tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71676438315711520452024-02-20T18:33:35.694-08:00Living Love Revolution: Evolving Hearts Minds and root chakras everywhereReverend Teri D.Ciacchi MSW is the creatrix of Living Love Revolution! She provides heart centered, touch positive, sex positive adult education, counseling and events in the Pacific Northwest. Contact her at www.livingloverevolution@me.com or call (206) 612-3511TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-89222289002159049212010-09-20T14:07:00.000-07:002010-09-20T14:10:29.437-07:00Beloved Festival ImpactTantric Thoughts under a Waxing Moon<br /> <br />Dear Lovers,<br />Here is the web address for all five of the articles taken from William Dalrymple's book Nine Lives:<br /><br />http://killingthebuddha.com/author/williamdalrymple/<br /><br />Reading them reminded me of why I usually do not use the words Tantra, dakini or yogini to describe my work or the members of my communities. Although I do joke about my "Adventures in Dakini Land" I am ever mindful that there are people in India, Tibet and elsewhere who are true Tantric practitioners. <br /><br />I feel a deep affinity for Tantra and Tantric practices when I read the following portions of Dalrymple's text, (bold emphasis is mine):<br /><br />"In this frightening aspect, Tara is not alone, but instead part of a sisterhood who encompass the divine feminine at its most terrible: a brood of dark-skinned untameable Tantric divinities who are worshiped in Bengal, and who here take precedence in popular piety over the more familiar male gods: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. These goddesses, known as the Ten Mahavidyas, are attended by jackals, furies and ghosts. They cut off their own heads, and are offered blood sacrifices by their devotees. In the miniatures that illustrate the Tantric texts, they prefer to have sex with corpses than living men or gods, straddling them on a burning cremation pyre and bringing the dead to life through the power of their shakti. Such goddesses—embodying all that would normally be considered outrageous or even repulsive—lie at the shifting threshold between the divine and demonic, violating approved social values and customs. They are “going up the down-current,” as one Bengali Tantric once put it to me."<br /><br />and<br /> Though Tantrism only became well defined at the end of the first millennium AD, some of its constituent elements such as its goddess cults, shamanism, and sexual yoga may date back to pre-Aryan and pre-Vedic religious currents, and in many ways are fundamentally opposed to the ideas and structures of the Vedas, which emphasise the social and religious hierarchy. Tantrics, in contrast, oppose convention and hierarchy, and encourage individuals from every background to develop a mystical relationship with the deity. It is kama—desire in every sense of the word—that is to be used to achieve liberation in this life. While Tantric texts can represent an elevated philosophical tradition, popular Tantric practice is often oral and spontaneous. It aims at ritually gaining access to the energy of the godhead that created and controls the universe, then concentrating and internalizing that power in the body of the devotee. This turns the world and the body into channels of salvation, and a powerful means of merging with the Absolute, but also grants tangible magical powers to the devotee in the present.<br /><br />These definitions of Tantra resonate with me and with the kinds of ritual magicks and invocatory work I love to do. I truly enjoy the liminal spaces The "thresholds between the divine and demonic"where I am able to "violate approved social values and customs". Admittedly the only "Tangible magical power" I want as a devotee is to love beyond my ego/personality's limited understandings of desire and preferences. Lately,my particular magick seems to be consistently taking the form of holding workshops that explore the mysteries of Love and Intimacy Building. My abilities to channel and "gain access to the energy of the godhead that created and controls the universe" remains rather limited to my rather tame Western European/Greek glimpses of Aphrodite as a Golden Wave of Love and Desire and perhaps that is as it should be.<br /><br />I love that the name Tara originates in the word for "Star" and shares this with Stella Maris, & Astarte. I love knowing that Aphrodite in her origins is, as all these goddesses a Goddess of War and blood sacrifice as well as Love and desire. I believe that Aphrodite, the Peacock God and other Divine beings associated with the Star/Planet we know astronomically as Venus; is the same archetypal being seen through the different cultural lenses of humanity throughout time. It pleases me to over and over again feel the deep tidal pulls of desire and yearning and to sacrifice them to her; knowing she/he is the one true source and origin for all love and lust for me in this lifetime. <br /><br />When ever I move my heartbreak from a personal sense of despair toward the universal ache of desire located in all of humanity my weeping becomes the cry for the beloved and I am no longer lost and pitiable. I am simply a devotee calling out to the godhead in one of her many forms. Then my despair and aching heart are full of wisdom and reconciliation. Then my meditation is self-recognition and integration for I am the Goddess and she is my deepest self. I am so relieved to have found a way out of despair by simply feeling it fully and allowing these waves of sensation to move out of me in radiance and magnetism.<br /><br />My have a dear and devoted friend who is fond of reminding me that if I want a love life that has permanence and stability I am worshipping the wrong Goddess (Aphrodite). I adore her for being willing to listen to my endless stories of love, loss, passion, desire, heartbreak and infatuation. I pray she never becomes unwilling to lend me her compassionate ear. Thank you dear sister for all of your compassion and generosity. <br /><br />Lately, however, I have been getting glimpses of something that is True for me with a capital "T". It may be possible that I am not meant to have a male partner in a static monogamous relationship in this lifetime ( no really? what was my first clue??). Now I want to be careful not to create a "curse" or limitation for myself. It is clear to me at this point that when I am infatuated with a human being I get very fixated and stuck, things stop flowing. I want to have partners that share my experience of the Divine as central and human relationships as ephemeral. Devotion to Divinity above devotion to specific humans is what I had in common with my two young male yoga teacher housemates for 11 months and was, I believe the unifying field of our ability to live together in such a small space rather peacefully, (I mean really when you think about it we got on rather well all things considered). <br /><br />I have an amazing capacity to fall in love with, and then also to persistently love, other human beings. My relationships with each of you reading this is a clear testimonial/evidence of that capacity. As long as I do not get confused and think that love = people will do what I want I am fine. My experiences this past week at Beloved Festival, and my ongoing relatedness with my lovers and close intmate friends, with all of you is evidence to me that my way of loving is to be as intimate as possible and take all of us right up to the edge of social limits and customs. I know I push all of you. My love of you makes you uncomfortable sometimes doesn't it? My love for you makes me question everything I've ever been taught to believe about socially appropriate boundaries, about what it means to be straight, queer, gay, pansexual. About what it means to be married, monogamous, poly. While I actually enjoy transgressing these boundaries, I do not Love you in order to transgress. It seems to me rather that my loving, when I express it without reserve, crosses the boundaries of polite society. Perhaps this is love's nature. <br />Let me know your thoughts.TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-33980361531632451082010-01-21T00:01:00.000-08:002010-01-21T00:07:00.627-08:00Going to Hawaii!Robyn Lynn, Adele, Daenin, my Mother and I are going to play in Hawaii on the big island from Feb 16-26th 2010. While we are there we are going to play with dolphins, see Pele, go snorkling and teach at Kipuka Temple. Here is a description of our class, Join us won't you!<br /><br />Temple of the Open Heart:<br />Saturday February 20th 2010<br />Noon-10pm<br />suggested donation $100 <br />KIPUKA TEMPLE near Kehena Beach<br />on Big Island, Hawaii<br /><br />Open the gateway to the heart with Breathwork in the Round. The very most important element needed for life- oxygen, will race in and push all kinds of resistance, sadness, fear, anger and illness up and out. Life, love, insight, hope, pleasure and mystery will rush down and in. After we’ve passed through this opening, Teri Ciacchi and Robyn Lynn will lead us through practices guaranteed to increase connection and enhance closeness. You will be cradled in safety and surrounded by the sensuous. Be prepared to dance, sing, and otherwise be inspired to relaxed, full self-expression. Bring water, wear loose comfortable clothing and be sure bring an abundant potluck dish to share. This delicious event will run from Noon-10pm, with a break for dinner around 5pm. Suggested donation is $100. Limited discounts are available to those in need. Space is limited, register now to reserve your place.<br />Living Love Revolution techniques have been gathered from American Tantra as practiced by Margo Anand, Julia Henderson, the Human Awareness Institute and the works of Gay and Kathleen Hendricks. Teri & Robyn are visiting from Seattle and have taught at Network for a New Culture SummerCamp, ErosFest NorthWest, Seattle Erotic Arts Festival, Center for Sex Positive Culture, The Sharma Center, The Body Electric School,1st Annual Australian Conference of Sacred Sexual Educators in Melbourne.TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-13140464098450406102009-01-15T22:28:00.000-08:002009-01-15T22:43:45.457-08:00I am Radiant Well-BeingI am growing and expanding again. I found DaVinci's Bakery on Greenwood and 100th where wheat free gluten free goodies are made. Thanks Kallie for having such an awesome bakery full of things I can eat without getting indigestion!<br /><br />I just had a very moving and loving conversation with my friend X this afternoon. I realized last Thursday (because he told me and I actually listened), that he did not want to be in a physically intimate romantic relationship with me. I got very clear guidance this weekend that I am supposed to love him unconditionally anyway. It is somewhat difficult for me as my ego/id/identity wants to belittle him and throw a fit and say "you are an idiot for rejecting me". In fact I was already in the process of generating stories that belittled both of us because I was inauthentic about how painful it was for me to not get what I want "AGAIN!". Authentically though, I really want to keep loving him and being close to him. So we agreed we will be friends and that it is safe to have our child selves play with each other. I also had a two hour yoga session with Lance on Tuesday we talked for the first hour about Yoga's spiritual properties and I got a much deeper understanding of what Yoga is. Then we did an hour of yoga, all surrender poses and on the floor poses. He also led me in a yogic sleep visualization which was very healing. Julie Starkel is doing a blood test for me so I can learn about my vitamin deficeinces and then calculate my metabolic rate. I am learning so much about bodies! So my new affirmation is that I am learning the magickal art of shape shifting. <br />*******Below is what i sent out in my most recent newsletter***********<br />I am remarkably healthy and feeling well. I am the possibility of radiant well-being. As of Jan 7th my official 8 weeks of doctor recommended rest and recovery for my triple hernia surgery is complete! The CAT scan taken on Dec 23rd showed neither further hernias nor prolapse of any kind. I started doing water aerobics at the local pool today and am walking 2-5 times a week. The number of people who have stepped up to help me and provided me with services is amazing! I especially want to thank Dawn Lamp who is now a nutrition and well-being coach who sells Usana Supplements, Julie Starkel of Greenlake Nutrition who is my nutritionist, Emily Jennings and Ranjiv Jain who are my exercise coaches, and Lance DeMuth who created a series of Yoga Asanas for me to do as I recover. Luminara Serdar is doing NeuroModulation Technique sessions with me. check her out at <www.luminaraserdar.com><br />I can now carry things up and down stairs and walk for 45 minutes again. Being healthy is not something I assume any more. I am really enjoying learning how to eat and so many fascinating things about my body and digestion and nutrition. Wow, who knew something as essential as eating could be so complex. Food is medicine. I appear to have some kind of wheat or gluten intolerance and I would love to get suggestions for places to eat non-wheat/ gluten dishes and types of non-wheat foods that you enjoy. <br />As you can see I am not teaching much at all Jan – March 2009. I am focusing on developing my counseling practice, making art and tending to my intimate relationships. I find that my healing process requires a lot more centering of the self and alone time. I am cooking most of my own food, meditating and just being with myself. I am enjoying this process. Thanks for being a part of my community of health!TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-29348061477397287202008-09-29T02:06:00.000-07:002008-09-29T02:07:51.754-07:00Fall 2008 Time for a Love Revolution!Hello to everyone who gets my TerraFire Academy of Aphrodisiacal Living Newsletters,<br />There are big changes afoot.<br /><br />#1 I am about to change the name of my work to Love Revolution. Shortly I will have a new "Love Revolution" website at www.livingloverev.com. I will convert my blog, video, and website ASAP and my newsletter for Oct will be under the new name.<br /><br />#2 I am struggling with health issues due to the fact that I have 3 (not one as I originally thought) hernias and need a specific (laparoscopic via robotic arms) surgery.The hernias were a side effect of having such a large incision for my full hysterectomy and subsequent massive amounts of scar tissue. I do not have health insurance. I make too much to receive DSHS or get on WA basic health. My previous experience with cancer, and the fact that I am "morbidly obese" have prevented me from obtaining insurance. I do have a 100% charity from Swedish Hospital for the hospitalization side of expenses until Dec 31st 2008. I am looking for a surgeon who works or will work at Swedish and will give me both a discount and a payment plan. I am meeting with Dr Jedediah Kaufman from the general surgery Dept. at Swedish Tuesday Sept 30th at 9:15am in the hopes that he will be the surgeon to help me. Please send me healing energy, love and life force so I can retain a surgeon and receive this operation ASAP. thanks.<br /><br />#3 Okay, I really want you to join the "Next Step Together" as it is the most realistic and ambitious plan I have helped create to move us toward world peace starting NOW. I have chosen to stop being resigned and cynical and start acting powerfully. To any of you who want to participate in self-governance this is the social experiment for you. I am printing the letter below and in an attachment so you can send it on to others too.<br /> <br />Blessings,<br /><br />Teri D. Ciacchi MSW<br />"Love Revolution: clear explicit information about love, sex and relationships"<br /><www.terrafire.org> (206) 612-3511<br /><br /><br />An Invitation to Join the Next Step Together<br />In the end,
we will remember not the words of our enemies,
but the silence of our friends.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
<br />Dear Friends, Community Organizers, Visionaries, Superheroes, and everyone who loves life:
<br /><br />This letter has four parts:<br /><br />What's Going On?<br /><br />What's In It for Us?<br /><br />What Do I Do?<br /><br />What's the Plan?<br /><br />What's Going On: We're all aware of the political, economic, and environmental events converging at this historical crossroads. Even though most of us know that we could solve every solvable problem on the planet for 10% of what we spend on the world's military, the world seems stuck. Like so many of you, we've wondered for years how a revitalized democracy or a nonviolent mass movement or even love itself could ever take hold.<br /><br />But during this past year, hope for a brighter future has surprised and shocked and sometimes even frightened us.<br /><br />A very improved consensus governance system called Dynamic Self-Governance, or Sociocracy is a missing puzzle piece, a catalyst that will enable us to effectively and efficiently work together. Every week one of us sees a new application of Sociocracy, a new project,a new way to bring humanity together.<br /><br />And we have created an exciting, elegant, plan for a sustainable future. It's based on the nerve-like, deeply interwoven network of life and friendship in which we all move. The human body politic has been suffering in its sleeping, but it starts waking now with you.<br /><br />It's time to take a massive Next Step Together. That step is to powerfully connect everyone who chooses a sustainable future for the planet into a cohesive global decision-making structure—starting with the people you already know.<br /><br />This is the next evolutionary step. We might never take it. Or we might take it after we've killed billions more people and wrecked essential planetary life support systems. Or we might take it now.<br /><br />We've combined the most essential and practical strategies for building a sustainable, just earth. Now let's implement them. Really.<br /><br />What's In It For Us?<br /><br />A life.<br /><br />A practical alternative to empire, terrorism, corporatism, racism, classism, pollution, starvation, poverty, war, violence, rape, neglect, madness, disease, isolation, fear and powerlessness<br /><br />Safety in numbers Fun Community Meaning Security<br /><br />Freedom Sustainability HOPE
<br /><br />Your fair share of power -- the deepest democracy imaginable
<br /><br />An honest shot at creating and relaxing in a just world -- No kidding!<br /><br />The knowledge that you acted powerfully when you were called to do so.<br /><br />What Do I Do?<br /><br />a) Learn more about the Next Step Together at: http://nextsteptogether.net
<br /><br />b) Join the Next Step Together group on Facebook. <http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24568801853><br /><br />Then, using this letter, invite everybody you know to do the same. (Got issues with Facebook? See below.) We'd like a million people in the Facebook group by October 8. (Call the person who sent you this letter if you need support accessing Facebook!)
