How To Make a Taoist Shrine or a Taoist Altar

Dearest friends,

Happy Lunar New Year 2018, Chinese New Year Celebration!  The 2018 Chinese New Year begins on Friday, February 16.  2018 will be the first Year of the Earth Dog since 1958. 

MEANING OF THE YEAR OF THE DOG: You come more into your power, are respected, and can emerge a leader. Main energies; honesty, stability, practicality, balance, gentleness, idealistic & unselfish.  2018 signifies a huge shift toward the earth element, and away from the chaotic and often stressful fire element of the 2016 Monkey and the 2017 Rooster. Those born in Dog, Dragon, Sheep/Ram, Rooster, and Ox years are advised to tread carefully and pay attention to to their health in the 2018 Dog year.  The Earth Element - The Year Of The Dog is about making peace with yourself and creating peace, being IN peace and peace-full.

Questions to Katherine: What is the purpose of having a Taoist Altar at home and how to make one.
Answer: Now that we are beginning The Year Of The Dog, the year of The Earth Element - (it is all about nurturing and nourishment) to give but also to nurture oneself. This is a good time too to build your own Taoist Altar at home. I have written down some ideas for you;

A Taoist Altar represents some of the core beliefs of TAO spiritual cultivations to nurture the foundations of a life in balance. Turning our attention within mindfully, we become aware of the actual conjoin of light beings, of the subtle universal divine order and we develop and see with our inner sense how all diverse universal light form energies are interplaying constantly and ever evolving, never in “danger” and always become more as a result of co-creation in contrast, meaning with elements or light forms that are diverse and at times different. Harmony, Appreciation, Divine Flow Of Well-Being are some of the natural ways of life of a disciple of the TAO. For me, to live mindfully the ways of the TAO is to freely and IN love adopt a self-discipline to harmonize with universal laws while in physical focused form and to transcend our Divine Essence into being. :)

I have created this Taoist Altar at home for prayer, cultivation and it is a corner to nurture, to evoke peace and harmony. I have also incorporated light forms that represent the five elements or five steps and foundations; Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. When I come before the Taoist Altar I come here to emptied my mind, to open my heart and to listen... to tune in to the divine visible and invisible forces of the Universe. The TAOist Altar is also a place for renewal and contemplation and most importantly, of appreciation for All There Is.

The Three Pure Ones: Formless Divine Intentional Energies
The Jade Pure One (Shen), - The Supreme Pure One (Jing), - The Grand Pure One - Qi

Divine and Perfect Order is also represented with the integration of the Five Elements, of Yin and Yang Essences and with the presence of Life Force Energy “Qi.”

The WOOD element is represented by the Altar Table made of wood, an oak wood carved yin and yang symbol, a bamboo screen that represents idealism and the status of Buddha.

The FIRE element is represented by white and gold candles, sandalwood incense for purification and transformation. Fire has great power for forging will and determination, inner light and passion for life.

The EARTH element is represented by feathers, a bonsai to honor our elders and a crystal grid depending on the healing intentional energy I am crafting into being. Earth is too about nurturing. 

The METAL element is represented by a bell, a statue of Francis of Assisi patron of animals and nature and an inspiration for peaceful ways, a white box containing a list of heartfelt dreams I am currently manifesting into being and a 15 piece geometry set used for technical drawing supplies. I have included this curious set of utensils because the Metal element is about structure and methods and building up characteristics and these supplies remind me of drafting something that is visually created by the imagination, it is like giving birth to a formless idea into functional visual language.

The WATER element is represented by a water fountain, an Earth-Heart shape water glass and a water statue of Archangel Metatron the guardian of the Tree Of Life. Water also represents constitution, an agile mind, flow and emotions.

It is important not to lose the message in the symbol, to choose symbols that could evoke the essence of All There Is, the TAO, the formless energy of infinite possibilities.

I wish you joy, harmony and prosperity in your divine journey and in the process of designing your own TAOist Altar.

I LOVE YOU, I DO!

Katherine

A New Relationship With Food: Nutritional Value and Happiness

Dearest friends;
Welcome back and I have a post today about one of my new and better habits for a better life, I have decided to teach myself how to view food for its nutritional value and to choose food and menus that give me good nutrition, no chemicals, no hormones or fertilizers in my body, fresh organic food and to eat every three hours but small portion of no denature foods, more organic vegetables and fruits.

Today we are covering Alkaline Cereals, organic and gluten free.

Organic Oats
It’s known as “the Queen of cereals” thanks to the high content in proteins, carbohydrates, phosphorus, trace elements, iron, nutrients, vitamins and minerals.

Actions: Strengthens the Spleen, the organ that produces blood in the body, the nervous system and the reproductive organs. It is recommended to treat postpartum urinary and bowel obstruction and to treat Hepatitis. It is purifying, helps control blood sugar levels in the blood and improves digestion.

Organic Barley
Barley also has B vitamins, folic acid, choline and vitamin K. It is a good source of potassium, magnesium, iron, sulfur, copper, zinc, manganese, chromium, selenium, iodine and phosphorus.

Actions: It nourishes, relaxes and refreshes the liver and gallbladder. Cooling and bland. Promotes diuresis, clears heat (inflammation in the body), detoxifies, it is great to treat indigestion, diarrhea, tumors and it is the cereal with biggest amount of fiber (17%.)

