Indholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2022 #240 i Odyssey Magazine

Community waveλength Seven Years of Ancestral Bows “Become a Zen monk and join my monk army!” exclaimed Zen Master Seung Sahn, a grand master of the Korean Zen lineage based in South Korea. I was 21 years old and I had just completed the mandatory three-month silent Zen retreat before being accepted to be a novice monk. The year was 1994 and South Africa was just about to hold its first democratic elections. There was electricity in the air and a sense of heightened anticipation. We had just opened a new Zen Centre and the Zen Masters were on their way to Hong Kong. I was trying to decide about staying in South Korea and becoming a Zen monk or going home to South Africa. We had a Zen interview…

"Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate. Jon Bon Jovi, singer-songwriter What a precious gift it is to realise that I've led an enchanted life. I've pursued so many of those ideas that have truly ignited me, indulged a love of travel that has taken me to more than 120 countries and never worked a day in a job that wasn't of my enthusiastic choosing. My life has been a printout of so many cherished dreams and aspirations. I've been a news reporter, writer and author; worked on conservation projects including one sponsored by National Geographic; helped capture giant reptiles during the Operation Crocodile rescue operation; stood on the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro; witnessed the annual wildebeest migration in…

Enlightened Business What we know for sure, is that any illusion we may have been harbouring of a predictable and orderly universe is gone. Or so it seems. If we choose to believe that. And it is hard not to when we watch what seems like a re-enactment of a biblical plague, or the angel of death flying over from home to home and taking some while others live without rhyme or reason. If my father were still alive he would shrug his shoulders, lift his hands palms up and say: "What do we know my child, what do we know?" He would then no doubt lean down towards the coffee table, take a sip of whiskey and carry on with his game of chess. I ask him for advice…

Spirit When our daughter was in elementary school, she chose a kitten to bring home, which she named Roo, after the baby kangaroo in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. When she went away to college and then work in another state, Roo and I became good buddies. He is 18 now, an honorable age for a cat. Roo is the last man standing of the four pets that once lived in our home together. He has been my companion, comforting me through my grief when my father died unexpectedly, when the other three animals left us one by one, after the untimely death of my best friend and, more recently, when my older brother passed. Toward the end of last year, Roo started coming to me less often to be held. My…

We all experience stress from time to time. However, with the world - and our lives becoming increasingly stressful, it's important that we learn how to manage our mental health better and cope with mental health issues. Yael Geffen, CEO of Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty and staunch advocate for mental health awareness, says: “Stress is a natural and temporary reaction to external triggers and, in small doses, it can be very beneficial in that it motivates us to reach goals and accomplish tasks more efficiently. “But, whilst stress typically resolves as life events change, a mental health issue is a condition rather than a reaction and it can be very debilitating, interfering with a person's ability to carry out daily functions. “The body's stress response was not made to…

To the outside world our life was picture perfect. An executive couple… The beautiful, well-appointed home in a secure estate, image-appropriate cars, private education and idyllic family holidays in enviable places. Let's start with the fact that professional women often find it challenging to be married, raise a family and play the role of the attentive and surrendered partner. Over time the jibes, the accusations and the disagreements become scathing verbal attacks and, all the while, the blame is apportioned to your inability as a woman, wife and mother to fit into traditional or cultural stereotypes. At least this is how I tried to rationalise it, excuse it and tried to make sense of it all. Over time situations escalate and become physical and this writhing mass of underlying issues…

Exploring the way forward for humanity in the face of unprecedented crisis, more than 25 contributors show how the wisdom of indigenous peoples and the power of psychedelics can help us enact the radical shift in consciousness necessary to navigate the collapse of the old world order and the birth of a new consciousness centred on awakened-heart interconnectedness. We hear from psychedelic visionaries Christopher Bache, Zoe Helene, Wade Davis, Chris Kilham, Laurel Sugden and others on the promise of psychedelic medicines for spiritual and healing work. We learn about indigenous stories to support our transformation from Native American leader Solana Booth, ancestral memory from grandmother Maria Alice Campos Freire, cannabis's role in world building from Minelli Eustàcio-Costa, the ritual roots of talking plants from Michael Stuart Ani and alchemy across…

