My Blog

Spider Lady

Helena — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 19:04:49 GMT

Spider Lady invites you to see what she is weaving on Assocaited copntent...If you have news, let me know... http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/125873/helena_zahara.html

The Birth of Spider Lady

Helena — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 01:50:34 GMT

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/436901/native_americans_believe_a_giant_spider.html

The Fragile Web

Helena — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 01:45:44 GMT

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/434431/the_fragile_web.html

Awareness Through Dance

Helena — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 01:43:17 GMT

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/443934/awareness_through_dance.html

How to Teach a Chicken to Dance

Helena — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 18:50:03 GMT

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/436459/how_to_teach_a_chicken_to_dance.html

Health Benefits of Dances

Helena — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:31:33 GMT

I have some cool articles on AC. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/434704/health_benefits_from_dance.html They are pay per view. So, please share them with your friends.

my youtube

Helena — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:51:01 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eisL0lW6qAg

Jessica's cute hula lesson

Helena — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 22:15:35 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amOJz3Db0SU

Jessica's cute hula lesson

Helena — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 22:14:49 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amOJz3Db0SU

Helena's Spianch Pie

Helena — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 21:43:12 GMT

16 ounces frozen spinach sweeze out liquid 5 eggs 2 pounds ricotta cheese 1 TBS dill 1 tbs salt Combine above ingreadiants and place in greased pan. Add 1 package cherry tomatoes cut in half and place on top (cut section up) ...sprinkle top with 8 oz crumbled feta cheese and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Helena's Moroccan Vegatable Bean Stew with Couscous

Helena — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 21:48:28 GMT

Recipe: 1/2 c salad oil 1 lg onion, finely chopped 1 each: lg red and greed pepper, seeded and chopped 1 t coriander 1/2 t ground cinnamon 2 med sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes 2 lg tomatoes, peeled and chopped Hot Pepper sauce (recipe follows) 1/4 c water 1 T lemon juice 2 c cooked, drained garbanzo beans salt 1 med zucchini dhopped 4 c coo9ked couscous Heat oil in a 5 quart kettle over med heat; add onion and green pepers, coriander, and cinnamon and cook, stirring occasionally; until soft (about 5 minutes). Stir in the sweet pototoes and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Add tomotoes, water, lemon juice, and garbanzos. Season to taste with salt. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare Hot pepper sauce. Mix zucchinni into pototoe mixture and cook, covered, until sweet ptotatoes are tender (about 5 minutes). Add more salt, if desired. To serve, spread couscous aouend the edge of a deep platter and spoon vegatable mixture in the center. Pass hot pepper sauce at the table. Makes 6 servings. Hot Pepper Sauce In a small pan, combine 1/3 c olive oil, 1 1/2 t of cayenne pepper, 1 1/2 t cumin, 1 clove garlic, minced, and add 1/4 t salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring, unitl ingrediants are well blended. Serve warm or at room tempature. Makes about 1/2 cup.

Green Tara Goddess of Willingnesss

Helena — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 06:02:31 GMT

Green Tara Goddess of readiness, willingness and overcoming fear. Green Tara was one of two Taras born of the tears of Avalokiteseshvara the Buddha of Compassion. She is the Great Mother of the Universe. Tara attained Buddha hood while refusing to give up the ordinary world and return in the body of a male. The green Mother represents the wisdom of reality, quick thinking, fearlessness and spontaneity. She offers protection from snakes, fire, drowning, thiefs, lions, imprisonment, and wild elephants. She is always willing to help others and readiness to cross the ocean of Samsara (suffering) and leave the illusionary world of the ego. Om Mani Padme Hum. Humility get what we are willing to accept. We must be willing to seek a new reality, and move away from the old. We may have to endure the frustration of learning new skills that propel us into a new dimension. Rebellion at this stage of change can be detrimental to your future goals and successes. We must keep our objectives in view and be willing to move forward. Resist the temptation to throw your hands up and resign yourself as being unable to change. Nothing is too difficult to undertake with God as an ally.

Isis is the Goddess of Hope.