Organic Millet
Considered a sacred and powerful therapeutic food for Traditional Chinese Medicine, millet is the only alkalizing cereal, besides being a great remineralizer. Clears heat and it is cooling. It’s gluten free. It is a natural source of phosphorus. Also contains fatty acids, iron, zinc, iodine and vitamin E.

Actions: Relieves diarrhea, promotes urination, anti-toxin, stops vomiting and acts as astringent to the stomach and intestines.

Organic Quinoa
Quinoa’s properties are mainly nutritional. It’s gluten free. Almost 20% of its dry weight corresponds to vegetable proteins of very good quality for the facility to be assimilated by the body. Warm and Sweet energy. Has twice the proteins than rice or barley. Good source of iron, manganese and magnesium. It has anti-inflammatory, anti viral, anti-cancer and anti-depressive effects.

Folk Remedy: Quinoa calms the spirit and strengthen the body.

Actions: Strengthens the entire body, tonifies the flow of Qi (life force energy), it is used to treat weakness, fatigue, cold hands and feet.

Learn to see food as a source of nutrition for the body, a source of energy and to eat certain foods depending on your constitutional archetype which is a reflection of energy balance in your body. All dis-ease is a manifestation of disharmony in the body and it is caused by the energy that we live in; our thoughts, self talk, emotions, the food that we use to nourish our body, the way that we cook and preserve the food that we eat and the environment we live in which it is our extended body; color, air, relationships, living beings around us and the flow of energy in our lives.

Love your body. Love your-self and eat healthy. :)

Katherine
@DearestSource - Twitter

New Book - God's Genes

God’s Genes Healing - Self-Love by Katherine Dearest Tourist and Travelers; It is with great joy that I bring to you a new book for personal self-development and co-creation of a better life of meaning-full transcendence, IN love and light. This is a great book! It contains four chapters of a novel between DaNA, Sigi and Professor B Will; and four chapters of science-base information on Genetic Thinking, Bioenergy, Epigenetics and Mind-ful Choices, Habits-Beliefs and Consciousness, Cellular Memory, Life Force Energy and Nutrition. The science-base information validates and helps understand the purpose of each character in the novel. Open your heart and lead your heart to inspire your mind to a magical, enlightening and fun life changing story. Everyone is invited!!! The novel; DaNA, a DNA that escaped from a lab, meets Sigi at the park and both begin the most interesting and meaningful relationship to craft her wholistic life and better health into being. Sigi asks DaNA for help to restore her health. DaNA enters Sigi's ear to explore her body and talks with TamiRed, the Heart Chakra, The Library of Beliefs, Grand Master Bacteria, "I Me" the Ego, the Enzzzy Family and many more interesting characters components of Sigi's physical, mental and spiritual bodies. Their dialog is a fun and meaning-full way to better understand healing at a cell level, our own capacity to program, (turn on and off), our wholistic betterment at a cell level and all their interconnections. It was really fun to write a novel that models regular people acting as ingenious characters awakening to their inner capacities, the value of being and feeling humane, willing to listen the love that as grace is a life force. You'll fall in love with DaNA. :) This book also tap into three important concepts: first, the concept of "GOD" as Universal Love, a never ending evolving energy. Each cooperative component in its essence inspires-to-make God, as much as divine energy lives IN and through all there is. "God" in a sense is in a state of constant and never-ending evolving. Second, is the notion of Spiritual Human Evolving vs. Aging. A blessing notion of aging as matter over time that can be influenced and inspired, not to deteriorate but rather to get better and better. Also, that children are elders doing it all over again and elders are evolved children crafting themselves into being. Third, the notion of what we know as "Death" as a happy "Graduation." Energy can only be trans-formed but it can not end. How would you like to influence your own self-transformation? What would you like to become? How would you like to live then? How can you deliberately craft yourself into being? The introduction of the book presents a beautiful story of Nana, an amazing being I met. I share her 99 years of happy existence that teaches us an uplifting perspective of a fun and meaning-full blueprint of a promissory life grounded IN love. There was a time that our understanding was that DNA "controls" the biochemistry of our bodies, which was somehow predictable because of the information already "written" in our DNA. In other words, we "are" the genes of our ancestors and parents. Today we know that every cell, DNA, connective tissue, atom, organ and even the tiny molecules of our physical body experiencing life in constant communication and interaction with all layers of our human energy field have a vibration of its own which is influenced by our thoughts, beliefs, environment, emotions, nutrition, experiences and most important, the way that we perceive and love ourselves. Our mind (not the brain), can turn on and off mechanisms of our DNA. These factors can be influenced, consciously chosen, directed and more over, they can be shared collectively. Our body's healing and well-being is influenced by these tools that can be seen as opportunities. Health is a delicious process of self-love, intentionally co-created and influenced by each one of us. One of DaNA's messages to Sigi is to value the importance of the environment as our extended body. DaNA explains to Sigi and to Professor BWill that health is harmony with all there is and it is naturally vibrating its own "music of love." DaNA addresses a conference of interdisciplinary professionals of Bio-Medicine delivering the most spiritual, loving and awakening message in this book; we choose “our music”, the vibrational beings that we are becoming and the meaning of this vibration for our spiritual divine journey. Enjoy the ride! How to purchase this book  God's Genes