<br /><br />c) Get involved with the Implementation Circle process.We need local organizers, web designers, programmers, economists, event planners, activists, donors, thinkers, writers.Everyone. You have needed skills, resources and people to bring into the circle.Call or write us!
<br /><br />What's The Plan?<br /><br />a) Gather massive numbers of already connected people in the Next Step Together Group on Facebook.<br /><br />b)Implement a sociocratic governance system, connecting every Friend Group into an elegant, organic decision making structure, creating a super-majority of people who are willing to focus their power for the greatest good. Each of us will govern with equal power.<br /><br />c)Once we have critical mass, we'll collectively consent to our next, efficient, giant steps using all the creativity, innovation and skill we have. We'll act together, nonviolently, in overwhelming numbers, and make pivotal, systemic change quickly.<br /><br />This is the fastest way we know of to create the world we want.<br /><br />It seems wildly optimistic, because the human family is drowsy, just waking up. But, in their hearts, everybody really wants a safe, fun, fair world. Everybody. At least 20% of us are already ready, eager, and gathering for this. 60% of the population will join us quickly if the 20% of us with active hope and vision act powerfully now. The 80% will then offer the remaining 20% consideration and kindness no sane person could refuse, because, in sociocracy, everyone must consent to every major policy.<br /><br />Welcome to the beginning of giant, fast, smart love power!<br /><br />We look forward to seeing your wonderful face in the Next Step Together group!<br /><br />Very hopefully,<br /><br />Tim Anderson, Teri D. Ciacchi, Bradley K. Ehrlich, Robyn Lynn & Jenifer Stambaugh
<br /><br />First they ignore you,
then they laugh at you,
then they fight you,
then you win.
-Mahatma Gandhi
<br />
* Facebook has tipped. It's no longer primarily for teens: It has become the world's most popular social networking site, after overtaking MySpace. Everybody is joining. Your page will only be available to your friends and you can see and connect with them easily. We're finding old friends there and even prefer doing email on Facebook -- there are pictures and daily updates and tons of fun-looking stuff you don't have time to try.
There is, however, little doubt that Facebook is owned by hyper-capitalist neocons -- http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/14/facebook. They will make even more money if you buy the products they advertise. Don't. <br /><br />And, though your privacy is not guaranteed on Facebook, the Next Step Together will never have anything to hide: We will win the world over with love and happiness.The sooner everyone knows that, the better for us all.<br /><br />Finally, we will start our own, nonprofit, ethical social networking site and database, asap. But, Facebook is what is now, and every day we waste reinventing the wheel is another day 50,000 people unnecessarily die of poverty.TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-26248214600087972282008-06-18T15:33:00.000-07:002009-01-25T23:24:09.910-08:00What's going on in Teri's world:<br />I want to thank all of you who wrote back or called to share your experiences of how you access the Divine. It generated lots of juicy and profound conversations. Lovely to be in the world with such myriad options of Divinity. Helps me stay connected and in touch to contemplate these things. I have also really been continuing to enjoy John Welwood's "Perfect Love Imperfect Relationships" book. I find I must read and re-read sections to stay present. I am focusing on un-shelding and un-armoring my heart (in the energectic Reichian and emotional sense). I am working this into my daily spiritual practice. It helps for me to do what I call roly poly Venus Yoga basically stretches and asanas in front of my Aphrodite statue and then one of Welwood's "presencing to love" exercises every morning. Welwood's website has a lot of great articles and I recommend them.<br /><br />Those of us who have had perplexing expereinces of a incongruency in people who are spiritually adept but still somehow not whole might benefit from reading his article Embodying Your Realization : Psychological Work in the Service of Spiritual Development <http://www.johnwelwood.com/articles/Embodying.pdf> It introduces the concept of Spiritual Bypass, which I see as a spiritual development issue I frequently run into in the Seattle alternative communities.<br /><br />I reviewed the Landmark Forum the first weekend of June and saw a big "racket" I was running. I was allowing myself to wallow in a story of being heartbroken so that my addict self could be justified in continuing to smoke cigarettes. Nothing about smoking works for me, especially as a cancer survivor. I started taking the non-smoking drug Chantix. I quit smoking Friday June 13th. It is going really well this time and I do not expereince any physical symptoms of craving nicotene, which is amazing. The key here will be my ability to stay open hearted and in love with life. I am using the Welwood exercises and my daily spiritual practice to keep an open access to the Divine. <br />I am going to do some breathwork sessions with Robyn Lynn of The Present Sense. She is an amazing practitioner who is also involved with both Landmark Education and an exciting social change experiment called "The Next Step Together". I'll talk about next step again in the future. <http://www.thepresentsense.com/><br /><br />I have been blessed with several conversations with Andras Jones the creator of Radio 8 Ball http://www.radio8ball.com/ he introduced me to the Movie Black Snake Moan which. I had dismissed as potentially racist and sexist based on the trailers and cover of the DVD. I watched it found it to be quite profound about healing and sexuality and gender and the need for honor and foundational boundaries between men and daughters. I have a lot I want to communicate about this but it will have to wait until next time. I'll write again soon about the tantric implications of this movie and about my experiences with Jenny Block the author of “Open: Love, Sex and Life in an Open Marriage”.<br />What’s happening at the Apcademy of Aphrodisiacal Living this weekend and the rest of the summer?<br /><br />So Luminara Serdar will be here this weekend and is offering her Neuro Modulation Technique sessions in my house on Friday 20th only. You'll be able to find her at The Fremont Solstice fair on Saturday and Sunday as she and Peter will be selling copper cobra aromatherapy dispensers there. Here's Luminara's message to you:<br />
I will be in Seattle and doing healing treatments one day only, on Friday, June 20 using NeuroModulation Technique (NMT), an energetic modality which addresses the control systems of the body to effect immediate and durable changes with physical symptoms. To read more about NMT, please see my website at http://www.luminaraserdar.com/nmt.php. I will most likely have my amethyst Biomat to lay on during the treatments. This device emits negative ions and far infrared rays to help the body release toxins.
Sessions can be scheduled between 10am and 7pm by calling me directly at
541.653.0446.
My rate is $75/hour (normally $90, but discounted for this one day I am in town).
A session can range anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on what your body desires. We can set up the session with a time limit, or with a "body" limit, that is, we'll be done when your body feels it has had enough shift for that session.
Thank you for spreading the word, Teri!
Blessings,
Luminara Serdar
541.653.0446
www.luminaraserdar.com<br /><br />********<br />
Monday June 23rd
Landmark Home Introduction for the Sex Positive Community
7:00 pm - 10:00 pm FREE!
Seattle, WA 98115
Join Landmark Introduction leader and sex positive activist Teri Ciacchi
in an evening of Transformation. You will have an opportunity to chose
an area of your life where you are not experiencing yourself as
completely powerful and be guided through an exercise that allows you to
create a new possibility for yourself and your life. Come see what all
the buzz is about and hear what it is like to participate in the
Landmark Forum. www.landmarkeducation.com
The Landmark Forum gives you a clear, practical and usable process to
create breakthroughs in every area of your life, everyday. At this
introduction you will be invited to register in the Landmark Forum,
which is a 3-day and an evening course designed to unlock the limitless
possibilities in our lives. The tuition is $495.00. The minimum deposit
for the landmark Forum is $100.00. Included in your tuition is a
ten-session seminar series where you will be coached in applying the
principles of the Landmark Forum in your life.<br />***********<br /><br />Summer Academy of Aphrodisiacal Living Events:<br />(Detailed descriptions of these workshops available at <www.terrafire.org><br /><br />I will be traveling to Eugene Oregon to photo document the artist Judith Sparks work July 16-20th<br /><br />I will be teaching Sexy Body Sexy Mind for women only with Robyn Lynn on Sat July 26th Noon-5pm $100 person<br /><br />I will be Holding a Temple of the Open Heart Evening with Chris Poor on Saturday August 2nd 7-11pm $100 couple<br /><br />I will have a birthday Celebration on Sunday August 3rd ( my B-day is the Friday 1st but Alicia Powers asked<br />me to be a bridesmaid at her wedding that night. Congrats Alicia & Dave!) late afternoon into evening we will enjoy<br />great food, singing, poetry and good company.<br />
Clitoral Revelations at the Center for Sex Positive Culture on Sunday August 17th Noon-5pm $100 person<br /><br />Attending & teaching at Paradise Unbound August 26th-Sept 1st <http://www.paradiseunbound.com/><br />PARADISE IS COMING<br />Remember, the Center for Sex Positive Culture's yearly camp out is only 3 months away so get registered and save some money. If you've never been to Paradise Unbound, you are in for a treat. For seven days we feed you, educate you and entertain you and it's all just 25 minutes from Seattle, so if you don't want to camp out, you don't have to.TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-64828819688907139752008-06-18T15:24:00.000-07:002009-01-25T23:31:14.299-08:00Invitation to an Inquiry about the DivineJune 6th Academy of Aphrodisiacal Living Newsletter<br />What you will find below: <br />A. An essay invitation about noticing the Divine within<br />B. List of classes and events I am hosting in June – August<br /><br />A. Invitation to an Inquiry about the Divine<br />A lot has been on my mind lately. This month’s Solstice weekend marks a year anniversary of my weekend training with Andrew Harvey who coined the phrase “Sacred Activism” http://www.andrewharvey.net/. I have now thought for more than a year about creating a series of classes/workshops around the concept of Sacred Activism. So far this is the framework for what would occur in such a course: 1) It would involve having people create a daily spiritual practice for themselves of 15-30 minutes in duration. The purpose is to have the daily experience of the presence of the Divine in one’s life. This would create an inner reservoir of knowing the Divine to be present. Knowing not as an intellectual exercise but as a kinesthetic reality. 2) People would then track their ability to identify with their own Divinity/ capital “S” Self as to see if it expands. 3) People would create a project in their community that allows others to have similar experiences. It can be any kind of project but it needs to be something that allows the people involved to do what they love to do or be their deeper more connected Self.<br /><br />In reading the works of the teachers I have found such as bell hooks “All About Love” http://www.education.miami.edu/ep/contemporaryed/Bell_Hooks/bell_hooks.html<br />< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQUuHFKP-9s ><br /><br />Eckhart Tolle “The Presence of Now” and “A New Earth” <br />www.eckharttolle.com/ - <br />www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPg9DnMP2D4<br /><br />John Wellwood “Perfect Love Imperfect Relationships”,<br /><http://www.johnwelwood.com/index.htm><br /> I am always searching for exercises and experiences that will give people access to self-love. If we each had developed our own daily spiritual practice that put us in touch with our inner sense of Divinity and we strengthen our association/identity with that over our association with our ego identity we could help move our human consciousness forward. I believe we could begin to have daily experiences where we intentionally exercise our sense of ourselves as connected, peaceful, loving and complete. It might make a shift in our ability to sustain life on the planet. <br /><br />I recently have been looking at videos on the TED website ( Thanks BettyKay!) and saw both one on a woman brain scientist who was aware when she was having a stroke and another by a brain researcher who sees that intelligence is a function of prediction. We are very close, I think to a scientific breakthrough in our ability to choose to identify and possibly consciously shift to our right hemisphere functions where we experience a sense of oneness and the dissolution of the ego. I believe, having looked into this for a while that it is in our right brain that the experience of Immanence occurs. Look at the videos and let me know what you think.<br />Here is the link to the ted.com video called “My Stroke of Insight” by the Jill Bolte Taylor : http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229<br /><br />And here is the talk on brain science.<br />http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/125 <br />From the introduction: "Jeff Hawkins urges us to take a new look at the brain -- to see it not as a fast processor, but as a memory system that stores and plays back experiences to help us predict, intelligently, what will happen next." <br />He actually quotes RC theory saying that the brain looks at each new input, matches it with old/similar input, makes predictions, and acts accordingly.<br /><br />If you enjoy these two, you can search for "brain" in Ted.com and find more.<br /><br />The Divine not as transcendent, out there but as immanent, in here. One of my most recent experiences of this Knowing Immanence occurred during a phone call to my mother shortly after my return from visiting her in Cleveland last month. I was sitting outside on my patio facing the 15 ft tall Camilla Tree that lives there. The tree has deeply glossy dark green leaves and was filled just then with magenta blossoms. The sky was quite blue and luminous. I sat there with my Blackberry phone to my ear, speaking to my mother about her activities at the North Ridgeville VFW hall and her Tuesday night bowling league and how she was coping with the transition of my Grandmother’s recent death. Two Rufus humming birds began to flutter and dart around the tree. I gasped with wonder and delight as I then saw three swallows also come in and begin swooping around the tree. Suddenly for several minutes a golden glow cast itself over the whole scene and the birds and the tree and my mother and I were in a Holy moment. Time slowed down, I described what I was experiencing to her on the phone. <br /><br />My housemate Stuart pulled up his car and moved toward me and the tree and I was able to show him what was happening and he entered the moment without disrupting or dispersing it and then as he turned to look at me and acknowledge what we saw, it ended. I said goodbye to my mother and the experience faded but I was able to keep the glow of awe and appreciation going for about an hour afterwards. Last summer I was on a major quest to expand my ability to have a sense of oneness and knowing Immanence outside of the realm of sexual experiences. I have experienced sex as a pathway to the Divine for many years and had come to see that this set me up for attachment in relationships in a way that was not always in my best interest. In other words, because I so craved to know the Divine and could easily experience this during sex with another, I got very attached to my sexual partners and quite “hooked in”. Thus when a relationship transitioned away for sexual intimacy I would be very grief stricken and have withdrawals. I was not able to maintain the same level of ecstasy in my solo sex. I wanted to expand my access to the Divine so I went to see Andrew Harvey and his workshop on Rumi the Divine Beloved and then I attended the 10-day Vipassana retreat with Jude. <br /><br />I am not ready to teach Sacred Activism yet, I am still working towards it. So I am inviting all of you to look into yourself and share with me the answer to this question: “How do you access the Divine? What activities and environments bring you to the space where you know your own immanence? I want to understand all the paths to God/dess that people walk in their everyday experiences. I want to help myself and all of us have access to our own internal resources of Divinity. Please feel free to email your responses to this inquiry. <br /><br />June Academy of Aphrodisiacal Living Events<br /><br />Thursday June 5th<br />Wisdom Art Party – collage and other fun <br />7:00 pm - 10:00 pm FREE!<br />Seattle, WA 98115<br /><br />This is both a Landmark Wisdom Coursework party and an art party for anyone who wants to have fun with collage. I’ve got glue, yes paste and lots of magazines as well as collage images already cut out. Come on over and make art!<br /><br />Saturday, June 14 or Saturday June 21st<br />Super Cool Garage Sale <br />9am-3pm<br /><br />I am taking all the stuff I won’t be moving to India & Steven’s house and we are having one Killer Garage Sale together! Don’t miss out. Come early and get lots of cool stuff way cheap. Clothing, Art, Lamps, Ritual tools, Statues, Jewelry, Books, Lots of great deals. We plan to have it on the 14th but if it rains, we will have it on the 21st.