and Chinese cabbage:

Here in Costa Rica most locals only know it as an ornamental or living fence-line calling it “chicasquil” which is kind of unfortunate as it is and incredible nutritious food left un touched. Except by us. We love the stuff.

But be aware... Do Not Eat It Raw !! toxic as hell really when not cooked. Chaya leaves and shoots contain toxic hydrocyanic glycosides. So you need to cook it for at least five minutes to rid the stems and leaves of the poisonous cyanide components, before adding it to your stir fry. We also use the leaves to roll up rice and other grains a lot like sushi. Tico style.

Next we have Katuk.

 

Also a dangerous leaf if eaten raw too long. As you can see it IS dangerous out here in the Jungle !!
Best to boil first if eating over many months to eliminate anti-protozoa properties.
We have been using it in our smoothies..woops. But up until now we have not noticed any of the side effects such as difficulty in sleeping or lung disorders such as bronchiolitis.



Aside of the danger eating it raw Katuk contains 59 cal energy, 6.4 g protein, 1.0 g fat, 9.9 g carbohydrate, 1.5 g fiber, 1.7 g ash, 233 mg calcium, 98 mg phosphorus , 3.5 mg iron, 10020 mcg carotene, 164 mg vitamin A, B, and C, and 81 g of water. WOAH !! All of this is in 100g of the leaves. Majorely katuk helps feeding mothers to bring in and increase their breast milk.
Other benefits of the leaf used externally include in the aid of ulcers and sores, Constipation or other difficult bowel issues and some skin diseases.

And now for the humble Spinach.

 

Introducing Chenopodium album also known as lambs quarters, or pigweed.
A very common garden weeds, Wild Spinach is edible and delicious. With a deeper & more robust flavor than spinach without that squeaky teeth feeling.
Rich in magnesium and potassium, more fiber, beta carotene (pro-vitamin A), vitamin C, riboflavin, calcium, zinc, copper and manganese than domestic spinach.

Why Food Forage??

It is free, you get to gather nutrient dense food that is tasty, food miles are non existence enabling your ego and feel good neurons to ping, you get to eat healthy organic food for free and you get to meet neighbours. 
Here in the jungle they would include monkeys, toucans, snakes and butterflies.


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Have a GLORIOUS day. 

Travel With Children

TRAVEL WITH …..

CHILdREN

Thinking of traveling with your kids? 

Well it definitely helps if they are cute and cool.

Cute and cool kids get you a long way.

 

I for one am fortunate to have one of those. Although he is going through that stage of feeling self conscious of his looks with long blonde hair, his great personality and zest for life is adored by everyone he meets.

By just being his mum I get to jump queues, get let on the bus first, sometimes with out even having to pay and get free ice cream at times.

He gets free stuff all the time. Fluffy toys, t shirts, pocket knives, compasses, machetes, bikes and even kittens.

I have been traveling with my super cute and cool kid since he was a baby.

People want to talk to me a lot about him, about me and about us traveling. And at times these people that talk to me offer to house us, take him places and hang out with him so I can have free time and show us around their home towns just because they love my kid.

It is like the cute kid opens up the universe ahead of me.

One piece of advice I will give about traveling with a baby is put them in a sling. Get rid of that bulky pram/stroller thing that takes up room, creates stress full moments in awkward situations. Like at the airport when you can't fold the damn thing up and people behind you get extremely annoyed. People who don't have kids and people like me who refuse to use them.

Besides, the last thing your baby needs when you are traveling is to be seperate from you. Believe me. It is a way lot easier lugging a piece of cloth around than a bundle of plastic and metal that always needs assistance to move, lift and store. 

Over sized luggage is a pain in the bum and when traveling you need to be downsizing on that stuff.

Benefits of having your baby in a sling are:

1. You can run for the bus and just jump on whilst it is moving, extremely important in places like India, Nepal, Buenos Aires and Lima.
   
   
2. You can fit into those tuk tuk cabs... which are generally smaller than the average stroller anyway. 
   
   
3. It is easy to fit yourself into those little quaint cafes in Europe where there is hardly any room for two people at a table let alone two people, a baby and the stroller!
   