Helena — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 05:50:25 GMT

“Hope is the thing with feathers, That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all…” (Emily Dickison.) Hope is Isis, the Mother, or the Oversoul that gives birth and rebirth to all it’s manifest creation. The goddess of the sun , the moon and the stars; no other deity has such a lasting reign. She is endowed with the secrets of magic, medicine, and healing. She holds the ankh, the symbol of eternal life and can resurrect the dead. Perhaps, the Goddess is for-giving because she experiences trivial. One does forget the pain of childbirth when we see the beloved child. It is the palpitation of her mighty wings that that bring breath, and move us ever forward if we only we listen for her voice on the north wind. Hope is a belief that things can be different. It's not hard to believe in miracles when you are willing to look for them. The terrible plight of the disillusioned mind is exasperated by lack of hope. By keeping an open-mind, and positive thinking we open the door to change. Outlook is everything. The world indeed does look different when viewed through a pair of rosy lenses. The Tao teaches that even plants are happy on a sunny day. A bright attitude to life can actually change the conditions of living, and revolutionize human life. There is no joy in stoic fortitude, we need not endure evil, but find the power to over come it. "If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes." (St. Clement of Alexandria.)

An Arabain Proverb

Helena — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 22:49:35 GMT

A friend is one whom you can pour out all the contents of one’s heart, chaff and grain together; knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away. Dedicated to Najah Wafeequa.

WRESTLING WITH THE PIG

Helena — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 14:40:20 GMT

“Never wrestle with a pig because you both get dirty and the pig loves it.” Author Unknown From Infancy, our focus (necessarily so at that point) is on immediate Gratification. But, as we mature, cognition, intellect and experience results in development, to some extent, of an ability to delay, postpone or suppress the immediate need. Regretfully, some spend a lifetime of chronically and consistently wrestling with the PIG. PIG stands for: perceived immediate gratification. Our emotional status at any given minute (moment or point in time) can determine our ability to see the long and short-term gratification of our natural impulses that are in place for survival. We all have the need for food, affection, shelter, fun, etc. But, what happens when these needs appear to go haywire? For many, they seem to have gone astray and are now running amuck. Instead of enhancing a balanced life, they have now placed the cart in front of the horse. We often operate on the impulse that is closest to our awareness. If you are tired mid-afternoon, your impulse for a sweet treat that will give you a lift may be central focus. What you may not realize is that what goes up must go down, and that your sugar levels will now fall even faster, making you even more tired a few hours from now. If you feel stressed and you consume alcohol your dopamine levels go up. As a result you feel less stress in that moment, but as a consequence your dopamine levels will go down and increases the level of stress you feel. The chances are that you will again use alcohol to relieve the stress, but it will now take more of the chemical to produce the same results. If you are unable to pay the bills it might be easy to go buy a lottery ticket, but the odds are you now have even less money to pay that bill. You have fed a belief system that life is random and chaotic and that you are unlucky. The idea that there will be restriction in the future offers a paradox that enhances the counter reaction. Therefore it allows a values system that says grab what you can when you can, because your good is limited and may not be experienced. There is a universal concept that states that small immediate gratification has a greater influence than delayed reward. Casinos, bars and brothels feed on these impulses. The few coins of reward at the slot machine may make you anticipate a greater reward, and thus continue to feed your paycheck to the machine. A few drinks at the bar make you feel relaxed and forget your troubles at home or work to which you then return with a lowered ability to problem solve. A few minutes of porn may be sexually arousing but does not lend to the intimacy of a real relationship. The illusion of sexual satisfaction at the brothel or an affair will prevent the individual from seeking more rewarding relationships because his itch is now scratched. Department stores and convenience store make a great profit off the PIG. The impulse items at are at the check out. As you check out your frustration of standing in line increases so, you seek instant gratification to forget the discomfort. Sate dependent learning theory is that we best perform what we learn in the emotional or conscious state we learned that behavior. Now that behaviors have experienced reward, or produced immediate gratification our senses are corrupted. The next time we experience that need we are more apt to again go for the immediate reward because our memory is of satisfaction. However, the chocolate that tastes good this minute does not satisfy the same higher incentives as good health, physical appearance, or self-esteem. We live in a fast lane and instant society. We have instant foods, can travel anywhere in minutes or hours, can reach out and touch someone on cell phones, and have many reports of over night successes. Since we all desire success, we as an affluent society try to satisfy these urges rapidly. Regretfully, some people fall prey to the PIG when incentives override their values. Those that spend the most time with the media are more subject to the to a multi-billion dollars ad campaigns that are directed to their impulses that same way that the Casinos are expert in getting you to again put one more coin in the slot. The pornography industry thrives of the PIG. That is because the small satisfaction will lead to more compulsive behavior and more money in their pockets. Addiction occurs when the individual continues behaviors despite negative consequences. To the rest of the world it looks like insanity. The individual acts like he or she values the incentive more than they value health, relationships, goals or freedom. This is an optical illusion. Everyone wants to succeed, but they are not aware of the self-imposed barriers in their way. We operate in the field that is closest to our awareness. It may appear to be a lack of will power, but will takes all the energy to prevent the very thing we focused on and in that field we have learned immediate reward. Many addicted individuals over estimate the cost of change and see these failures as lack of personal willpower. “I am stupid, ” “I am a crazy,” or “I am weak” becomes the internal tapes that play. The only way to quiet this dialogue is to repeat the addictive behavior. Each time the individual fails to get past the immediate gratification the more likely he will repeat the behavior again. And round we go in the cycle of addiction. There is a reason why “ just say no programs” of prevention are not very effective. First the introduce the idea of drugs to a population that may not have thought of it before, and then create curiosity about the forbidden fruit. There is the reason that diets fail, a second divorce is more likely after a first, or a second unwanted pregnancy occurs. Denying the pizza that represents gratification is still focused on the pizza. The restriction is perverse because it enhances the desire for the forbidden fruit. Relapse prevention program focused on how you are going to say “no” in the future only lead to more though of the forbidden fruit. Fusing on the negative have the pizza) denies gratification. Without gratification behaviors become extinct or corrupt. This is called reactance. This is a perverse preference to the object you cannot have. It is the reason why external motivation has limited successes. The desire for change must come from inside the individual. He must be will to delay the gratification in this moment for a bigger goal in the future. In order to act rather than re-act one must kill the PIG. The commitment to change must eliminate all options for the immediate gratification. Commitment is required because motivation changes with the local stimuli. Immediate gratification is myopic, it cannot see past the closest stimuli. If you are focused on the goal you cannot become focused on the stimuli at the same time. So, one must replace the stimuli and commit to a new response. Commitment means that you pledge to behave in a certain manor despite what you may be feeling at any given time. A decision to act rather than re-act strengthens the willpower. The ability to deliver on a promise increases you ability to adhere to all promises. You become who you say you are and there is no longer a conflict or need to wrestle with integrity