<br /><br />Saturday, June 14 <br />FLIRTING FOR EVERYONE: <br />HOW TO BE AN OUTRAGEOUS AND SINCERE FLIRT<br />with Teri Ciacchi and Allena Gabosch <br />3:00 PM to 5:30 PM <br />At the Center for Sex Positive Culture Annex <br />18+ $25 <br /><br />Flirting isn't easy. In fact, it can be downright intimidating. Add on being polyamorous or someone not looking for "the one" and it becomes even more daunting. What if you just want to be yourself, have a good time and get close to people and your intention is authenticity and love without specific goals like cohabitation or marriage? What if your goals ARE cohabitation and marriage?<br />What's a person to do?<br />While flirting may not come naturally to most people, it is a skill that anyone can learn. Teri Ciacchi and Allena Gabosch have a long history of being outrageous flirts. Join Teri and Allena as they guide you through a short series of fun exercises; sharing their flirting tips and giving you the skills to be an outrageous and shame free flirt yourself.<br /><br />You will learn about:<br />* Touching someone in a flirty and non-threatening way<br />* Body postures that indicate openness<br />* Effective ways to communicate interest:<br />(no "Hey Baby, What's your sign?" "pick-up lines" allowed)<br />* How to tell someone you are interested in being intimate with more<br />than one person<br />* Exploring your own uncertainty about what you want<br />* Relating intimately without goal oriented outcomes.<br />* Being real with who you are and where you’re<br />* Feeling fear and flirting anyway<br /><br />We will create a safe and friendly atmosphere and practice flirting with each other. It will be fun and relaxed while improving your ability to get what you want out of intimate relating. See you there!<br /><br /><br />Tuesday June 17th <br />Erotic Seattle Education Salon: “ Sex Education in WA”<br />Dinner @ 6:00 pm, Salon @ 7:00 pm-9:00 pm FREE! <br />Capitol Club 414 E Pine St (Cross Street: Bellevue Avenue)<br />Our June 2008 topic for the ESE Salon is "Sex Education”: Starting at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year Washington State will join eight other states in rejecting Title V “abstinence-only-until-marriage” funding in public schools. We will discus the implications of this change in public policy. What are the characteristics of comprehensive sex education? What should kids know and when should they know it? Check out http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/real.htm for details. Come on down and we'll talk about it!<br /><br />Erotic Seattle Education Sexuality Salon Discussions occur the third Tuesday of every month in Capitol Hill. A salon is an open facilitated discussion focused on a specific topic. Each Sexuality Salon will be focused on a different aspect of Sex (bet you already figured that out eh?<br />;-)) Salons will start at 7pm and end at 9pm and are open to all people. If you are a person that has difficulty with diversity or passionate conversation you may not want to attend.<br /><br />Sex Positive intro to Landmark Mon June 23rd<br />Monday June 23rd <br />Landmark Home Introduction for the Sex Positive Community<br />7:00 pm - 10:00 pm FREE!<br /><br />Join Landmark Introduction leader and sex positive activist Teri Ciacchi in an evening of Transformation. You will have an opportunity to chose an area of your life where you are not experiencing yourself as completely powerful and be guided through an exercise that allows you to create a new possibility for yourself and your life. Come see what all the buzz is about and hear what it is like to participate in the Landmark Forum. www.landmarkeducation.com<br /><br />The Landmark Forum gives you a clear, practical and usable process to create breakthroughs in every area of your life, everyday. At this introduction you will be invited to register in the Landmark Forum, which is a 3-day and an evening course designed to unlock the limitless possibilities in our lives. The tuition is $495.00. The minimum deposit for the landmark Forum is $100.00. Included in your tuition is a ten-session seminar series where you will be coached in applying the principles of the Landmark Forum in your life.<br /><br />UPCOMING Summer Academy of Aphrodisiacal Living Events: <br />Stay tuned as I am in the middle of negotiating another Clitoral Revelations class and a Sexy Body Sexy Mind class in Seattle for July. I am also planning to teach Clitoral Revelations in Portland and to visit Eugene. I will be at Paradise again this year the last week of August and for those of you who missed the Couples tantra workshop I did in April, look here I am doing one on my birthday weekend! Yippee…<br /><br />Saturday August 2nd<br />Temple of the Open Heart<br />7:00pm-11:00pm $100 per couple<br />location given upon registration<br /><br />Join Teri Ciacchi and her teaching partner Chris Poor as we lead you and your partner through a series of exercises guaranteed to increase intimacy and enhance closeness. Gathered from a variety of places and techniques from American Tantra as practiced by Margo Anand to the Human Awareness Institute’s “Angel Walk” and the works of Gay and Kathleen Hendricks and Julia Henderson you will be cradled in safety and surrounded by the sensuous. Be prepared to dance, sing and otherwise be inspired to relaxed full self-expression. Wear loose comfortable clothing and be sure to have eaten before you arrive. Feel free to call for details or reserve your place in advance (206) 612-3511<br /><br />Personal Pelvic Viewer's now available to the public! Personal Pelvic Viewer's, invented by W. Banning Vail, and used in my Clitoral Revelations class are now available to sell to the public. Check them out on my new website at:<personalpelvicviewer.com> Slotted PPV's come in petite and regular sizes for $75 and the Photo Y PPV is available for $110. This tool will give you access to understanding female genital anatomy, no more confusion about where the g-spot is. PPV's come with clear instructions for use and cleaning. Call me to order yours today! (206) 612-3511<br /><br />PARADISE IS COMING and I'll be teaching there!<br />Remember, our yearly camp out is only 2 months away so get registered and save some money. http://www.paradiseunbound.com/<br /><br />If you've never been to Paradise Unbound, you are in for a treat. For seven days we feed you, educate you and entertain you and it's all just 25 minutes from Seattle, so if you don't want to camp out, you don't have to.TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-4531787414259008032008-06-05T09:35:00.000-07:002009-01-25T23:29:43.591-08:00Invitation to an Inquiry about the DivineA lot has been on my mind lately. This month's Solstice weekend marks a<br />year anniversary of my weekend training with Andrew Harvey who coined<br />the phrase "Sacred Activism" http://www.andrewharvey.net/. I have now<br />thought for more than a year about creating a series of<br />classes/workshops around the concept of Sacred Activism. So far this is<br />the framework for what would occur in such a course: 1) It would involve<br />having people create a daily spiritual practice for themselves of 15-30<br />minutes in duration. The purpose is to have the daily experience of the<br />presence of the Divine in one's life. This would create an inner<br />reservoir of knowing the Divine to be present. Knowing not as an<br />intellectual exercise but as a kinesthetic reality. 2) People would then<br />track their ability to identify with their own Divinity/ capital "S"<br />Self as to see if it expands. 3) People would create a project in their<br />community that allows others to have similar experiences. It can be any<br />kind of project but it needs to be something that allows the people<br />involved to do what they love to do or be their deeper more connected<br />Self.<br /><br />In reading the works of the teachers I have found such as bell hooks<br />"All About Love"<br />http://www.education.miami.edu/ep/contemporaryed/Bell_Hooks/bell_hooks.html<br />< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQUuHFKP-9s ><br /><br />Eckhart Tolle "The Presence of Now" and "A New Earth"<br />www.eckharttolle.com/ -<br />www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPg9DnMP2D4<br /><br />John Wellwood "Perfect Love Imperfect Relationships",<br /><http://www.johnwelwood.com/index.htm><br />I am always searching for exercises and experiences that will give<br />people access to self-love. If we each had developed our own daily<br />spiritual practice that put us in touch with our inner sense of Divinity<br />and we strengthen our association/identity with that over our<br />association with our ego identity we could help move our human<br />consciousness forward. I believe we could begin to have daily<br />experiences where we intentionally exercise our sense of ourselves as<br />connected, peaceful, loving and complete. It might make a shift in our<br />ability to sustain life on the planet.<br /><br />I recently have been looking at videos on the TED website ( Thanks<br />BettyKay!) and saw both one on a woman brain scientist who was aware<br />when she was having a stroke and another by a brain researcher who sees<br />that intelligence is a function of prediction. We are very close, I<br />think to a scientific breakthrough in our ability to choose to identify<br />and possibly consciously shift to our right hemisphere functions where<br />we experience a sense of oneness and the dissolution of the ego. I<br />believe, having looked into this for a while that it is in our right<br />brain that the experience of Immanence occurs. Look at the videos and<br />let me know what you think.<br />Here is the link to the ted.com video called "My Stroke of Insight" by<br />the Jill Bolte Taylor : http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229<br /><br />And here is the talk on brain science.<br />http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/125<br />From the introduction: "Jeff Hawkins urges us to take a new look at the<br />brain -- to see it not as a fast processor, but as a memory system that<br />stores and plays back experiences to help us predict, intelligently,<br />what will happen next."<br />He actually quotes RC theory saying that the brain looks at each new<br />input, matches it with old/similar input, makes predictions, and acts<br />accordingly.<br /><br />If you enjoy these two, you can search for "brain" in Ted.com and find<br />more.<br /><br />The Divine not as transcendent, out there but as immanent, in here. One<br />of my most recent experiences of this Knowing Immanence occurred during<br />a phone call to my mother shortly after my return from visiting her in<br />Cleveland last month. I was sitting outside on my patio facing the 15 ft<br />tall Camilla Tree that lives there. The tree has deeply glossy dark<br />green leaves and was filled just then with magenta blossoms. The sky was<br />quite blue and luminous. I sat there with my Blackberry phone to my ear,<br />speaking to my mother about her activities at the North Ridgeville VFW<br />hall and her Tuesday night bowling league and how she was coping with<br />the transition of my Grandmother's recent death. Two Rufus humming birds<br />began to flutter and dart around the tree. I gasped with wonder and<br />delight as I then saw three swallows also come in and begin swooping<br />around the tree. Suddenly for several minutes a golden glow cast itself<br />over the whole scene and the birds and the tree and my mother and I were<br />in a Holy moment. Time slowed down, I described what I was experiencing<br />to her on the phone.<br /><br />My housemate Stuart pulled up his car and moved toward me and the tree<br />and I was able to show him what was happening and he entered the moment<br />without disrupting or dispersing it and then as he turned to look at me<br />and acknowledge what we saw, it ended. I said goodbye to my mother and<br />the experience faded but I was able to keep the glow of awe and<br />appreciation going for about an hour afterwards. Last summer I was on a<br />major quest to expand my ability to have a sense of oneness and knowing<br />Immanence outside of the realm of sexual experiences. I have experienced<br />sex as a pathway to the Divine for many years and had come to see that<br />this set me up for attachment in relationships in a way that was not<br />always in my best interest. In other words, because I so craved to know<br />the Divine and could easily experience this during sex with another, I<br />got very attached to my sexual partners and quite "hooked in". Thus when<br />a relationship transitioned away from sexual intimacy I would be very<br />grief stricken and have withdrawals. I was not able to maintain the same<br />level of ecstasy in my solo sex. I wanted to expand my access to the<br />Divine so I went to see Andrew Harvey and his workshop on Rumi the<br />Divine Beloved and then I attended the 10-day Vipassana retreat with<br />Jude.<br /><br />I am not ready to teach Sacred Activism yet, I am still working towards<br />it. So I am inviting all of you to look into yourself and share with me<br />the answer to this question: "How do you access the Divine? What<br />activities and environments bring you to the space where you know your<br />own immanence? I want to understand all the paths to God/dess that<br />people walk in their everyday experiences. I want to help myself and all<br />of us have access to our own internal resources of Divinity. Please feel<br />free to email your responses to this inquiry.TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-34198137670033286182008-05-20T01:57:00.000-07:002009-01-25T23:33:46.980-08:00You will be revealed by your actionsLet it be Known<br /><br />To the person(s) who sent me the anonymous letter dated 5/16/08 mailed from a 981 zip code. You are engaging in the following legally defined crimes; libel, slander and harassment, (feel free to look it up if you need to be sure). I am filing a third police report. I want you to stop spending your time and energy trying to upset me. Everything you do is transformed into positive action that strengthens my resolve to be completely self-expressed and empowered in my work. I will gladly meet you and engage with you in person or on the phone to discuss your concerns. You clearly know my address and phone number. Although your letter ends with an offer for me to call you, you forgot to leave any identifiable contact information.<br /><br />Let it be known that I am open to clearing anything from the past with any person(s) who will meet with me and agree to non-violently communicate their issues and concerns. I am willing to openly negotiate and behaviorally define “non-violent” in advance of our meeting. I urge anyone who has incomplete, unresolved communications with me to get in communication with me as long as that communication comes from an authentic clearly identified source and is held to my definition of “non-violence”. Show yourself. Identify yourself. Have the courage to come forward and be as open to scrutiny and opinionated judgment as I am. Stand behind your concerns and speak your mind freely and deal with the consequences as I do. I commit myself to investigating whatever shadow part of my own inner nature has helped to manifest your behaviors. If I have offended, upset or hurt you, then openly communicate your grievances to me. Allow me the opportunity to make amends. I am willing to look at and listen to any injury I may have caused you. I am human. I make mistakes. Please forgive me.<br /><br />To any and all people who have engaged in the anonymous and repeated attempts to interfere with my work and my peace of mind and my financial success and my stable housing since Monday May 6, 2008:You will stop harassing me immediately. You will stop calling innocent workers whose time and energy you are wasting by sending in fake requests for services and help. You will stop using the anonimity of the internet to trick people by falsely responding to their requests in my name. You will immediately stop interfering with my life work by calling any one I am doing business with and lying about me. <br /><br />Let it be known that I am doing everything I can to identify you including considering hiring a private investigator. If I choose to do this I will follow up this action by hiring a lawyer to sue you for defamation of character, libel, slander and harassment. I will make my decision by the next dark moon. <br /><br />I affirm that we are connected in a common humanity. I surround you in light. I pray that the miraculous and healing power of love that guides me will enter you and transform your upset into compassion. May the energy you have been spending to interfere with me be transformed into a powerful urge to become self-aware. I declare that you will stop your projections of self-loathing and fear and refocus on self-actualization and liberation. May you come to know the true power and protection of living by the guidance of your inner divinity instead of the fears of your ego. <br /><br />I exist within in a Circle of Divine Protection,<br />I operate in accordance with Universal Law,<br />In the names of Aphrodite, Isis, Hecate, Minerva and Lord Ganesha<br />I declare that all persons acting with the intent to harm me have been stopped.<br />As I Will it So Mote it Be!<br /><br />Teri Dianne Ciacchi aka TerraFire <br />Tuesday May 20th 2008<br />(206) 612-3511TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-76503760499280129642008-05-09T08:35:00.000-07:002009-01-25T23:34:18.483-08:00Ballard Odd Fellow's Hall "Does the Right Thing"Here is the copy of the Press Release issued by Bob Duniway the Grand Lodge Master I hope I got that title correct) of the Odd Fellow's. Please feel free to send him a thank you note.<br /><br />Ballard Odd Fellows<br /><br />Contact: Bob Duniway For Immediate Release<br />Phone: (206)372-4164<br />Email: rduniway@seattleu.edu<br /><br /><br />COMPLAINTS RECEIVED ABOUT KINKY CARNIVAL EVENT IN BALLARD<br />Ballard Odd Fellows Respond to Controversy<br /><br /><br />On the evening of Saturday, May 10th the 4th Annual Kinky Carnival is taking place in the Ballard Odd Fellows Hall on Market Street. While the event is advertised as “A delightful and safe playground for the secret (or not so secret) hedonist in you.” at least a few individuals don’t see it as delightful. The Ballard Odd Fellows have received a few phone calls from upset individuals threatening to disrupt the event with protests and by calling the police.