Fabulous Fungi Where and how it starts is a subtle personal journey and, when taken sincerely, the calling is felt deep within your psyche. It draws you with an irresistible force, in ways out of your control once the intention is fully realised. That was certainly true for me, once I had shown curiosity, the intrigue deepened and, within a year or so, the opportunity presented itself when I was invited to a long weekend retreat in the Cape. Yet, with all planning, I could never fully imagine the mystical magic of my first psychedelic journey. I simply had no context, for reference, of the magnitude of it. While I understood the importance of setting, from the research I had done, the beauty of the place, the brilliance of a…

Pasta with wild mushrooms & garlic Serves 4 200g spaghetti (or any pasta of your choice) ½ Tbsp olive oil 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped ½ onion, finely chopped 250g small wild mushrooms, whole Salt and black pepper to taste 2 Tbsp fresh cream 25g Parmesan cheese, finely grated Fresh herbs Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving a cupful of cooking water. Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan; add the garlic, onion and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes or until golden, tossing regularly. Remove from the pan. Add a splash of reserved cooking water and the cream to the pan, then reduce until slightly thickened. Mix the drained pasta with the mushrooms, thickened…

Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination. Nelson Mandela It was while working at a Durban-based school for children with physical disabilities that KZN South Coast resident, Julia van Zyl, discovered the incredible power sport could have on these young lives. “While journeying with one boy, Ranetsi Manyoni, and seeing the effect that sport had in transforming his life physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, I began to wonder why it…

Praise is an expression of approval. Summer is the season for basking in the warmth of the sun and rejoicing in the freedom of vacations and celebrations, recharging and resetting in anticipation of the start of a new year. Praise Carolyn Chilton Casas Praise sunny summer days those fourteen-plus hours of welcomed light. Consider me wild about the ocean, the beach, the waves, and the games we play, each of us sparkling like glitter on water as we dip and dive for a ball. Praise to warm sand between toes, the way my body obediently follows movements communicated to it because I know life will not always be like this. Praise seagulls and pelicans the occasional osprey birds of my heart. I raise my arms, call out to them, as…

Relationships The Bliss Reset Recharge your pleasure, recharge gour life I don't know for sure how it's been for everyone else, for the past two and a half years, but I suspect that we've all been deeply stressed. A pandemic and planetary trauma have affected all of us in some way. It's been a war on our nervous systems. It's time for peace, pleasure and balance now. It's time for a reset. Often, we don't recognise the actual point on the timeline when pleasure disappears from our lives, as the experiences that replace it tend to be all-consuming; they are generally about trauma and survival. As an intimacy coach supervisor and trainer you'd think I'd be the last person to lose libido, or have to deal with the stress of…

Enlightened Business • Do we have to choose between purpose and profit, between what makes our souls sing and what pays the bills? • Does wisdom belong only in temples, or can wisdom belong at work? • Do we have to sell our souls to make a sale? Conscious leaders often struggle with the inner conflict of purpose vs profits, wisdom vs work and sales vs soul. When we look for guidance to grow a healthy business, we're met by cheesy infomercial-style, skin-crawling methods – no wonder many conscious leaders struggled to step up and step into their roles. So how exactly do we do this and is it even possible to create an enlightened business? My life has guided me to understand the Three Laws of Enlightened Business, which…

Enlightened Business In 2012 I was brought into a company to, amongst other things, set up a communication department for a section of its operations. The section was the most loathed, received consistent criticism, internally and externally and, like some service environments, was anonymous. Most people reporting complaints had never met or spoken to someone working in the department and often the blue-overalled helpers were unnamed and unknown - even to the bigger business - as they went about their work. I realised quickly that, no matter what work we were going to do with brand redesign and with creating new messaging for the company, if we didn't sort out what was happening internally and on delivery, it would be to no avail. It was supposed to be a simple…

Spirit The sum total of who you are Dear ones, as you enter through the portal of the Life-Giving Force Field kicking and screaming (as it is very traumatic to be birthed here), you take on an intended divine imprint of authenticity which is programmed by several sub-templates. First, there is the template of soulspirit decisions, which are pointers that indicate your preprojected route, from arrival right through to exit opportunities. This is overlaid by your template of influence, which includes nudges from your guides, synchronicity and intuition. Then there is the all-important map of point of entry, thus your choice of life circumstances to be birthed into, including your astrological map. Next, you have the imprint of effects that you previously left behind that are still in progress, which…