Hestia

Helena — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 02:23:30 GMT

Hestia the Goddess of Faith. Hestia is the Goddess and keeper of the sacred fires of the heart and the hearth. Early alters were fashion after the hearth. Fire was worshiped by early civilization because it’s presence determined if you would life or die. Hestia was the vestal virgin on Mount Olympus who kept the home hearth going. Home is the place body, spirit and relationships are nurtured and replenished. She is also know as the originator of the concept of “Sanctuary.” She is the keeper of the eternal flame that is believed to be in every dwelling and represents the energy of all life. The fires that warm our homes today may be invisible, but are still essential to life and a gift to our spirit. “At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by the spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with great gratitude to those who have lighted the flame within us.” (Noble Peace Prize winner, Albert Schweitzer.) The Olympian torch originally honored Hestia. It represents the eternal flame within each soul. Flame is the symbol of Pentecost. Faith is believing and acting, despite evidence of the unseen. "Faith is not founded on reason." (St. Thomas Aquinas.) Reason is an elaborate result of processing the knowledge gained from past experience; we need to gain wisdom from the past. Otherwise, we are in danger of making the past the future. We need just remember God as pure existence. We must have confidence that a higher order of nature, or that God will act in our behalf. All things become possible when we are no longer alone. It is what we say, and how we act that will determine our victory over defeat. Faith is the prerequisite of any undertaking. "Strong son of God, Immortal Love, whom we have not seen Thy face, by faith alone embrace. Believing where we cannot prove." (Alfred Tennyson.) Let your faith sustain your decisions, rather than confine you options. “Faith…no fear” (Neem Kavoli Baba.) “Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.” (Kahlil Gribran) “Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking.” (Kahlil Gibran). Rational thinking is circular and reinforces the errors of the mind. Faith is stepping forward and believing there is ground beneath your feet.

The Body

Helena — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 03:56:50 GMT

Modern society’s preoccupation with the body is hysteria. The media blurs images, spinning, contorted and often computer enhanced. Manufacturers are cultivating impossible ideals that leave us in dismay. Lean, young, bodies that can accomplish unbelievable feats. Tanned images with brilliant white teeth, and flowing hair are held in acclaim. Twelve year olds sell us youth cream with a promise that our thighs will look twelve forever. Vitamin companies convince us they will keep us healthy and alive for ever. “Buy this tooth paste if you want to be sexy,” a hair transplant will get you laid (Even thought intelligent women now bald men have more testosterone.), and you need poison injects if you want to look more sincere. Then, like a shell game, they flash the new standard of unattainable beauty so everyone can race to conform. What is expected is insatiable. The body cannot meet the ever increasing numbers of conflicting demands. Nothing, absolutely nothing can be done to satisfy the needs. Marketing experts invest billions to maintain the anxiety of the masses. Not only do we expect to keep up with the consumerism of material things, now we are expected to keep up a machine (body) that will ultimately break down. Nothing you can do will anchor your body in permanence. Trying to deny this is like looking at your grandmother in a leather thong. Eventually, there need to relieve conflict. Thus we turn to food and activities that numb our body sensations of the unpleasantness, and turn town the volume of our regrets. Thus, accelerating the break down of the machine. We paint and bejewel the vehicle, like putting chrome spinner hubcaps on a rusted Vega, you’re not impressing anyone. Eventually that mask only draws attention to the flaws. The body has only one purpose: to be the server of our happiness. The body can only serve happiness by not interfering with the mind. The body cannot make you happy. No matter how cute, blonde, or thin it may be, it cannot manufacture happiness. The peculiarities of the physique does not reveal what is in a persons heart. Often the flaws can can lead to being sucessful in another area. The body can not be perfected, but it can be changed. The change comes when you identify the inner qualities and increase the awareness of the heart.