<br /><br />The Odd Fellows, who are not involved with organizing or sponsoring the event, but merely renting out their hall, were taken by surprise by these messages. “When this group approached us about renting the hall, we had a clear conversation with them about respecting our neighbors and not being willing to rent if the event would be disruptive,” said Bob Duniway, past President of the lodge, “so we were initially concerned that they were violating that agreement with their advertising.” Specifically, the lodge representatives had been assured that advertising would be tasteful and low key, and that nothing in the advertising would imply that the event was being sponsored or endorsed by the Odd Fellows. “From all the advertising material we have seen so far, there isn’t any association between this group and our lodge. So some individuals or a group went to extra effort of finding our hall rental phone numbers and called us to complain and threaten action.”<br /><br />The fact that the lodge rented the hall for this event was not viewed as a judgment about the nature of the event on the part of the lodge. “We have a hall available for rent, and a community organization approached us wanting to hold an event. We signed a rental agreement after discussing the nature of the event, and being assured it would not involve any illegal conduct, endanger the building or anyone in the building, and wouldn’t disturb the neighbors. The Ballard Odd Fellows are not a particularly judgmental group, and we didn’t make a judgment either condoning or condemning what people were going to be doing in this event. Apparently there are a few people who feel differently, and who are going to some trouble to try to prevent or disrupt this event. At this point there is some danger that protests may disturb the community when the event itself otherwise wouldn’t.” Duniway observed. “Hopefully it won’t turn out that way.”TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-47016592569817300592008-05-08T07:53:00.000-07:002009-01-25T23:38:55.528-08:00Harassment of the Kinky CarnivalHarassment<br /><br />On Tuesday morning I called the Seattle North precinct Police Department to request that a report be taken for the following harassments: 1) various limousine and taxi cabs were called and reserved in my name and with my phone number, My count is that there were 9 of these reservations made. The first call I received from a limousine waiting outside my house to take me to the airport occurred on Monday may 5th at 6:15am PST, at the time I was with my mother at her eye doctor appointment in Cleveland Ohio 9:15am CST. The last call I received from a taxi service that was reserved by someone else in my name was on Tuesday morning around 9:30am. By this time I was apologizing and asking the taxi dispatcher for information about the person who had made the reservation. Susan Alhadeethy (a lovely helpful person who was sorry I had been harassed), of the Airport Limousine service (206) 551 9477 told me a woman using my name and phone number had placed the call. This kind of blew my theory as I was imaging that the person making the phone calls was the same guy that had started stalking my friend Rosemary just two days earlier. <br /><br />The second form of harassment I experienced was also a fake identity over the phone situation but this one took more time and involved the use of Craig's list. I received a call from a man named Jay who said he was calling me because I had responded to his ad on Craig’s list. This man was kind enough to read the text of the email to me, it was " I need you, I want you , Call me right now!" with my name and phone number. I am grateful that this man was brave enough to talk with me for a moment. I explained that while the contact info was mine, I had not responded to his ad on Craig's list. I apologized for the inconvenience and wished him well. It was 11:20pm and I was at SeaTac airport I had just gotten off a delayed flight from Detroit, MI. Through out the day I had been receiving phone calls from blocked numbers and private numbers, I would say I received about 6 of these calls. When I answered the phone I said, Hello this is Teri Ciacchi can I help you and the person on the other end of the phone would hang up. I do not know it this is the same person or many people but I do think it possible that they could have been other people, like Jay , who had been given my information as If I were responding to a Casual encounters ad on Craig's list. Fits in with the stalker dude profile I think, I wonder if it's that guy?<br /><br />The third form of harassment has been much more alarming as it intentionally incited fear and upset. People made calls and sent emails to the Caretakers of the Ballard Odd fellow’s hall complaining about the Kinky Carnival being held there and intentionally misrepresenting my work. Below is part of the text of an email send to the caretakers by a man claiming to be writing on behalf of himself and his wife. The email address given is: "Jim Stuart" <jimstuart3639@yahoo.com><br />And this is the partial text that I am most concerned about: <br />" This woman, Teri Ciacchi openly advertises a sex business on the Internet (pretty stupid), seems to have a house of prostitution, but calls the staff "sacred intimates". Lt. Eric Sano, commander of the Seattle Police Department's vice unit has been aware of her operation for sometime and had already received numerous other complaints about this public sex event you are having May 10th. I think you will be getting some press on this that will not be favorable."<br /><br />Now I immediately want to defend myself. And refute each part of these false accusations and I may do that here in my blog if I have time later today but I am pretty busy trying to get the Carnival together in the middle of all this harassment. Those of you who are familiar with my work as an internationally known sexologist and sex positive therapist and know how that differs from prostitution can immediately see why this type of harassment alarms me. I am going to file a second police report today based on the contents of this email ( which I received last night). I also now have a partial log of the phone calls that were made. It seems that people giving the following names called the caretakers on Monday afternoon May 6th, same day as I got the taxis and limos sent to my home: an alleged George Houser called on behalf of himself and his wife, an alleged Serene Jacobson called and then a woman calling herself both Mary Skyler and Mary Carter and giving the phone numbers 425-455-8820 and 206 555-9822 called the caretakers twice on Monday and again yesterday morning. She also placed a phone call to an officer of the Odd fellows Hall on Monday afternoon. In addition to making the accusations about me being a prostitute and running a show of live sex acts and besmirching the community of Ballard with my dangerous sexy self, these people claimed to have received a flyer sent to their homes. What I believed actually happened is that they found this blog and read it out loud to the caretakers as if it were something they had received in the mail. I have not seen an actual flyer and I did not mail anything to anyone’s home.<br /><br />The callers have promised a protest and to call the police etc. ad finitim ad nauseum. I have called the police and called the reporters. The Caretakers of the Odd Fellows Hall have been informed not to take any more of these calls if possible. The Lodge master of the Odd Fellows hall has assured me they will not pull the event. The Grand Lodge master has issued a press release in support of my renting their venue. I am giving an interview on KIRO radio with Erin Covin this afternoon. I am going to stop typing this email in order to do a couples counseling session and then I will return to the work of generating the Kinky Carnival.TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-9757867014871664372008-04-22T09:09:00.000-07:002009-01-25T23:39:23.417-08:00It's Kinky Carnival TIme!Wow, It's almost here: The 4th Annual Kinky Carnival! <br />Saturday May 10th $25 at the door<br /><www.kinkycarnival.org><br />It's being held at the Ballard Odd Fellows Hall at 1706 NW Market.<br /><br />Check out this article about last year’s Kinky Carnival<br />"Kinkfest provides a room to romp If your curiosity, um, is aroused"<br />By ATHIMA CHANSANCHAI
P-I REPORTER<br /><http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/315412_kinky12.html><br /><br />We have 2 new booths: Bite: Receive a bite on your area of choice<br />Ask: No question too Kinky, no non Kinky question too strange.<br />in addition to all the regulars: Kiss, Cuddle, Pierce, Whack, <br />Sensation, Rope, Submit, Zap, Yum, Pierce, Confess, & Ground.<br />We are so organized this year! And the performances are better<br />than ever, Moorea Mallatt, Adra, WIll Wright with D,J, Lui Ying.<br />Tickets are available at Babeland, WIld at heart and on line at <br />Brown Paper TIckets!TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-21626651337703742512007-11-26T23:17:00.000-08:002009-01-25T23:41:45.352-08:00Life in GreenLakeLast posting was in July after my Vipassana retreat. many many events since then. I was diagnosed with Endomitrial Cancer on Sept 9th and had a full hysterectomy on Sept 27th and was moved into a new house with roomates Beckie & Robyn on Oct 1st. SO many things so swiftly. Now it is the very end of November. Robyn has moved into a new house in West Seattle and Stuart is moving in with Beckie and I here in Greenlake. I have been immersed throughout my illness and recovery in the Landmark Education program called "Introduction to Leaders Program". This means that for 10-20 hours a week I study and intern to become a Landmark Home Introduction Leader. It is a new skill set for me that really calls for new behavior in many areas of my life.<br /><br />I am struggling with medical bills as I had no insurance and still needed to get the operation that removed cancer from my body. I am grateful that they performed the operation without requiring money up front. I know I will find a way to pay for everything but honestly I am now strugggling to make sure that worry about money does not recreate the energetic place of being physically ill. I believe I am learning a great many things on a deep level of consciousness that I cannot articulate well. I know that I am learning these things because my behavior is changing and my reality is changing and I am keeping up with it. In Sept I was living in a studio apartment by myself on First Hill. Now I live in a luxurious house with a spa tub and a garden next to a big lake. The house is called The Center for Embodiment and it is definately a place where community occurs.<br /><br />Stay tuned for more info soon.<br />Blessings,<br />TeriTerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-47168990824897001192007-07-09T17:08:00.000-07:002009-01-25T23:42:03.367-08:00Is it July already? Vipassana's Sacredly Activated<p class="MsoNormal">Summer, Blessed Summer is here! I am a Leo baby ( August 1<sup>st</sup> ) and always feel my best in the summer!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have some lovely experiences to offer you this week and sincerely hope you’ll join me: Holistic Peer Counseling Thursday, <st1:city><st1:place>Temple</st1:place></st1:city> of the Open Heart for Women Friday, Brianca’s amazing video on Saturday and Wicked Strip on Sunday! Sex Positive Community and Emotional well being for everyone, Hooray!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I am freshly mentally flossed from my 12 day Vipassana meditation retreat. Vipassana is a very pure, simple form of meditation which is believed to have come directly from the work of Gatama the Buddha. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">My dear friend Jude went with me and we spent 10 days doing a rigorous routine that went like this: awake 4am * meditate 4:30-6:30am * breakfast 6:30 free time until meditating again 8-9am * meditate again 9am-11am * Lunch 11am-1pm * meditate 1-5pm * tea & fruit at 5pm * meditate 6-7pm * discourse video with S.N. Goenka 7-8:15pm * meditate 8:15pm-9pm * questions with teachers * lights out at 10pm Sleep. This was my schedule for 10 days. Oh yes and did I mention you cannot talk except: 1)to ask the manager for something when you have an emergency need such as a flashlight or 2) to have a private or public question with the teachers. For the first three days you are simply focusing on the natural flow of your breath in the small triangular space between your upper lip and around your nostrils. This is called anapanna. On the 4<sup>th</sup> day you actually learn Vipassana which is focusing on physical sensations and becoming neutral about whatever cravings or aversions arise in your consciousness. On the 7<sup>th</sup> day there begins a focus called “fierce determination” where for an hour on three separate occasions you attempt to not move your arms and legs or open your eyes.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I learned a <st1:place>LOT</st1:place> about how my mind works. I learned without doubt about all of my physical addictions and my overall levels of fear, desire, love and self-acceptance. I had one long experience of ecstatic bliss accompanied by a vision and physical shaking. I had many more hours of distraction and disappointment with my inability to focus on reality. I experienced my ability to overcome physical sensations and distractions. I got crystal clear on my flaws and my strengths.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I also enjoyed my amusing, bizarre and creative mind. There is quite the juke box in my head. I wrote a comic book, made up new Podcasts, redesigned my website, and came up with lots of new workshops. Such is the nature of desire in a human form. And hey, I survived and I feel really strong, maybe even a bit invincible, (anybody else hear a Helen Reddy song in there, geesh!).</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I also had a wonderful time visiting my family in <st1:place><st1:city>North Ridgeville</st1:city>, <st1:state>Ohio</st1:state></st1:place> and deeply took in the 3 day Andrew Harvey workshop in <st1:state><st1:place>New York</st1:place></st1:state>. I am going to write about it all in more detail, so be ready to check out my blog again after a 2 month hiatus.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I’m glad to be back to my <st1:city><st1:place>Seattle</st1:place></st1:city> life. I am taking a deep look into my desire to have a stronger sense of family and thinking about intentional community again.<br /></p>TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-66379562708826069882007-03-09T12:22:00.000-08:002009-01-25T23:42:45.288-08:00I forget I'm Holy and remember the Kinky Carnival<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Well sometimes I am just “in it”. I am not aware of being holy I am not well, I am depressed and cynical and disappointed in myself and other humans. This morning is one of those times. The best way to transform this is to express gratitude and appreciation for what I do have in my life rather than obsessing about what I do not have. Here then, is a list of what I have in my life and who I am being in my life. Last night in the Living Passionately seminar I am taking at Landmark, Michelle Buchanan asked us to answer the question, what is our life being used for.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I immediately said that my life is being used for Human Liberation and Sexual Healing.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">My life is being used for Human Liberation and Sexual Healing. I have gratitude and appreciation for my ability to do this work and for being given the opportunity and skills to provide space for other people to heal. I held an Aphrodite Temple for 24 people over the weekend. Creating and maintaining Sacred Sexual space for people in a group of that size is challenging. It was a first time experience for all but 4 of the people who participated. A lot of energy was raised and continues to resonate in our lives from that co-created experience. I am grateful for the gift of being able to channel Divine energy at this level.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have safe and stable housing. I have an abundance of money which comes to me from doing my true life’s work which is the transformational work of sexual healing and the liberation that comes from this healing.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have an amazing strong and unending connection with my family of origin. I know they are there for me and love me fiercely. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I am deeply loved and held as a healer and spiritual teacher by an unknown ( but definitely large) number of people. I have been able to be a loving influence in their lives.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I am given an ongoing supply of ideas and deep intuitive knowing that provide the inspiration for my classes and workshops.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I can invent and then co-create amazing community events like the Kinky Carnival and know that literally hundreds of people will enthusiastically volunteer to manifest it and hundreds of people will attend and have meaningful and potentially transformative experiences.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This list is the tip of the iceberg and now I feel very present to my value and worth in the world. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Today I am working on the Kinky Carnival, getting it up off the ground. I am excited!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">If you want to get involved in the Kinky Carnival as either a volunteer or an attendee please contact me.