Health “When it comes to human physical and mental health, sleep is as vital as regular exercise and eating a balanced diet,” explained Tetley tea partner dietician, Mbali Mapholi. “When we don't get enough sleep, it doesn't just affect our mood, it impacts every aspect of daily life and poses significant health risks, including impaired brain activity, depression, diabetes and heart disease. That's why we believe it's important for us to share practical guidelines on getting quality sleep every day.” How much sleep is enough? Getting enough sleep is essential, but the definition of good sleep differs from person to person. Scientifically, the number of hours of sleep for young people is more than for adults. For adults aged 18 to 60 years, seven hours or more is required a…

Investing in Sanity “The moral code of our society is so demanding that no one can think, feel, and act in a completely moral way. For example, we are not supposed to hate anyone, yet almost everyone hates somebody at some time or other, whether he admits it to himself or not. Some people are so highly socialised that the attempt to think, feel, and act morally imposes a severe burden on them.” Theodore Kaczynski, Industrial Society and Its Future Are opportunities to invest in sanity matched by a willingness to respond? Early on in my career as an acupuncturist, a client whom I had been treating for glaucoma reported that, pleased with the recent drop in her eye pressure, her physician at Mass Eye and Ear encouraged her to…

Dear Women of the World After being in the background and a behind-the-scenes helping hand for many years, helping and assisting women in need of not only help but also hope, I conceived the idea of this book. Reluctant to write it at first, I finally gave in to the pressure of my friends in the victim circle and wrote it in 2021. While talking to so many victims of abuse and domestic violence it became apparent to me that more and more women just sweep the pain and shame of being abused under the rug and ignore the dangerous signs of PTSD. I realised that some victims never go for the much-needed counselling and others never even realise the different forms of abuse they suffered at the hand of…

Fabulous Fungi Medicinal mushrooms are in the limelight during this massive growth in the wellness industry. Paul Zane Pilzer, the author of The Wellness Revolution, The Next Trillion Dollar Industry, predicted that the wellness industry would become "the next big thing" and he was right. Paul mentions that this growth is largely influenced by the baby boomers, people that were born post World War II, who are now looking for ways to improve their health, look better, feel better and live longer. This, along with the advent of the Internet, making information easily and readily available, means that a quick {nternet search will result in boomers and consumers finding natural products that can assist with improving immune function and reducing inflammation in the body. A very effective way to address…

For the novice, there are no obvious signs indicating which fungi are edible or inedible and which are poisonous. By far the majority of fungi are harmless and the challenge lies in being able to discern edible fungi from those that are poisonous. There is no simple rule of thumb to determine edibility or toxicity, and the only reliable way to establish if a mushroom is edible is to make a positive identification. Although the number of really dangerous mushrooms is confined to only a few genera, these include some of the most poisonous organisms on earth. The genus Amanita contains many deadly species, with the notorious Amanita phalloides (death cap) responsible for most cases of fatal mushroom poisoning. Some Amanita mushrooms can easily be mistaken for the generally edible…

The small island of Bali has nestled itself safely inside my heart in a way that no other place could. After living in Bali and returning to South Africa, we desired to find a space to settle that would set our spirits alive in the same way that the small island had done. This is when we decided to move to the South Coast. We had already decided before we had even left Bali. Slowly, over time, this island paradise had become home and, deep down, we knew that we needed to settle in a space that reminded us of the magic that the island had brought into our internal worlds. After writing and rewriting this article, I realised that if I were to be authentic, I would have to…

Last night I dreamed of Poseidon. He, the great god of the sea and the rivers, said to me: "I give and I destroy." Blue-eyed tempestuous raging power and strength. You are terrifying… Powerful. I woke up from this dream still feeling the presence and power of the god inside me. Some dreams do that. They stay with us. Messages from the depths, asking us to pay attention. They prompt us to journey inwardly and to follow the sacred thread that leads to the gates of the underworld. The gods have been long forgotten, thread by thread removed from the rich tapestry of our inner lives. So when one meets a god, if even in a dream, it is a precious opportunity to catch the thread and weave it back…

Spirit Walking with the Masters Whereas, until about the end of the previous century, the Hierarchy of masters was able to give individual and personal attention to disciples, because of their fairly limited numbers, the position has now radically changed. Larger numbers of disciples are being trained to expedite humanity's spiritual progress and, to effect this training on a broader basis, the Hierarchy works through a group system. A master thus communicates his messages to groups by telepathically impressing a particular member who has the required sensitivity. These messages, communicated for the benefit of the group as a whole, will often refer to the individual needs of its members. Just as professors are not used for teaching schoolchildren, so the Hierarchy cannot have its senior members spend their valuable time…