Kali Ma the Goddess of Courage, Death, Rebirth, and Change.

Helena — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 22:54:08 GMT

The Hindu Goddess Kali is the most misunderstood of the Goddesses. She is not the Goddess of sex, war and violence as she is often misrepresented in the western world. In Hindu scripture the she is never represented as killing anything but demons. Kali is the Blue Black Mother of Time. Time heals all wounds. Nothing escapes from time and she kills the ego identification with the body we must eventually leave in time. She is really the most compassionate of the Deities because she provides liberation for her children when she reminds them of the existence of multiple possibilities. She is the liberator of souls and the destroyer of negativity. She always stands ready to dance courage into our life. Kali is the reminder that we never change until we have the courage to release what is outdated and unproductive. Kali represents the overcoming our fears. Once we release the ego, she as our mother becomes our greatest protector and source of comfort. True courage is not the absence of fear but the mastery of it! Courage is the belief that there is something more important that the fear. Courage is breaking free of the chains if the emotional jail of fear. Examine all emotional insecurity, worry, anger, blame, resentments, fear, depression and self-pity. Stop blaming others, and stop trying to be responsible for things beyond our control. Courage is when you do the right thing, knowing the feelings will come later. So few people realize that feelings are the caboose of the train, not the engine. Courage is the ultimate gift in time of darkness; it moves us toward the light. It takes courage to ask the Universe for these gifts.

How To Teach A Chicken To Dance

Helena — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 22:25:19 GMT

Believe the chicken is not evil. The chicken is not out to get you. Its mission in life is not to frustrate you. Reward the chicken for behavior you want. Reward the chicken with something the chicken likes…not something you think the chicken ought to like. Reward close approximations of the behavior perfectly…if he turns his head in the right. Do not wait until the chicken dances direction or points a toe in the right direction…reward him. Ignore behavior you do not want…the undancing behavior. Use little punishment. Rewards for the desired behavior need to greatly exceed any punishment. THESE PRINCIPLE MUST BE UNDERGIRDERED BY THIS BASIC RULE: “THE DESIRE FOR CHANGE AND THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR CHANGE MUST RESIDE WITHIN THE SAME PERSON.” (If one may teach a chicken to dance by following these principles, it follows that a parent could teach a child…a spouse could teach a spouse…a friend could teach a friend…a partner could teach a partner…

What must be before my death prevents me...

Helena — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 22:11:23 GMT

"...TO STOP WAR MEN MUST CREATE BEAUTY, THAT WITHOUT BEAUTY THERE COULD BE NO LIBERTY, THAT BEAUTY MUST BE THE STANDARD BY WHICH TO JUDGE THE ACTIONS OF MEN." KAHLIL GIBRAN. AH, BUT TO QUOTE AN ARABIC POET AT THIS HOUR IN HISTORY IS NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT, BUT THIS NATION GAVE HIM THE FREEDOM TO WRITE THOSE WORDS...WORDS OF BEAUTY, WORDS OF A MYSTIC WHO BELIEVE IN THE ESSENTIAL GOODNESS OF NATURE AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF ALL MAN. I AM HERE TO BE A LIGHT, AND A BEACON I SHALL BE, BRIGHT RAY, POURING FORTH FROM MY ESSENCE SINGS WHAT MUST BE BEFORE MY DEATH PREVENTS ME. I SHALL SING A PSALM OF GOD, AND HIS MASION THAT AWAITS MY RETURN. I, THE PROTICAL SON AND HEIR WILL HOLD A MIRROR TO THE MASSES. OTHER PROPHETS HAVE SANG THE ALLELUIA AND LIT THE CANDLE OF LIFE. I, TOO LLIGHT MY BRIGHT BLUE TOUCH AND SING THE PRAISE OF THE ALMIGHTY. WE CANNOT BE EXILED FROM LIFE, SO IT IS AN ETERNAL MELODY. NOTE BY NOTE THE CHOUS FORMS FROM EACH HEARTBEAT AND WILL NOT BE QUIETED UNTILL WE ARE AGAIN ONE. Helena Zahara