</p>TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-69073889851294285942007-02-19T17:22:00.000-08:002007-02-19T17:28:21.874-08:00Reverently Sex Positive by Teri D. Ciacchi MSW<p class="MsoNormal">The following essay was written in direct response to an article by Jim Goad entitled "Positively Sex Negative" published in the Feb 07 issue of Seattle's Underground magazine. The underground is a magazine full of adds for erotic events and services whihc has advertising from Seattle Erotic Art Festival ( via the Wet Spot) local burlesque troups and other performance artists and erotic photographers etc. You can find a copy in a coffee shop near you in Seattle ( well for a little while longer at least). I was so offended by Mr. Goad's article that I called the magazine editor John Voge and after a few conversations wrote this response which will be published in the March 07 issue.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p>“<a href="http://en.thinkexist.com/quotation/ridicule_is_generally_made_use_of_to_laugh_men/11277.html">Ridicule is generally made use of to laugh men out of virtue and good sense, by attacking everything praiseworthy in human life.</a>”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Joseph Addison<br /><br />As the creatrix of the TerraFire Academy of Aphrodisiacal Living, <www.terrafire.org>, my life work is creating a sex positive culture that is respectful and empowering for all people. Obviously "all people", includes people in wheel chairs, people who are HIV positive, fat pagan women like myself, and unfortunately even Jim Goad. In his "Positively Sex Negative" essay, Goad solidly aims his ridicule at people whom he identifies with the term sex positive. As a person who has been intentionally building sex positive culture for more than twenty years, I assert that Goad is ignorantly attacking the very people who have made it possible for him to have a forum of free speech on sexuality that is openly available in public venues. In the 1980's, right here in the good old U.S. of A, it was not okay to have a magazine with explicit photographs of women wearing fetish gear in the lobby of a coffee shop, or the local Sex Positive Community Center. What's that? You've never heard of the S.P.C.C.? Oh that's right, you probably don't belong to the Wet Spot, (which now has over 9,000 members), because you are sex negative. Still it is in the lobby of this amazing non-profit organization that I found your hate-mongering article.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--><!--[endif]--> Lest I be accused of being from a "protected background" with a trust fund, (and where the hell are you from with your predictable misogynist, able-bodied, prejudicial ranting?), I will begin with data regarding my origin. I am from an Italian, German and French, working class, blue-collar family in the rural outskirts of Cleveland, Ohio. My father was a concrete foreman whose true love was drag racing. In her late thirties my mother worked at McDonald's to afford classes at the local community college. Just last month she retired from her decades long work in the procurement dept of the U.S. Navy. I am the only person in my immediate family to have college degrees and I got them through the blood sweat and tears of my family's work ethic. I created and continue to run my own business providing counseling and adult sex education classes. My expertise in the field of sexology comes from 10 years of providing sexual healing, adult education and counseling. And yes, as a matter of fact, my work does provide liberation for people. Freedom from not only the " rusty shackles" of Puritanism but also the poisonous cages of self-loathing and isolation that cause them to project their loathing onto others in the form of verbal, psychological, physical and sexual abuse. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--><!--[endif]--> Now, what does sex positive mean? Dr. Carol Queen offers this definition: <i>"Sex-positive</i>, a term that's coming into cultural awareness, isn't a dippy love-child celebration of orgone – <b>it's a simple yet radical affirmation that we each grow our own passions on a different medium</b>, that instead of having two or three or even half a dozen sexual orientations, we should be thinking in terms of millions. '<i>Sex-positive' </i>respects each of our unique sexual profiles, even as we acknowledge that some of us have been damaged by a culture that tries to eradicate sexual difference and possibility."<br /> Excerpt from "<i>Real Live Nude Girl: Chronicles of Sex Positive Culture</i>" © 1997 Cleis Press</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sociology is the study of human society, and the field of study where the history of social change movements can be found. Anyone wishing to learn about this can read these books: Feminist Theory from Margin to Center by bell hooks, Dismantling Privilege by M. E. Hobgood, Race Class and Gender, an Anthology By Andersen & Collins, the Sociologically Examined Life by Michael Schwalbe and<span style=""> </span>many others available in public libraries.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--><!--[endif]--> Sex Positivity is one of the most recent developments in a legacy of human rights campaigns. The sex positive movement has its roots in the civil rights campaigns of the 50's and 60's. I owe my passion for sexual liberation to my study of Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Emma Goldman, and others who bravely followed their own conscience when the culture they lived in opposed it. As a sex positive activist I am aligned with the feminist and gay liberation movements I grew up in and the transgendered, intersexed and gender fluid civil rights movements of today.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">"None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free.” Goethe</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Incest, rape, sexual assault, abuse and harassment would not exist in sex positive culture. The term sex offender would be obsolete. Being raised in the mainstream culture of the U.S.A. provides social indoctrination that predisposes people to have experiences of sexual oppression, exploitation, and repression. Relationship role models are based on non-consensual domination and submission. Sex is a commodity that is bought and sold rather than an act of intimacy or pleasure freely exchanged. We use and are used by sex in order to find acceptance, approval, punishment and reward rather than moving into sex from self-respect or honoring acts of lust as a natural impulse.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--><!--[endif]--> Goad's writing is a perfect example of the immature, empathy impaired,<span style=""> </span>average American male representation of sex. A dangerous combination of impoverished sexual self-esteem, limited and unsatisfying sexual experiences, inability to investigate authentic desire and a refusal to believe in the possibility of other perspectives. Like a boy with no skill in ejaculatory control he squirts his opinions at us without concern for where they land. As if the mere fact that he can come, and his rooster crowing assertions of virility give him any stature as a sexually desirable human being. Proclaiming who you want to fuck as worthy of having sexual existence and who you do not want to fuck as unworthy of sexual existence is neither sex positive or sex negative, Mr. Goad, it is simply narcissistic.</p>TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-87343826066670647892007-02-06T23:25:00.000-08:002007-02-06T23:27:39.647-08:00Greetings Divine Beings:<br /><br />Imbolc, or Groundhog's Day with a full moon in Leo was last Friday Feb<br />2nd. Imbolc is a lunar Wiccan High Holy Day. It is a time of<br />"Quickening" when the flame of the spirit reenters the Earth element.<br />Wow what a great day to get recharged. I had a great evening staying<br />home and getting organized. I also had an opportunity to listen to a<br />CD<br />of Andrew Harvey's talk fro the 6th annual conference on Shamanism and<br />sacred sexuality. Several of my friends attended and I am inspired to<br />go next year. I also had seen a DVD of his keynote speech. Thanks to<br />Dawn F. for giving me access to these as well as 2 CD's of Margot<br />Anand.<br /><br />Andrew Harvey is a Gay Mystic, Tantric Scholar and radical<br />environmentalactivist who holistically ties many threads of body and spiritual<br />practices together. He is a true visionary who explains in his work<br />that the purpose of practicing Tantra is to attain states of bliss<br />thatawaken our beings/consciousness to our immanent divinity. He calls us<br />to do this work so we can awaken and tend to the environmental crisis of<br />the planet at this time. The Earth as the Divine Feminine, the Mother<br />Goddess is suffering due to the lack of balance between the masculine<br />and feminine. This theme continues to be repeated in my presence over<br />the last 2 months. I feel called to give myself to the cause of sexual<br />healing even more urgently. I am going to be more fully expressed in<br />offering my work and these messages to the world this year. I feel<br />both inspired and supported.<br /><br />Today I spent the afternoon in a support group for Urban Priestesses.<br />Women who do energy and light work, women who do sex work, women who<br />do whole body healing, and women who are allies of these works. I had the<br />delightful experience of hearing from these women that they were aware<br />of my work and had been hoping to meet me. One woman even expressed<br />that she had first been exposed to open sexual exploration at the<br />Kinky Carnival. She attributed her current work to attending that event. I<br />was so moved.<br /><br /> I am more and more present to the impact I actually do have.<br />I feel strong and proud and blessed and seen. I want to let all of you<br />know how much I appreciate your interest and support of my work. If<br />there is anything I can do to further encourage your sexual healing<br />and sensuous liberation, please let me know.<br /> In love and gratitude, Teri Ciacchi aka TerraFire.<br /><br />February Offerings from TerraFire Academy<br /><br />Temple of the Open Heart: Education for Ecstatic Being<br />Friday February 16th 7:00-10:00 pm $20<br />& Saturday February17th 1:00-5:00 pm $40 ( both for $50)<br />Friday March 2nd 7:00-10:00 pm $20 Fri evening only<br />At Temple of the Senses 6529 Latona Ave.<br /><br />Teri Ciacchi and Ki Rohn lead you into the Now Moment with activities<br />that bring your awareness and focus back into your<br />body. We will be dancing, eye gazing, heart connecting, and learning<br />other simple powerful practices that will increase your intimacy<br />building skills, celebrate the ecstatic nature of your body and<br />acknowledge<br />the divine source within us all.<br />Please feel free to call or email to register or ask questions.<br />Ki Rohn is a Tantric masseuse who practices in Vancouver B.C.<br />www.massagebyki.com Teri D. Ciacchi MSW is a counselor and sex<br />educator in Seattle<br /><br /><br />"Get What you Want!": Flirting skills for Everyone<br />Sunday February 18th 5:30 to 7:30pm $20<br />Wild at Heart 1111 NW Leary Way in Ballard<br /><br />Flirt for fun! Flirt for Friendship! Flirt for Sex! Flirt for<br />partnership!<br />Flirting has many intentions and all of them are valid and uplifting!<br />Do the people you flirt with enjoy you? Learn the body language<br />signals that are universal indications of interest. Become<br />conscious of what your own body language is saying, and also how<br />other people read it. Practice flirting in a fun and safe place. Trust<br />Teri to show you how being sexy can be fun!<br /><br /><br />My Funny Valentine with Allena Gabosch & Teri Ciacchi<br />Tuesday February 20th Erotic Seattle Education Salon<br />Dinner 6:00 pm discussion 7:00-9:00 pm FREE<br />Capitol Club 414 E Pine St (Cross St: Bellevue Avenue)<br />Let's create a light-hearted discussion of sexuality at it's most<br />hilarious.<br />Share your own humorous sex stories or tattle on others. Lost condoms,<br />"misplaced clitori", bad lube choices, getting caught "red-handed and<br />red-faced" in the act; you know you've been there. Join us for an<br />evening of sex positive laughter and hilarity.<br /><br />Rage Release Workshop with Teri Ciacchi<br />Friday Feb 23rd 7:00 pm-10:00 pm $20<br />Home Alive studio 1415 10th Ave 2nd floor Suite #3<br />Teri Ciacchi leads this workshop specifically designed to allow for a<br />deep catharsis of anger. Participants will work in groups of three<br />with<br />boxing gloves, safety pads and punching bags to release pent up<br />frustrations and rage. Safety precautions and instructions on how to<br />have healthy release will be covered. This workshop is perfect for<br />people who know they are angry and easily triggered. Most of us<br />have never had a safe place to let go without fear of retaliation,<br />judgment or blame. Here is your opportunity to begin a journey towards<br />wholeness and self-acceptance around anger. Don't wait until you<br />accidentally explode and cause yourself to lose a job or relationship.<br />As with all other TerraFire Academy classes this workshop is open<br />to all genders. Because of the psychological impact and healing nature<br />of this workshop pre-registration is required. People who have not<br />previously worked in a counseling or teaching relationship with Teri<br />will need to have a phone consultation with her prior to the class.<br /><br />The TerraFire Academy of Aphrodisiacal Living:<br />Sex Positive Revolution: One Orgasm at a Time<br />(206) 612-3511 blog:TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-34537944151671641272007-01-15T23:05:00.000-08:002007-01-15T23:09:36.057-08:00A Common definition of love<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">Here is my response to the seattle polyamory group postings defining love from 1/ 13/07</span></span><br /><br />Yikes, the idea of love being "putting someone else's needs before your own", gives me the creeps. I think that is called fusion, (a polite term for codependence).<br /><br />Here are the definitions of love that I teach in my classes and counseling practice:<br /><br />"To truly love, we must learn to mix various ingredients- care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, and trust, as well as honest and open communication."<br /> bell hooks All About Love<br /><br />"Love is the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth."<br />"Love is as love does. Love is an act of will-namely both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice.<br />We do not have to love. We choose to love."<br />From The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck<br /><br />It is my belief that unless we are clear in our language about the definition and meaning of words, we are not truly communicating.I strive to share or co-create a definition of love with people I want to be in intimate relationships with. I have learned with both pain and ease, that the term "polyamory" does not mean the same thing behaviorally to others as it does to me. I have actually begun to question whether the term is useful. I wonder, in fact, what words are useful without being defined???? I know that I definately have loving relationships at various levels of intimacy with more than one persons of more than two genders in more than 5 varieties of sexual acts and more than seven prefered role playing scenarios with over 10 toys and tools involved. Is that polyamory?<br /><br />I'm not sure. I do know however, for myself, that it is not love if it does not involve stewardship of my own and another's personal growth. "Love is as love does" and requires behavior that goes above and beyond my ego-identified "wanting". The great thing about defining love is that it can then be enacted clearly and specifically. You can see if your behavior and the behavior of others is in line with the definition. If it falls short you can set out to learn the skills that are lacking. So love can become a skill that is developed. Most of the time our culture acts as if love is a mysterious cloud of FATE that we accidently fall into and become enchanted by. OOPs, what was that I stepped in?<br />With a little attention and intention we can commit to being love/loving. Using the hooks definiton we can go through each word and see where we have skill and where skill needs to be developed.<br /><br />Let's take a minute and look at "open and honest communication" one of the 7 ingredients bell hooks requires in her definition of love.<br />It might be for example that a person does not have the skill of self-awareness that allows them to be in open and honest,(meaning, loving) communication with another. They might have had experiences that lead them to chose to withold information or deliberately "spin" information in the hopes of avoiding rejection or winning approval.A person at this level of development needs to become self-loving and self-accepting before they can be in honest and open communication with another person. They will also need an emotional spaciousness, a place of safety and respect where they can look at and be with their own internal process. They will need an environment where they truly are not being judged in order for them to have the experience of being accepted. If I am not certain who I am or how I feel, if I am not communicating openly and honestly with myself, how can I communicate in such a manner with you? I cannot. If you are "demanding" that I communicate honestly with you there is already judgment present that may inhibit my ability to speak the truth. If love is to be present, there must be room for every one to: 1) look inside and examine their experiences and 2)have a safe environment that allows authentic self- expression without punishment or reward. That's all for now!