Enlightened Business If your audience doesn't understand your position instantly in that first communication, you've lost them. Lee Hunt, brand strategist and thought-leader A brand that feels intuitive makes a human connection. Intuition is the innate human ability instantly to feel, understand or know something without structured rational thought. Intuitive perceptions may influence whether your customer chooses your brand or gravitates to a competitive brand/service/offering. Integrating intuition into your branding enables your business to connect with potential and existing customers on an emotional level. When using intuition in branding it engenders a feeling of care, connectedness and of being understood in the customer. It follows the natural way of things that creates a relationship of honesty and trust between the customer and the brand. The benefits of intuition are that…

Enlightened Business According to the State of the Global Climate 2021 report "food insecurity increases by five to 20 percent with each flood or drought in sub-Saharan Africa." Q. Was this this one of the motivating factors in the development of the Homefarm concept? A. This was front and centre when this was conceptualised. Food security and access to nutritious food were two of the major inspirations behind our innovation. We want to bring the farm closer to the end user and we want to empower homes, families, communities and businesses to grow more of their own food. Investing in technologies which increase food security, access to nutrition and self-sustainability are vital! Especially in a country like South Africa. Indoor farming is an important technology and can be at the forefront…

It was during the global lockdown of 2020 that I decided to begin writing my cookbook 'Living Ayurveda'. Ayurveda means the 'science of life' and, to me, the lifestyle of Yoga. To avoid a spinal fusion in my late teens, I found Yoga and, subsequently, Ayurveda. It has become 'my medicine' in both the prevention and treatments of my dis-ease and others'. For noting, I use the word 'dis-ease', as for me, this is really caused by a 'lack of ease' in the body, trying desperately to communicate with me. I took heed to the calls my body was giving and this has paved the way to my current path. My initial introduction was on my first trip to India in 2007 when, along with our Hatha Yoga training, we…

“Doesn't it just drive you crazy when you find yourself spending too much time in your head stressing about what's going on in your life?” asks Evelyn Alessandri “We have so many thoughts to process every day and it's usually the negative ones our brains love to put on repeat. It's our tendency to be negative that needs to be eliminated and this can only be done by working towards a positive way of thinking.” Evelyn suggests embracing a habit to condition your mind to improve your resilience and ability to deal with the chaos that life can throw at us from time to time. To find inner peace we need to accept our circumstance and then consciously try, by taking some form of action, to move forward with a…

Clinical Casebook According to the Oxford Dictionary, a barometer is an instrument used to measure atmospheric pressure, used especially in forecasting the weather and determining altitude. It also means something which reflects changes in circumstances or opinions. In this instance it is used in the sense of a mirror reflecting our inner thoughts and beliefs, often past trauma, old, unconscious beliefs that keep us prisoners. The physical symptoms manifesting in the body, then act as a guide to a deeper soul meaning, or lesson for growth and transformation, pointing to cell memories of blocked emotions, preventing release into healing, the wholeness at the core of our being, that which we truly are. Stress levels are at an all-time high! There are many reasons. Most importantly, we are at a point…

Fabulous Fungi Fungi - they're everywhere In the course of the day, an average human can accumulate between 10 and 100 million fungi spores on their body - they are in the air we breathe, on the food we eat and hiding in and amongst most things we touch. Taking a step outside, just a few centimetres below the soil are endless webs of mycelium, the network through which life is communicated, expressed and understood in the natural world. Mushrooms (the fruiting bodies of mycelium) are some of our most immensely intelligent forms of life on the planet and we are only just scratching the surface in beginning to understand their importance within our natural world. So abundant are they that in one cubic inch of soil there can be…

Food My first choice of career was to be an engineer, but throughout my school and university years I excelled and enjoyed being an events planner, so I decided to move to the UK to pursue this dream. Lawrie had completed a psychology degree at the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) and became a special needs teacher by day and a reservist Police Constable in Johannesburg by night. In 2009 he moved to London. Starting with just a van, by 2015 he was running his own successful international logistics company, delivering goods and event equipment throughout Europe. In 2015 I joined his team as a PA/events planner. When we met, we both thought we had hit the love lottery jackpot. Two kindred spirits from opposite parts of the globe meet in…