The Medicine Wheel and the Cross

 I'm editing my novel, working title: Tall Prairie Vision. It's about a daughter of a Native American Chief and an Irish man who comes to the fictional reservation to teach in the school in the hopes of evangelizing them. He learns a lot along the way. Following is an excerpt from the book where the heroine, Little Feather, teaches a group of students the Native meaning of the medicine wheel.

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  “Ancient tribal people built these symbols all over the Americas.” She placed the rocks in a large circle in the middle of the circle of students. “Each medicine wheel has a cross intersecting in the middle and reaching to the edges of the circle.” She spoke slowly as she placed more rocks inside the circle in intersecting lines. Her words sounded like a whisper and nearly entranced Alex as if her voice carried some kind of magic. When she completed the lines in the circle she sat down in the larger circle with the students. Alex faced her on the other side of the circle.    “We’re sitting here all together in a circle, Right?” A number of students nodded their heads. “No one is above or below the other while we’re in this circle.” Alex looked around, confirming her words in his mind. They all sat on the same level. She continued, “In the circle we are equal.”   “The Medicine Wheel represents this equality. All people are represented within the points of the wheel. We each have a place on the wheel and when we work together as a whole we have health and happiness.”   Alex grew nervous with this line of reasoning. He couldn’t argue her logic, but it missed some important aspects of truth. He wanted to hear more. He wanted to understand Little Feather and her tribe and their way of thinking.    “There are many teachings about this wheel, some differences and some similarities among those teachings, but most believe that the points on the wheel represent all the nations of the world. . .

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The medicine wheel has cross beams inside it to support the outer circle. The outer circle represents all people of the world. In my book Little Feather has a vision of Jesus hanging on the crossbeam bleeding. She doesn't know it's Jesus and doesn't understand yet that he died to take away the sins of the world so we can have fellowship together and be equally accepted into God's presence. 

This Holy Week may we remember the One who bore our sins and sorrows. The one who redeemed us and united us in Christ with people from every tongue, tribe and nation. 

Recipe for a Gloomy, Snowy, Editing Day

An actual photo from my back deck this morning

It's March 18. The clouds are so thick the sun can't even catch a glimpse of the earth. It's dark for the time and it's snowing like crazy.  Astonishing to think that Spring arrives on Wednesday.

Today I planned to do another edit on my novel. l'm changing the time period to present. I previously had set it in the early 1970s. So what can I do to perk up this day and get me in the mood for a few hours of rewrites?

Tea is always my answer to warm up a cold day or give me that small comfort to nudge me into work. A pot of green tea with orange peel and a little honey sounds perfect.



And something in the crockpot for dinner will allow me to be lazy on this gray day. Following is a recipe from "Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker." I hope you enjoy it too.

Spicy Black Bean Chili
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 medium-size red pepper, seeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp chili powder, or more to taste
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
Two 15.5-ounce cans black beans, drained & rinsed
1 cup water
One 4-ounce can diced green chiles, drained
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic; cover, and cook until just softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder and cook about 30 seconds longer.

2. Transfer the mixture to a 4 or 6-quart slow cooker. Add the tomatoes, beans, water and chilies; season with salt and pepper, cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.

Easy. Now back to work.

Your New Friend: Kefir

By Guest Blogger: Jessiena Luhman

(find Jessiena at her blog. This post linked to Our Heritage of Health, Old Fashioned Friday)

Wikipedia describes Kefir as: a fermented milk drink made from kefir grains, which are a symbiotic culture of yeasts and bacteria.  Kefir grains are packed with: vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin D, folic acid, calcium, iron, iodine and probiotics. Why are probiotics so important? They help support our immune system by populating it with good bacteria, these little fighters help ward off infections and boost your immune system.

I bet you’ve seen kefir at the market, but here’s why you shouldn’t buy it there: the present factory-produced kefir, the so-called kefir mild, kefir grains are no longer used, but a precise composed mixture of different bacteria and yeast, allowing the flavor to be kept constant. Long story short; don’t believe every label you read. 

If you want to gain all the benefits of kefir, it’s easy to grow at home. So easy, a friend gave me starter grains, explained the general process and within 24 hours I was enjoying my very own kefir. 

What you need:
-A large canning jar, without the seal, sterilized with boiling water. Be sure to heat the jar with hot water first, so the boiling water does not crack your jar.

- A coffee filter, paper towel or piece of fabric to use as a cover, so your kefir can breathe.

- High quality organic milk. You want to feed your new friend the best, so you will get the highest quality benefits.

- A plastic strainer. Metal will kill your kefir starter. If you only remember one thing, remember that metal kills your kefir grains.

- A vessel to store all of your delicious kefir.

So, what do you do with your strange new buddy? Name him, just kidding! But seriously, I named my Ralph. Trudy, Stella or Gladys are also lovely names for your new pal.

When you get your kefir starter, put him in your freshly sterilized, room temperature jar and add milk. Make sure he is covered completely, that is the least amount of milk you should ever use. You can make as much or as little as you want. I drink daily blueberry kefir smoothies, so I fill it almost full.

Once your kefir friend is in its jar and has milk to nosh on, cover it with fabric, secure it and wait for 12-24 hours. I like to set an alarm on my phone, for a time the next day when I know I will be home. It says, "Strain it or Refrigerate it." 

Place your buddy in a cabinet or on the counter and wait.

Making too much kefir, life too busy, or going out of town? Refrigeration presses the pause button on your kefir pal. 

You may also notice your new friend getting too big for his glass britches. Simply remove a section, using a plastic spoon and give it to a friend or save it in the back of your fridge, in a smaller jar with a small amount of milk for him to cozy up in and take a nap. In the event that your original starter goes bad for some reason, you have a backup!

Is that the alarm? Kefir is ready. Check your kefir. Does it look strange? It is probably ready. For a better description, Google ‘homemade kefir,’ there are a lot of excellent resources. Strain your kefir into a vessel, using a plastic spatula; roll your starter friend around to get all of the thick, tasty kefir.

You may notice that your little buddy has a tendency to get a little slimy and thick with kefir, simply rinse him off on occasion with non-chlorinated water or water that has sat on your counter, in open air, overnight. 

Straining complete? 

Rinse your jar out with hot water to create a nice, clean environment for him to grow good bacteria, plop your friend back in, feed him more milk, set your alarm and put him back in his spot on the counter.

Now enjoy your tangy kefir and wait for your new friend to make you some more.

Easy peasy!

Time to get started on your adventure with fermentation!

Your local health food store doesn’t carry kefir starter? Try this great website:

http://www.culturesforhealth.com/

Lots of great FAQs about kefir:

http://www.yemoos.com/faqmmain.html

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kefir