<br /><br />Blessings,<br />Teri D. Ciacchi MSW<br />podcast:<http:> blog:<http:><br />Creatrix of TerraFire Academy of Aphrodisiacal Living <www.terrafire.org><br />Creating Sex-Positive Revolution, One Orgasm at a time.</www.terrafire.org></http:></http:>TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-64036845409457146632007-01-15T00:52:00.001-08:002007-01-15T01:04:25.847-08:00Immense gratitude for Podcast & $1,000 in 24 hoursJan 15th Blog entry<br />Sex Positive Revolutionaries, Visionaries, and Sexplorers<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1st Podcast available on the web</span><br />I am so excited, Allena, David W. and I just completed our 1st podcast yesterday. It is our intention to do a new installment every 3 weeks. So here it is, Please check it out and give me your feedback. Please forward it to all your friends. It was so much fun to make, I hope you will find it fun to listen to.<br /><br />http://web.mac.com/tazie<br />is the web address for "It's a Weenie White Boy World" podcast Episode #1<br />you'll have to cut and paste because apparently this blog does not support adding links.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Causing Miracles</span><br />I decided to be outrageous and "completely unreasonable" after attending my Landmark Living Passionately seminar last Thursday night. I had heard about an amazing internet service opportunity which would allow me to have everything I need to run my TerraFire Academy business website, blog, email etc, including the bandwidth required to support our new podcasing. If I paid $1000.00 by Monday January 15th, I could receive the services I needed (actually quite a bit more than I can currently utilize but will gladly grow into) for life. That's right for the rest of my life, or the life of the company whichever comes first. My beloved friend David Besonen helped me find this opportunity and facilitated the entire process. So I needed to find $1,000.00 by Midnight Sunday Jan 14th (tonight). I decided on Friday morning to call David B. and get all the info I needed to attempt to cause this miracle. I wrote a script detailing all the reasons why supporting this effort financially would be a good idea. At 5pm on Friday Jan 12th I started making phone calls. On Saturday Jan 13th at 3:30pm I had reached my goal. Tomorrow morning I will sign up for these services.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Thank You!"s</span><br /> <p class="MsoNormal">Here are the people who made this miracle occur through their emotional and financial support: (Initials are used when last names will cause potential "outing" problems.)</p> <p class="MsoNormal">David Besonen whose computer consultation resume is at: http://digitalrelief.com </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Allena Gabosch, David W., Heather R., Gordon N. Rev., Rainbow Love, Eric J., Robyn Lynn, Connie Perez, Mistress Marry, Lisa, Vickie & Carrie Lynn at Wild at Heart, Kristin R., Susan H., O'Rion Barker, Jim B. who provides my cel phone, Gabriel A., Ki Rohn </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Thanks to the following members of my Landmark family who sourced my attendance at the Living Passionately seminar, which sourced the energy to perform this miracle: Paul G., Rachel E., Justina, Allena & Heather</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I also want to thank all of my counseling clients and people who attend my classes and workshops. You make my life work. Thanks for your support of my work! If anyone else would like to provide financial support for the continued expansion of my business please keep reading.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <h1><span style="font-size:100%;">Yes, I want to deepen my support of sex positive culture</span></h1> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> </span></u></b>Yes, I want to continue and deepen my support of sex positive culture by supporting the work of Teri Ciacchi the TerraFire Academy of Aphrodisiacal Living.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This is an invitation for you to more deeply contribute to building sex positive culture through empowering my life work. My life work is "creating a healing sex positive culture that is respectful and empowering for all people". Being a contribution to meeting my goal is an opportunity to feel fulfilled, acknowledged and valued. This is an opportunity to be known as an advocate for sex positive culture and to connect to others doing this work. I will promote your gifts to me by acknowledging you in my newsletters on my website, in my podcasts or in any other manner you request.<br /><!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">My goal for TerraFire Academy this year is to go grow from my current ability to reach 877 people (current number of people receiving my email newsletters) to 8,000 through website, newsletters and podcasts. I have started creating the "weenie white boy world" podcast with<br />Allena Gabosch & David W.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--><!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p>Here are some of the things I need to grow my business.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have a new laptop (thank you Alicia Powers!!) but need a Windows XP operating system. Does anyone have one? </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I am currently looking for a website graphic designer. Any suggestions of people who provide these services or offers to help provide the service your self would be gladly accepted. I need to raise the funds to pay for this service.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I want to send out twice monthly email newsletters with graphics and pleasing easy to read text fonts. This will require me to either, pay for more education and learn to do this myself. Pay an internet email newsletter company to do this, pay some other geek who knows how to do this to do it.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I also would love any or all of the following items, I mean hey, why not ask? A blender, a toaster oven, a crock pot, a scanner, an i-pod, a blow dryer</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So here is what I am up to. Anyone who wants to deepen their support of my work is welcome to do any of the following:</p> <p class="MsoNormal">1) Gift me with any amount of money they wish (from $5.00 to $1,000.00) </p> <p class="MsoNormal">2) Consider giving me a specific amount of money which will be used as payment in advance for my services*, you will then get coupons for the specific amount given. These coupons will be honored across any amount of time until you have received services equivalent to the amount paid. Coupons will be valued at the rates I am charging when the coupons are redeemed. Please see below * for a reminder of the vast array of services I provide.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p>3) Loan me any amount of money so I can meet my goals to have a new working laptop, and a new website with much better graphic design. My preference would be to get no interest loans. I am however, open to negotiating any form or repayment that is workable.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">*My services include all of my classes and workshops, individual or couple or "adult family of choice" counseling sessions, and mediation. Coaching and emotional support for any life situation and ongoing goal setting and achievement. Teaching of communication skills, dating and other relationship skills. Consultation on how to do fundraisers, and any other business info relevant to how I have built my business up from $12,000.00 top $31,000 in one year are also included. My esoteric services include Natal Astrology charts and interpretations, Tarot readings, ritual consultation and enactment.</p> <http:><br /><br /></http:>TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-72970878208447299642007-01-12T02:24:00.000-08:002007-01-12T02:26:38.889-08:00Polyamory, Non-Dualism & the Ego-identified selfWhatI posted to Seattle Polyamory Yahoo Group list Jan. 11,2007<br /><br />Polyamory, Non-Dualism & the Ego-identified self<br /> Identity, Morality, Personal Freedom, Projections, and Judgments, all of these themes are running through the correspondence on sea-poly for the last few weeks. I frequently read the postings but rarely write. I just returned home from a Landmark Living Passionately seminar and found myself making a commitment to be more fully alive. One way that I interpret being more alive is that I will actualize my potential to connect and communicate with others in dialogue (albeit written conversation rather than 3-D) rather than just reading and engaging in my own monologue.<br /><br />An underlying theme in many of the posts is Dualism. The dominant world religions are dualistic. The religious doctrines of dualist religions have created the dualistic paradigms that we have been socialized in. Most of us do not recognize that dualism is culturally imposed human structure. I have a BA in Human Ecology from a private women's school in Columbia Missouri ( 1983, hey, I did say I am 44!). I became an Eco-feminist there. I learned academic language there. I used to call dualism a "false dichotomy". I think I got this from reading Shalimuth Firestone or Marge Piercy or Simone De Beauvior or some other "smart chick". When I use the language I learned at school it tends to alienate me from others so I have been looking for simpler words.<br /><br /> Late in 2006 I went to see Kate Borenstein, the famous queer author, activist and gender warrior. She taught me to say "Either/Or" Thinking. Let's simplify all of this and look at the idea that whenever a person or social structure asks you to chose between two things, to make an "Either/Or" choice that such a choice is a false choice. It is a false choice because there are always more than two options. Non-dualism is difficult to talk about because our language is completely structured around dualism: Good/Bad, Boy/Girl, Poly/Mono, Gay/Straight, Nature (that is to say: Biology)/Nuture (that is to say: Sociology). Our language is inadequate to our experience. Our stories are borrowed and passed onto us, written and lived out by those before us. Antiquated concepts that no longer serve us still confine our thinking and our conversations, and thus our reality: to what has already been.<br /><br />What is there beyond "Either/Or"? How about Holism, which is easily represented by "Both/And" thinking. In 2003 Jean Robertson created a handout called "The New Context Conversation". I attended a workshop at the 2004 Network for a New Culture Summercamp by Geoff ____ ( not recalling his last name, famous documentor of Intentional Communities), & Lotus Allen where we discussed the profound differences between "Either/Or" and "Both/And" paradigms. I would be glad to share this document with anyone interested. I will bring copies to the Erotic Seattle Education Salon Allena is doing this Tuesday (16th) at the Capitol Club.<br /><br />"Both/And" Identity<br />My conscious, intentional, self-defined ego identity lends itself to "Both/And" constructs. I am "both" Bi-sexual and Pan-sexual as there are more than two genders to engage with. I am "both" monogamous when I am starting a deep soul connecting relationship, (I used to say "primary partner" here but I am now actively seeking non-hierarchical words for the different levels of connectedness and intimacy I persistently seek) and polyamorous in my intense but spacious BDSM connections. I tend to want "both" a wide variety of sexual acts to engage in with many others "and" to keep the intimacy of penetrative acts to a chosen few people.<br /><br />Recently I have been re-reading Rainer Maria Rilke's essays and fiction. I have also been digesting the work of Eckhardt Tolle. It occurs to me that all of our identities and ethical/moral judgments are based on ego-identification. Our ego's are extremely attached to naming and defining and creating a "false" sense of control. The ego is afraid of death and creates an orderly universe where things are judged as "Either Good Or Bad", "Either God Or Devil"; "Either Free Or Captive", ad finitum, ad nauseum. On and on our little squirrel brain egos natter, endlessly dividing "All That Is" into two narrow boxes that are "essentially" different and inherently seperate. So the main issue here is not actually what is better, best or more evolved as an identity. A concern I have recently become personally fascinated by is: why do I chose to identify primarily with my ego-based self, the "It" that constantly speaks in my head and acts as if "It" is all there is? It is the ego which creates a false sense of separation that has developed into "Either/ Or". Isn't it possible that we are "both" our ego identified little self "and" our inner Immanence or big S Self? <br /><br />I have come to the realization that one of the reasons I am so motivated to have sex and engage in BDSM is that they shut off my "squirrel brain". During sexual acts and BDSM scenes I become so Present, so in the NOW moment that I leave my ego identification and enter my Essence identification (or hang out in various unspecified trance states in between). I love these moments so much that I have built my life around creating such events with other people and trying to teach them how to reach similar states. It took me quite a while to figure out that for some people leaving the ego identified self is terrifying rather than pleasurable. Oops, well, at least I figured that out. I am now in the process of trying to have Essence identified experiences "both" during sex "and" while engaging in other everyday activities. Not because sex is "good" or "bad" just because I love diversity, flexibility, fluidity and all those other "both/and" things a hedonistic sex positive woman wallows in. If you want to experiment with me or share your own experiences, contact me.<br /><br /><br />About me:<br />My name is Teri Ciacchi, I am 44 years old. My life work is to create a healing sex positive culture that is respectful and empowering to all people. I currently identify as a polyamorous bachelorette, ( Warning/Disclaimer: this identity changes daily with my mood and who I am with in the moment). I identify my ancestry as Italian-American although I am also German, French and Bohemian. I make my living as a Sexologist, Therapist and Sex Positive Educator. My business is "The TerraFire Academy of Aphrodisiacal Living". I started "Erotic Seattle Education" LLC with Allena Gabosch and Pan Vera in June 2006. I over use CAPITAL LETTERS and Title Case. If you want to know more about me because you do not already know me you can check out my website: <www.terrafire.org>TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-37193312676074368992007-01-03T22:39:00.000-08:002007-02-06T23:27:39.543-08:00Sex Positive Revelations for 2007Why not commit to living a more playful sensuous ecstatic life?<br /><br />Join me in co-creating a culture based on a Love Ethic that increases the amount of closeness, intimacy and pleasure available to everyone. I have been doing a great deal of inner work in the past few weeks. The "Holy-Days" are usually a time of darkness for me that hold at least one episode of spiritual crisis. The last days of 2006 brought me into a deep awareness of my own fragility. I saw clearly that I had a choice between a) "surrendering to what is" in my most intimate relationships or b) continuing to suffer and create drama as I fought to remain attached to how "I think it should be". I found myself able to choose surrender and in doing so, I experienced an inner reservoir of graciousness and peace that I did not know was possible. I challenged myself to live by the definition of love that I teach in my classes and counseling practice:<br /><br />"Love is the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth."<br />"Love is as love does. Love is an act of will-namely both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice.<br />We do not have to love. We choose to love."<br />From The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck<br /><br />I walked my talk. I chose to become a more loving and empowering presence in the world.<br /><br />In the spirit of my deepening commitment to world transformation, I ask you to read what I am writing for you here with a sense of curiosity and an open mind.<br /><br />What would it be like to live in a world without sexual shame, fear of rape, assault or abuse? Wouldn't you like to find out? Many times when I sit down to write to you I wonder if I am really being of use. I am aware that people have judgments about sex positive culture. How is talking about jealousy in a public forum useful? Why investigate a self- repressed desire to be dominated or to dominate? What could be important about looking into an unpleasant childhood incident of guilt or embarrassment? Is it clear to you that attending to your personal sexual healing can be the cause of transformation on both an individual and societal level?<br /><br />Part of the hazard of doing sex positive work in a sex negative culture is that people discount or disregard sexual healing work. Sacred Sexuality is seen as unimportant, frivolous, or even a contradiction in terms. A great many people are seriously distressed, suffering from the belief that they are un-loveable, un-desirable or permanently damaged in some way. For many of us, these internal messages were generated in past experiences of abuse that have not been fully cleared. Traumatic incidents lodge themselves in us as energy blockages and create what Eckhardt Tolle (author of The Power of Now, Stillness Speaks and A New Earth) calls "the Pain Body". Most of us are run by our ego identified self which thrives on our pain body. We are unconscious, disassociated and emotionally distressed. We are unhappy, dissatisfied and certain that this is "as good as it gets".