   
4. You don't take up more space on the already over crowded tiny side walks famous in places like Bali, Bangkok and Hong Kong. People will like you better for this.
   
   
5. Your baby can sleep anywhere allowing you to the theater and live performances in cities such as Barcelona where tango dancers will make you sweat and hot under the collar. 
   
   
6. People in Cultures such as Indonesia can't keep touching your paler skinned and blondish baby because they are nestled basically right on top of your breasts.
   
   
7. You wont have to be dealing with wheels getting stuck all the time in cobblestones or the cracks and potholes that make up most of the side walks world wide.
   
   
8. When we were in Bali I use to strap my baby to me when I was on the scooter at sleep time. Whilst I rode through rice paddies and back streets sight seeing he would snooze as I cruised.
   
   
9. When traveling in countries where they also wear their babies, you get great brownie points. People smile at you a lot and the women want to talk to you. You are invited into the folds of the fabric of their social circles.

Traveling with kids means that most nights you will be in bed early.

This is good for your health. No hang overs means a nicer mummy and it also means that you eat better as you are not trying to grease your liver to soak up  poison you drank the night before. It kind of means you save money as well.

Another piece of advice, take a pack of UNO cards and let your kid know how important it s you get your cup of coffee in the morning.

My kid has it down pat. We get up, he eats breakfast, we go down cobble stone streets or stumble through a jungle to a cafe and we play UNO.

He is a lot better now at playing the game than he was when we left Australia three years ago.

Quite the champion.

Playing cards with your kid may seem old fashion but it creates connection and a lot of laughter.

After he has had enough of the game he will go off to catch lizards. This means I get to have another cup of coffee.

Always let your kids catch things. Geckos, frogs, ants, dragon flies, flies, turtles and fish if they can. Anything to keep them engaged with their immediate surroundings. 

 Better than screen time it also means that the people around at the time seeing it all happen get to ooohh and aaaahh a lot and tell you how cool you are for letting them do it. So many of us sit around now a days looking at devices that when a kid is seen actively playing it reminds others that life is right in front of them.

What I have found letting my kid do stuff like that attracts really good looking young men. And these men want to hang out with my cool kid.

When these good looking young men have skate boards it is even better. As we are not traveling with one, but my kid loves to skate, there are endless offers for him to go skating with said hot man.

This is a bonus.

 Eye candy. 

It is one thing to be told by other parents and older people that my kid is so lucky to be having the life that he is having. But it is a something else when the hot young blood tells me that I am a great mum and how cool is his life!! Eye candy and points all in one.

 

Most falter at the thought of taking kids traveling.

 But I say do it !

I have taken my kid around the world since he was 15 months old. He turned ten one month ago and has visited thirteen counties in his short but wild decade.

As far as he is concerned he is the luckiest boy he knows and is grateful for every single moment.

 

Although he was sleeping when I saw the Dalai Lama, he has ridden on the shoulders of Micheal Franti in Bali, snorkeled around sea snakes in the Spice Islands, been horse riding with only a rug and rope 5 000 m above sea level in Peru.

 He has been to Disney land in Paris and flew paper aero planes off of the Eifle tower, rode an elephant inside a rescue sanctuary, looked after injured monkeys and toucans and sat on the roof of buses in Paraguay ( don't tell the grandparents ! ).

He has Steered a scooter through Denpasar ( holy shit don't tell them that either ), works voluntary at a reptile park in Costa Rica, has learnt to plant with the moon cycles and catch snakes, picked figs in Turkey and played soccer in the streets of Istanbul, had food fights on beaches, slept in caves, slept over in an orphanage in Peru, patted llamas in the streets of Cusco and had his foot nibbled by a dolphin in Hawaii.

 

 These are just some of the experiences he has had whilst learning another language and learning that people all around the world are basically the same.

 We all want to be loved and to love, it is just that we all have a different way of showing it.

Taking kids on holidays rock.

As a single mum I decided to turn the wait for the quissential family holiday on some paradise get away into a life time of travel by the seats of our pants.

In fact traveling with my wild child is one of the most awesome things I do.