Dining Out

My friend from San Francisco is in town this weekend to pick her mom up and take her home with her.  I spent yesterday with her and some of it with her mom as well.  After doing all her elderly mother's banking etc we decided to go for a mid afternoon snack at Calories on Broadway.  It was 4:30 and her mom was looking quite hungry.  When we all arrived at Calories we were asked if we had reservations....AT 4:30 IN THE AFTERNOON!  AND the restaurant was virtually EMPTY, with all of maybe four tables occupied!  Of course the answer was no.  Then we were asked if we were planning on eating.  The answer was yes.  Then we were asked if we would like to make reservations for 5:30, when the dinner time chef was on.  At this point I am wondering what the hell the deal is with this coffee shop/restaurant?  We said "No, we are here now.  Don't you have anything on the menu for this time?"  Turns out they have an "Anytime" menu.  So we were seated and the menu was given to us.  But then, after we ordered our meals (burgers, sandwiches and soups etc) our cloth napkins that wrapped our cutlery were taken AWAY.  We asked if we were supposed to eat with our hands?  The server told us that we would get different cutlery.  We did....WRAPPED IN PAPER SERVIETTES!!!!

This was a very clear message that the owner of this establishment was a TOOL.  Seriously???  We can't use the cloth napkins because it isn't 5:30 in the afternoon yet?????!!!!!!  And since WHEN did this little hole in the wall require RESERVATIONS  in the first place?

All the major cities have absolutely top notch restaurants who NEVER TAKE RESERVATIONS.  It is good business to have people lined up out the door waiting to get in.  Why?  BECAUSE IT DELIVERS THE MESSAGE THAT THE ESTABLISHMENT IS SO FARKIN' GOOD THAT PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO LINE UP OUT THE DOOR.  This means that everyone is treated equally and it is first come/first serve.  And you can bet your ass that no one takes away the cloth napkins on you!

The service at Calories was great, the attitude sucked.

Calories, you have permanently lost my business.

Blessed Be
Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com
http://www.youtube.com/trentdeerhorn

Helping Herbs

"Wherever there is destruction, Sage will grow." This is a statement that I have heard over and over from many different sources of spiritual teachers throughout my lifetime. This says to me that the concept is universal, as my teachers have come from many different backgrounds and many different countries and continents. So when I hear that only "certain" people are "allowed" to utilize sage for smudging in ceremony, my blood boils. That is like saying, "Hey, you can't use candles in your ceremonies because those were first used exclusively by Anglo Saxons and therefore are the exclusive property of said Anglo Saxon descendants." How ridiculous. We don't OWN the earth and we certainly don't have copy write on any of Her gifts. They are there so that we can utilize them as needed. They are there so that ANYONE can utilize them as needed. I make smudges out of sage. That is sage that I have properly picked and sage that I have grown myself. I also make healing teas out of sage. I also use/grow/harvest my own sweet grass.

When the first people came to North America (and yes, they immigrated just like everyone else, only they did it first) they utilized the local herbs, just as they had when they lived in the European countries for thousands of years before. It just so happens that North America is not the only continent that grows sage in the wild. Go figure! So when my grandmother taught me how to smudge with sage, use it in ceremony, make healing tea out of it, she was basing her knowledge on multi-generational teachings that came from waaay back...in Europe. She did not "steal" anyone else's practices. These were HER practices and those of our ancestors. So not only is it ignorant and dogmatic when someone tries to "own" a practice, but it is also insulting.

Unfortunately there are still some circles who are so desperate to cling on to whatever remnants they have of their teachings that they are willing to trash others' practices, knowledge, and beliefs in order to do it. This is an extremely RACIST practice in and of itself, and my hope is that by publishing this entry in my blog there will be more who will read it, acknowledge the truth in it, and carry THAT forward into the world, thus obliterating this insidious racist practice.

Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com
http://www.youtube.com/trentdeerhorn

Stairway to Heaven

We all have those days when it seems we are climbing an endless staircase. The journey has already been exhausting and we are dead tired, but we can't stop now so we plug away at the staircase, unsure of where, exactly it is headed. When I have those days I go to my Portal Portrait and sit and gaze at it. As you can see from the photo, it has the set of stairs. I have titled this one Portal Portrait #1 Stairway to Heaven. Along the edge of the stairway are pillars. It felt right to have them there for support. But the top of the stairway leads to....who knows? A Portal Portrait helps us to bridge the gap between this dimension and other dimensional consciousness. This one in particular always inspires me to lift myself up to a higher level of consciousness and to see things from an overview perspective.

I am reminded by it as well that there is only so much we can do all on our own. So if I can be of service in someone else's climb, then I will be one of their pillars. And while I am doing my own climb I am grateful for those who have become pillars for me. Perhaps when I reach the top and look down upon everything I will notice that it all seems so small now. Perhaps with one more step I will discover that I can actually fly and will never again need to take the journey step by step but instead with soaring wings! Either way, I know that every step that has thus far been taken is an important one. Each step along the way has taught me something and inspired within me some aspect of myself that was before unknown. I have, as a result of the journey become something more than I came into this world originally being. Whether I change the world with one big glorious act or with one simple kindness at a time, my presence will not go unnoticed. I will remain grounded and secure while at the same time reaching new heights.

Where are you at in you journey today?

Blessed Be
Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com
http://www.youtube.com/trentdeerhorn

Remembrance Day

As most of you hopefully know, we have Remembrance Day coming up on November 11th. Just a wee little day in the year that most of the stores don't even so much as acknowledge. It amazes me that you can find Halloween, Christmas, Easter and St. Patrick's Day decorations galore but you can't find a single thing for Remembrance Day.

I think that this is indicative of the apathy that is felt by our culture and community. This is an apathy that I find to be unacceptable. This is the one day of the year that we are asked only to remember those who sacrificed their lives in a war that, had it not been won, would have screwed us up for generations. I have family that died in the war, not necessarily in defending the country we live in, but because they were of the wrong blood decent and were therefore exterminated. Generations of people are now, as a result, unborn. To think that Remembrance Day is simply a "Celebration of War" is the most indecent and ignorant perspective I have ever heard. If it is a celebration at all it is one that celebrates FREEDOM! We were able to escape the clutches of one of the world's biggest terrorists when we were able to defeat him in World War II. As a result, we are able to experience the freedom to worship whenever we want, write whatever we want, listen to whatever music we want, talk to whomever we want, and express our opinions whenever we want, even if those opinions are stupid. In a culture that is plagued with entitlement issues and tunes the rest of the world out on their ipods and iphones and generally doesn't give a rats ass about other people and only collects people on face book, I find myself disgusted that Remembrance Day is reduced to a simple ceremony that lasts all of 1 hour and then closes up shop so that our consumer-oriented society can get back to shopping. It is pathetic at best and egregious at worst.

So, for the love of God, let's honour those who sacrificed themselves and make Remembrance Day a time when we actually REMEMBER.

Blessed Be
Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com
http://www.youtube.com/trentdeerhorn