<br /><br />Why is it important to attend to our own healing, sexual and otherwise? We are living in a time of "Inconvenient Truths" (thank you Al Gore) when human suffering and narcissism has driven other species into the fastest rate of extinction since the coming of the ice age. We are living in a time when the earth's capacity to sustain "life as we know it" is becoming questionable. These concepts are no longer apocalyptic conspiracy theories; they are a glaring scientifically evident reality.<br /><br />There is a direct connection between our ability and willingness to consciously inhabit our bodies and our ability and willingness to attend to the Planet's well being. Sexual wounds are often the deepest and most repressed wounds of all. Conversely, when we shine the light of conscious aware attention on these wounds a powerful and holistic energy shift can occur. Releasing ourselves from the past allows us to become present in the here and now. Until we attend to and accomplish our own sexual healing, the World; the actual physical Earth we live upon, cannot have our conscious attention. Sexual Healing is now the existential responsibility of every human who is interested in having human evolution be a part of the Earth's future.<br /><br />Fortunately it is possible to heal through play, pleasure and sense awareness. Sexual Healing does not have to be an ominous re-traumatizing process. Some of the simple tasks at hand are: 1) investigating where we are silent and choosing to speak, 2) seeing where we are numb and bringing our attention to these places, 3) listening to each other and finding we are not alone, 4) holding a compassionate space, within for our selves and without for others, to be seen and witnessed, 5) asking for, offering and providing physical affection as an end to itself.<br />With all of this in mind, please consider participating in the events I host or teach by visiting www.terrafire.org, or create and invite others to Sex Positive events of your own.TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-80543681746691231222006-12-04T23:12:00.000-08:002006-12-05T21:47:24.856-08:00Why I haven't written for a weekI have been reluctant to write for a week because I want to share myself in my blog but I am struggling with what level of privacy I want to work at. I am fine living my large and outloud life transparently. I need to be aware of the impact this has on my loved ones and the level of privacy they may desire. Confidentiality and consent are usually things I consider, or try to. My relationship with David W. is in the middle of a big transition. I want to talk about my life here and, I don't want to expose him to an unwanted level of public attention. So I have chosen, until now, to not discuss our transition. David is a huge part of my life. He is a brave and courageous man who has consistantly shared his truth with me whether or not this truth is pleasing to me. Last Sunday he shared that he no longer wants to be my primary partner. I was delighted to have him as my primary partner and am saddened by the change in the status of our relationship.<br /><br />All week I have been on an emotional rollercoaster of grief and appreciation. Monday morning I wake up in a strange state of elation. I feel good, really good and strong. I know I haven't done anything "wrong". I know David loves me and I love him. I'm busy and I do my yoga and my water aerobics. I see my clients, amazing co-incidences occur. I make dates with old friends and lovers and reach out to make new connections. Tuesday I spend half the day immersed in a sense of freedom and pride that I can love someone enough to honor and respect their choices even when those choices are not to be with me. I spend the evening crying about the vision of the future I had become attached to. I call friends and get counseling and throw myself headlong into my work. I start to answer phone messages since before Amsterdam and say yes to activities and friends I have not made time for since the intense and deep romance with David started in February 2006. I miss David, alot. I start smoking cigarettes again. I lead my salon discussion about Sex Positive culture in Amsterdam.<br /><br />Wed, I cancel my Holistic Peer COunseling class due to the impending snow storm and miss an opportunity to spend time with David because I have already made plans to have a girls night with Dawn and Priya. Thursday I see clients all day and have dinner with Michael S. a lover of my dear friend Caledonia who now lives in Washington D.C. Thursday night I call David and talk to him for an hour about his Landmark Self Expression and Leadership project. We focus on the important life works we are involved in and how we can support each other in staying engaged in these projects that inspire us and call us to be the best of who and what we are.<br /><br />My psychic network is obviously working because in the course of this one week four of my former lovers call to ask me how I am doing and reconnect.A wave of the past is washing over as I am also reconnected to Ann Wood and Pam Dougherty who were in the band "The Art Sluts" with me in 1984-1986. Ann and I exchange a lot of email and a long phone call and we patch together a lot of the bands history. I will be writing a few blogs about the Art Sluts. <br /><br />On Saturday I attend the closing session of the Landmark Wisdom Course and we talk about how the Eternal (which I call the Divine) has access to and through us in the following three models of "ALL THAT IS": 1)through World/Art as beauty 2)through Spirit/Being as an inquiry into Truth and 3)through Language/Community as Human Goodness. We were to make a choice between which of these 3 called to us most strongly. I could honestly not decide. Allena whispered to me that it was Being/Spirit as she saw me. I was in a wonderful emotional space where things apppeared quite beautific. During the event I was full of gratitude for David's beauty and goodness and how his self-inquiry allowed him to share his truth with me. I truly saw our transition as an opportunity for repose and relaxation. I was in a place of peace and full of amazement at the level of love and intimacy we have been able to exchange. Afterwards I went to the Hotflash dance and met up with some of my wonderful lesbian friends. I had a very deep conversation with my friend Tari that put my daily ego concerns in their place; petty and small concerns in the face of life and death matters.<br />Yesterday, Sunday, one week since David told me about his desire to change our relationship status. I am really doing well all day. I hang out with Diana and look at houseboats and go to the Ballard Market. I get my new laptop from Alicia for $50 and Diana offers me an operating system. I teach my "Owning Desire" workshop and it goes really well. I get home and see that his parents have sent me an email with pictures of their new puppy. I remember how much I enjoyed Thanksgiving with them. I cry until I fall asleep.<br /><br />Today, I do yoga and go through the public library afterwards. I see advertising for a performance art piece called "The Maze" is occuring at 6:30pm tonight. I see clients,I go to Howard Hansen for a body talk energy medicine session.I am glowing and peaceful. I meet my new friend Treeza at Travellers and she tells me about the Peace Walk from Seattle to New York that she did a few years ago. We meet Gabriel at the public library and watch the performance art which is very stimulating. We have to go to different locations all over the library following a handbook of instructions (each person's is different). Each location has a different installation, some are dancers and some are just well, live installations I do not feel like taking the time to describe in full just now. And, really, you just had to be there. Actually you can look up a whole bunch of cool performance art that is happening throughout December by going to www.4culture.org There is some really wonderful stuff going on. One of the things I really like about Seattle is that there is so much accessible art here. So Teereza gets on her bus to Tacoma and Gabriel and I have nachos at Charlies and I come home and write this blog. I miss talking to David as we used to talk to each other everyday. Years of experience have taught me that this too shall pass. I know in my heart that our connection and love for each other is strong. I ultimately have faith that wherever this is leading, where I am is exactly the right way to be in the Now moment. Patience dear Teri, patience and treat yourself gently.TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-8584671691103891032006-11-25T19:56:00.000-08:002006-11-25T21:34:20.355-08:00Re-entry Blues and Owning Desire researchBumming out<br />I got up around 6am, after being awake and making lists of things to do for quite a while. Decided I wanted to do research for my class "Owning Desire" next Sunday Dec 3rd (it's 5:30-7:30pm at Wild at Heart 1111 Leary Way NW in Ballard (206) 782-5538.<br /><br />I am feeling a bit depressed. I think, now that I have slept off all the jet lag, I am a little sad to be back in my "regular" life. I do love my wonderful life, but being in another country on vacation was so extraordinary that waking up in my bed alone was not so great. I also tend to worry and obsess about my relationships. I want to know "where they are going", I want to ensure they are intentional. I want to eliminate my occassional sense of dependency and fear of abandonment. I want to feel and expereince pleasure and desire without pleasure and desire becoming the central focus of the relationships. Such a hard task for the incredibly hedonistic and self-centered pagan being that I am.<br /><br />I went to the Starbucks 3 blocks from my house at about 6:45am, because it is a business that is open at that hour. I read an article by Willow pearson of the Integral Institute ( associated with Ken Wilber ) about the construction of desire. Fascinating breakdown of social interactions into: a spiral of time, levels of development across four quadrants, and lines of growth/variation within quadrants. Took me a while but I found myself able to imagine and then see this holistic model of life whihc is postmodern as compared to the "common" consensual reality of "Either/Or" reality that dualistic paradigms impose on us. I will use the division of desire into 4 quadrants in my work. Had a very interesting conversation about sexuality and desire with a homeless woman and a magnet salesman, quite fun.<br /><br /> I moved to Cafe Septieme for brteakfast at 9am and began reading a 2004 issue of the Buddhist magazine Tricycle. The issue is devoted to "the Riddle of Desire". It turns out that not all Buddhists advocate the elimination of desire. In fact, from what I learned in this series of articles; Buddhism is requesting that we be present with desire, neither repressing nor rushing to fulfill the yearning or obtain the object which is being "sought after". The idea is to be fully with the desire, notice its location in the body, see how and where it arises. To come fully into the emotional experience of desire itself and just "be with it" seems to be the goal. I consider learning this practice. It is shown that several people, using this technique find the desire shifting and transorming into other feelings and memories. Reaching an understanding of the origin of these sensations/feelings seems to help some people release their attachment to desire. They still feel desire as one of the many feelings humans continually experience, they just do not act on the compulsive pull to fulfill the desire.<br /><br />There are several other aspects of desire I want to explore in this class. I want to more fully understand and teach about Polly Young-Eisendrath's distinctions between socialized tendencies to be either sexual objects or sexual subjects. She suggests we be more intentional and feel freer to move between these two poles.<br /><br />I will also be re-reading and integrating Jack Morin's book "The Erotic Mind" which helps people look at the personal historic origins of their sexual tendencies and fantasies. Another way to frame his book is that it looks at how we come to identify desire for ourselves. I will merge this with my own concepts of "sourcing authentic desire" which for me means looking critically at any lack of continuity between what we say we want/ what we actually do sexually/ and what the common culture "will allow us" ro desire without punishment or other negative consequences.The ability to look behind the things we have been socialized to desire is rare:<br />Here are a few stereotypes we are all familiar with: "titties and beer" (huh, huh said in a stupid male adolescent accent like Bevis and Butthead), or young "barely legal"porn stars with blonde pony tails in videos, or Tall dark and handsome secret agents, or built up muscular gay man with a big dick etc etc etc. These are the images blared at us from every orifice of the media streams we live within. <br />Is there a difference between what we are taught to desire ( and thus "must" desire in order to conform to the culturally appropriate gender we have been assigned at birth) and what really turns us on physically? My understanding is that desire first arises as a physical sensation in the body, as all other feelings do. MOur culture is so body phobic and sex negative that many of us are numb and unaware of our somatic expereinces.Many people need to be brought into awareness of their own bodily sensations and be able to identify them as feeling states. Desire can be a very uncomfortable feeling especially when it is associated with weakness and potential rejection. How do we reclaim desire as our own? What is a sex positive framewrk for desire? How do we own desire and act on it without being swept up into an endless state of sexual yearning that threatens to overwhelm us? How do we learn to temper our own desires and get our needs met when partners do not share the same desires or sexual drives?<br /><br />As a fat woman; as a counselor; as a sex educator who is very sexually active and a self described intimacy slut and sacred whore, these questions have been a focus of mine for some time. Most people who become my lovers have either deconstructed their desire before meeting me or end up doing so as a result of being in relationship with me. I really do not like to think about the number of times I have heard from a lover that I am the" largest person they have ever been with" This conversation is boring and predictible. I had even told one of my lovers that I never wanted to hear that and he forgot and said it to me any way. Sigh. I am not a person that is attractive to people who are steeped in the "common" mainstream lifestyle. Or this has been my belief/conversation for a long time. My relationship with David W. comes as close as I ever have to challenging this notion.<br /><br />These are the topics and realms I wish to explore with the people who attend next Sunday's workshop.maybe you'll join me. I would also be glad to receive email with any commentary on these inquiries: <workteri@yahoo.com><br /><br />I have spent the afternoon and evening writing about and contemplating these things at Jeff and Rukh's house in Columbia City. Now I will go out and have a drink before turning in for the night. I am really looking forward to brunch with Connie tomorrow morning!<br />Blessed Be!TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-21298186170505783232006-11-25T18:58:00.000-08:002006-11-25T19:56:16.131-08:00Back in Seattle Wed 22nd & Turkey DayJim and I returned to Seattle on Wed evening one hour after the time that we left Amsterdam very strange, very jetlagged.<br /><br />Terrible plane ride back several screaming children, an intense headache that made me cry for about 15 minutes. The worst part of an otherwise amazing trip.<br /><br />Went right to bed after unpacking suitcases. House was beautiful because of C.D. and Kristen who had come over to clean and fix things in my absence. Called Kristen to see if she would come over. Feel asleep until he got there around 6pm or so. Gave her all the cool clothes I bought at a discount store. Two very goth skirts, one shirt with a photograph design of roses all over it. Two pairs of incredible Italian stockings; one violet full length with spiral design, one calf length turquoise with geometric design. So cool! We ate some chocolate hedgehogs and taked a bit. It is not a mistake that I am changing gender pronouns for Kristen. I will explain her genderfluidity in some future blog entry.<br /><br />Kristen left and I went back to sleep until David W. came over. Before I left to stay over at David's house, I gave him all the presents I bought for him, including a little red enamel teapot and, (ta da! the best gift of all) a new butterfly knife with bird's eye maple wood on the handles. David has a knife collection that he is very proud of. I have really come to appreciate knives and started my own collection. He gave me my first knife ever as a birthday present this year. He got quite a few other presents from Amsterdam that I don't feel the need to list. He seemed very happy.<br /><br />David was very loving and physically affectionate with me. He really took care of me all night, (and the next day too), and I felt loved and cherished. I packed what I needed to spend Thursday and most of Friday with him and we went directly to his house in Renton. We made ravioli and defrosted some of my excellent marinara sauce. Lovely dinner. We laid in front of his freplace for a bit and went to sleep.<br />We stayed in bed for an incredibly long time in the morning snuggling and playing and talking. We edited my photographs from Amsterdam and then it was already time to go to his parents for Thanksgiving. I talked to my mom and my sisters in Cleveland ( my brother is hard to reach), which is a Turkey day tradition. Found out my little sister Geri has a website for her Janis Joplin tribute band:Ball & Chain! Check it out at: <http://www.myspace.com/ballandchaintribute><br /><br />Meanwhile back at my partner's parents house: wonderful dinner, relaxed low key evening eating great food and watching "Hidden Dragon Crouching Tiger". Such a beautiful film but I had forgotten what a tragedy is. Fortunately David's mom handed me a tissue at just the right moment.