A HUSBAND'S LAYMENT

Helena — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 22:03:27 GMT

I’m sittin’ here holdin’ my beer Waiting for dinner; Got my ball-game on, but can’t hear a thing But some A-rab song and her cymbal ring. My Gawd, she’s at it again. Button’s off my coat; my shirt sleeves’ torn; Got ring around the collar; and my pocket’s worn. But every night that woman’ll sew, Brass, and coins, ‘n’ hip things, y'know? She’ll make a costume till her eyes are red; Why there'a even gol-dang beads in the bed! My Gawd she’s at it again. I took her down to the Firehouse Ball, But, when we got up for the square-dance call, She got them to play Hava Nagila, And shook her behind. My Gawd, she’s at it again. When the first kid came, was AI a proud pop! And was sure as shootin this nonsense would Stop! But, the baby’s first words weren’t mama or gran’ma, I could hardly believe it; she said kash le ma! My Gawd, she’s at it again. She dances while she wipes the doors, Shimmies while she mops the floors, Wiggles while she does the dishes; Ye Gods and little fishes! She’s at it again! But, y'know my friends ol’ladies get bigger and bigger. And, I’ll tell ya, she’s a happy lil thing, And when she dances for me, I feel like a king! Thank Gawd, she’s at it again! navelmaneuvers.com

What We Choose to Embrace

Helena — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 21:39:49 GMT

Tell me whom you love and I’ll tell you who you are. For where are hearts are will determine where we will invest our time, energy and finances. If we love to cook we are most likely to have invested in a well-stocked rack of fragrant spices, and if we love to play golf we are like to spend time on lush piled greens. If we love to read we will most likely have shelves filled with our favorite volumes. If we love our job we will labor in love and expend extra effort to put our special touch to the task. When we are in love with a person, we will find as many minutes in the day that we can to be close by their side. When we love God we will seek to spend all of eternity in His loving presence. Whenever are committed to a principle, a creed, a philosophy, or purpose it will define many of our beliefs and behaviors. We cannot be wholly committed some of the time. Youth in this country often embrace the idea that they long to be different and unique, but in rebellion they often looked uniformed in the antisocial movement of the week. Donned in the attire of the rebel; they wear the same shaved head, nose ring and army fatigues and gather the resemblance of a clones. Oddly they gather together with others that are “goth’s, geeks, nerds or jocks” like themselves. Like attracts like, and we are most likely to be attracted to those that are like ourselves. This is ironically true if we look at wedding announcement photos and what breed of dog one owns. I would say that those who sit in the same pew have much in common. We generally feel closer to those who resemble us in some manner. Like grapes, we gather together in clusters. The grapes in each cluster usually tatse the same. If one is sweet, the other does not taste like chicken. The are parts of our personality that we don’t embrace that wreck havoc in our lives. The more we deny certain truths about our being the more energy we expend in denial. For example it takes a lot of energy to continually change a wardrobe for the individual who has an eating disorder. The time and money spent shopping is second to the time spent eating. “But, really I just love to shop!” The gambler keeps betting on luck as long as there is a dollar in his pocket. Typically, the chemically dependent or addicted individual is the last to know they have a problem. It is only by embracing our splintered self that we can become whole.

Awareness Through Dance

Helena — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 21:35:14 GMT

We become aware of ourselves through a continuum of our body awareness and practiced behaviors. We can only perceive the world we inhabit through the body we have. We use our senses: taste, smell, sight, smell, touch, our muscle memory, sweat, tears and movement. Awareness is being touch emotions that are in our body and experiencing the world with ALL our senses. The real persona emerges when as the emotions within you are allowed to flow. Each person experiences change as events that switch from for ground to background in a rhythmic flow. This gives understanding that we are all in a constant state of change and there are continuous inner changes. We discover self and otherness by being viewed as an important part of the larger group. Raks Sharki dance allows us to go back in time and share the ancient knowledge shared in a tradition of nurture. We step our of the intermediate zone , the DMZ, of this fast paced world when the intellect is king. We step in the natural rhythm of feminine and rehearse for live as we rehearse our dance. We see the emotion on each others face as we share joy, sorrow, annoyance, and caring with familiar faces. Each becomes aware withdrawal and contact and they learn that "Maya means play." "All life is play and only the wise know it." (Fritz Perls) navelmaneuvers.com