<br /><br />Friday morning we ran around doing errands: fixing my cel phone by getting a new charger, trying to find David some new blue jeans. Suddenly it was 4pm and time to part. I went back home had several long phone conversations with people I had to tell about my Amsterdam adventures! Went to sleep, it was only 8:30pm.TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-85016536593187094782006-11-21T16:01:00.000-08:002006-11-21T16:58:55.930-08:00Last Tram in AmsterdamToday was the last day to explore and really be with Amsterdam. I kind of want to go home and I kind of want to stay here. I miss people in Seattle, and I am aware that I have only <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">experienced</span> a small slice of the whole Amsterdam Pie. I am also really not looking forward to the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">jet lag</span>, ugh!<br /><br /><strong>(Almost the) Last Breakfast in Amsterdam</strong><br />We got up around 9am knowing that the breakfast place we have chosen is open at 10am. We get there close 10am. I did not bring my umbrella and 1/2 way to this place ( only 6 blocks or so from the houseboat) it starts to hail. I am upset about how wet and cold I get. We get to our lovely Mediterranean deli owned by a beautiful man and his son. Jim and i had lunch here yesterday. Jim had a lamb <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">brookjie</span> ( sandwich ) with garlic sauce. I had this little lamb meatloaf patty and something that was a cross between a croissant and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">stromboli</span>. Mushrooms, peppers and onions on a thin crust, like a pizza, but rolled up like a burrito and then baked. Delicious!<br /><br />Wow, I really want to finish this post but I'm in the houseboat and my feet are freezing. I have socks on and I turned the heat all the way up but it is not making a significant difference. I will put a towel on the floor and if that works, I'll keep writing otherwise it will have to wait until i get home.<br /><br />Okay there is a towel on the floor and I'm still cold so we'll see how long this lasts.<br /><br />Back in the deli Jim and i are having a lovely conversation with the owner, most of it translated by his 20 something son. I have asked where to get all these lovely little coffee spoons that they have everywhere. The guy actually goes in the back of his store and comes back in a few <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">minutes</span> with spoons. He offers me <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">the</span> spoons and they are some really lovely ones with inlays and designs. Jim and i explain that we need ugly dirty spoons for an art project. We tell him we are going to Albert <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Cuyptmart</span> and he tells us where to buy them inexpensively. After chocolate croissants and tea we go 3 doors further up the street to a lovely chocolate shop. I am not going to tell you what I got because i want to surprise several people. Suffice it to say that I spent an unreasonable amount of money on an unreasonable amount of chocolate. Yum! We go into a few discount clothing stores and get some stuff. Kristen is going to love me when she sees what I got her !!! We realize we have too much stuff to carry and i still want my umbrella. Jim keeps looking at shoes and i head back to the houseboat. I unload and am ready to leave again but no <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Jimbo</span>. I decide to leave anyway and meet him on the path. I communicate that i am going to go to the graveyard down the street to take pictures. Jim will meet me at the Tram stop.<br /><br />The graveyard is very old and lovely. There are headstones from 1901 and up. Vines everywhere. I take a lot of pictures. There is a young couple eating lunch. There bikes are parked in a space between trees that leads on into the horizon, a field, a pond and an incredible sky with wonderful cloud formations. I take a lot of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">pictures</span>. I am frustrated with the flash. I want to ask David to teach me more about cameras soon, so i can <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">achieve</span> the results i want. I meet a Dutch <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">biology</span> teacher who tells me what a special place it is. he comes there on his horse a lot. Today he is just on a bike. He tells me about the artist who lives in the house on the property. he tells me there is a book coming out about the graveyard early in 2007. he tells me about the 800 apartment complex being built across the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Schnikel</span> canal and the roadway they are going to put in between the houseboat we are staying in and the graveyard. I am sad about all of this. I leave and walk to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Hoofenstraat</span> square. Jim finds me and we go to Albert <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Cuypmarkt</span>.<br /><br /><strong>Albert <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Cuypmarkt</span></strong><br /><strong></strong><br />The biggest and oldest outdoor market in Amsterdam is 101years old. Jim and I have a lot of fun and buy stuff. Jim eats raw herring with onions. The idea of it grosses me out but I try some. Jim reminds me how much i like sushi and I realize i am being <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">ridiculous</span>. I may write more about what happened at this market when i get home. I do not want to tell the people I got stuff for what I got them. I went to the spoon store and bought 120 small <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">caffe</span> spoons for 20 euro. This is a great deal. I now have enough spoons for 120 more copies of my Dirty Spoon chapbook. They are the perfect size! This makes me incredibly happy! Jim and I leave the market 2 hours after arriving. We take a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Tram</span> to Central Station. We think we are going to the museum of Modern art called the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Stijlmuseum</span> ( this means Style). When we get there we don't wanna go <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">anym</span>ore. We decide to split up and keep shopping. I go to a store called "Old Man" I can't tell you what i got yet there. What a tease I am. I realize i look like an outrageous ( my hat and scarf are "very dramatic" as one of the lesbians commented), middle aged tourist from America. I realize that I am an outrageous middle aged tourist from America, and "so what?"<br /><br />I get on a #2 Tram and go back to the square by the houseboat. i decide I want to go to a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">pub</span> and have a beer and some authentic Dutch food. I have two <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Amstel</span> Bock dark beers and a wonderful meal with beans and sausage and a fried egg, there <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">are</span> also pickle slices and pickled pearl onions. I enjoy it. When i comment to the waitress how everywhere I have gone there has been American music she puts on some traditional Dutch music ( see how <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">accommodating</span> they are here?).<br /><br />I get home and Jim is there already watching TV. He is surprised I arrived after him. he is wanting to get ready for the palm reading he is doing at 9pm. He met a guy on line the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">other</span> night and arranged to meet him and his two <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">friends</span> for dinner. I decide I want to go to the Deco Sauna and get a massage. We both pack our bags first. We leave together on the tram and split after two stops. I am anxious that I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">don't</span> have enough money so I get off at the Dam <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">where</span> I know there is a money machine. I get back on the tram for another stop and head to the Deco Spa. I find it <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">adter</span> some <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">struggle</span>. It is on a residential street ( like most of the coolest things are). It just has a tiny sign. I walk down and enter the door. I am greeted by a nose full of fragrant moist air. It is amazing in here. Real Art Deco. Go see the website, you'll be amazed <a href="http://www.decosauna.nl/">www.decosauna.nl</a><br /><br />As it turns out getting on and off the tram for the money was a mistake. i had enough money and They close at 11pm which means people stop being in the sauna and getting massages at 10:30. I have arrived at 10:20 . She won't let me in. She gives me the name of another sauna and says they are open til midnight. i go as fast as i can across two more canals and cobblestone streets. The Sauna <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Kaizer</span> is also closed and only open to men from 7pm-Midnight anyway. oh poop! Now i am tired and disappointed. I decide to stop and rest and look around and just take in what is there. I drink in my surroundings. I take a few more pictures. I walk back to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">kafe</span> where Jim and I ate our first meal here last Thursday. I go in and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">notice</span> there is a green man etched into the glass on the front door. I sit and drink two hot chocolates with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">kahlua</span>. I talk to the bartenders. This bar is 250 years old. It is beautiful. The wood is so worn and dark. It is so comfortable. They have lit a candle at my little table. I take some notes for my blog entries. I leave slowly and get on the Tram. It is the last Tram i will take in Amsterdam. I come to the houseboat and start writing to you.<br /><br />Goodnight! See some of you this weekend. Love, TeriTerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167643831571152045.post-71092621430207078312006-11-20T16:51:00.000-08:002006-11-21T01:26:46.869-08:00Jim's hangover, Searching the Joordan for House of Heads and Fotographic<strong>A Slow Start</strong><br />Well, the day started off slow as I was up and ready to go around 10:30<br />but Jim had a hangover. I knew I could leave without him but I would not be able to communicate with him ( damn <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">cel</span> phone doesn't work!), and I so enjoy his company. So I stayed. I researched my travel books. I wrote more postcards.<br />I made detailed plans for what to do with our day while Jim recovered<br /><br /><strong><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Joordan</span> shopping and strolling</strong><br />I wanted to go to the one and only woman owned sex toy store that I knew of.Walking walking walking, and then we get to Female & Partners sex toy store. It is a lot smaller than i thought. It is smaller than my studio apartment! Lots of great fetish clothing I mean stuff that could be on a Sci-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Fi</span> movie set! The sex toys were scant really and the floggers and bondage gear were mostly for show. Once again I realize how fortunate we are in Seattle to have <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Babeland</span> and all the independent artists who make sex toys, bondage <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">equiptment</span> and floggers and sell them at the S.P.C.C. Vendor Fairs. I am so spoiled!<br /><br /><strong>Mistaken shop identity</strong><br />We head off toward what I think is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Fotographic</span> because I want to find some <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">photography</span> for David. So we stroll a long way on many little cobblestone streets. Jim has used my marks in the Lonely Planet book to navigate and 45 min later we arrive at a very closed <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">NationalPhotographic</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Museum</span>. Oops! I look and see that the store I want, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Fotographic</span>, is not even open on Mondays.<br />We stop at Tulip Museum and get some bulbs for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Priya</span>. We stop for some tea, hot chocolate and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">appletarte</span> (pie with whip cream!)in a pub. We take lots and lots of pictures. I stop in at the Jose art gallery, wonderful art!<br /><br />We wander around stumbling on cobblestone and looking at canals<br /><br /><table style="WIDTH: auto"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/JimmyJimbo/Amsterdam/photo#4999627359547752466"><img src="http://lh6.google.com/image/JimmyJimbo/RWI-mCcrABI/AAAAAAAAAA8/41cgWBivLiY/s288/C%3A%5CDocuments%20and%20Settings%5CGast%5CBureaublad%5CJim%27s%20Photos%5CPB180122.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="FONT-SIZE: 66%; FONT-FAMILY: arial,sans-serif; TEXT-ALIGN: right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/JimmyJimbo/Amsterdam">Amsterdam</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table style="WIDTH: auto"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/JimmyJimbo/Amsterdam/photo#4999628508560687122"><img src="http://lh3.google.com/image/JimmyJimbo/RWI_o62tABI/AAAAAAAAABc/rfoYbCyigpg/s288/C%3A%5CDocuments%20and%20Settings%5CGast%5CBureaublad%5CJim%27s%20Photos%5CPB190130.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="FONT-SIZE: 66%; FONT-FAMILY: arial,sans-serif; TEXT-ALIGN: right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/JimmyJimbo/Amsterdam">Amsterdam</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table style="WIDTH: auto"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/JimmyJimbo/Amsterdam/photo#4999628514046050322"><img src="http://lh4.google.com/image/JimmyJimbo/RWI_pPShABI/AAAAAAAAABs/t7eGAvtbfXw/s288/C%3A%5CDocuments%20and%20Settings%5CGast%5CBureaublad%5CJim%27s%20Photos%5CPB190143.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="FONT-SIZE: 66%; FONT-FAMILY: arial,sans-serif; TEXT-ALIGN: right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/JimmyJimbo/Amsterdam">Amsterdam</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br />We look for the House of heads in the rain and get cranky. We find it! The heads are Demeter, Apollo, Artemis,Dionysus, Athena and Hermes<br /><table style="WIDTH: auto"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/JimmyJimbo/Amsterdam/photo#4999631010086780946"><img src="http://lh5.google.com/image/JimmyJimbo/RWJB6hxAABI/AAAAAAAAACk/RD7K2K3oSAk/s288/C%3A%5CDocuments%20and%20Settings%5CGast%5CBureaublad%5CJim%27s%20Photos%5CPB190158.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="FONT-SIZE: 66%; FONT-FAMILY: arial,sans-serif; TEXT-ALIGN: right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/JimmyJimbo/Amsterdam">Amsterdam</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table style="WIDTH: auto"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/JimmyJimbo/Amsterdam/photo#4999629785067356178"><img src="http://lh6.google.com/image/JimmyJimbo/RWJAzONnABI/AAAAAAAAACM/vQOjXKuTmdo/s288/C%3A%5CDocuments%20and%20Settings%5CGast%5CBureaublad%5CJim%27s%20Photos%5CPB190155.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="FONT-SIZE: 66%; FONT-FAMILY: arial,sans-serif; TEXT-ALIGN: right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/JimmyJimbo/Amsterdam">Amsterdam</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><strong>Tourists again</strong><br />Got more postcards, ( did I mention I am sending a total of 74?), looked for chocolate at the very fancy and intimidating Department Store ( begins with a B). I wanted to get a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">chocolate</span> letter for all of my dear ones. Jim got more info from the lady at the chocolate counter about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Sinter</span> Klaus. When we asked "why do you eat candy in the shapes of pigs rats and frogs?" She did not know. So far no one seems to know. The pig is made of Marzipan and is eaten over time slowly. The Chocolate letters are to put in the children's shoes by the hearth.<br /><br />At my <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">insistence</span> ( my knees <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">really</span> hurt) we got on an incredibly crowded #2Tram. Jim engages a lovely German named Felix in a 30 min conversation about languages. We get off the tram at "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Hoofen</span> whatever "and buy food from an Indonesian deli.<br /><br /><strong>A healing from Marion</strong><br />Get home to the houseboat where we are meeting a lovely lesbian named Marion. I met her at my class on Saturday and during our talks at the pub I found out that she does <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Alphawave</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">healings</span>. I listened to music and she talked to me and helped me do visualizations. i specifically worked on some of the sources of my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">PTSD</span> ( remember when I got stoned how I was aware of being anxious). I felt a lot better after the treatment.<br /><br />Jim and I think we are going to go out to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Melkweg</span> (Milky Way) but I start writing postcards and he starts putting his photos on the computer and the next thing you know it is 2am and I am writing this blog. Going to sleep now. Oh yes, I Finished writing all 74 postcards. Yippee!TerraFirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09182603071541708098noreply@blogger.com1