Time Magazine Environmental Hero Casson Trenor

Casson Trenor’s life passion is ocean conservation. With rising concern over unsustainable fishing practices and recent alerts about the rapidly shrinking bluefin tuna population worldwide, consumers may finally be waking up to the state of our oceans. Because of his involvement in opening one of North America’s first fully sustainable sushi restaurants, and his expertise in marine resource management (as highlighted in Sustainable Sushi: A Guide to Saving the Oceans One Bite at a Time), Trenor was honored as one of Time magazine’s “Heroes of the Environment 2009!” I can’t think of a more ideal recipient!

Jacqueline Church of The Leather District Gourmet and The Nourish Network spoke with Casson Trenor just moments after he learned of the Time magazine environmental hero honor.

When did you first learn that you won this honor?

About four hours ago, sitting here in my hotel room in Amsterdam.

Describe the moment you picked up the magazine and saw/or learned about the award?

I haven’t seen the magazine yet!  But I got a google alert in my email, checked it, and… I dunno, I still can’t really believe it.  I’m so happy.

What started you on the path of sustainable sushi?

I love sushi… and I also love the ocean.  I guess it kind of grew out of that.  I realize that the ocean is in serious trouble, and the art of sushi will be lost if we can’t heal our planet.  I don’t want that to happen… it seems like such a dismal prospect.  I want my children and their children to know both the beauty and magnificence of a healthy ocean and the taste and experience of sushi.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of this conversation and learn the 5 best sustainable sushi options, and the 5 everyone should avoid.

CLICK HERE to read more about Time magazine’s “Heroes of the Environment 2009.”

CLICK HERE to learn more about Sustainable Sushi: A Guide to Saving the Oceans One Bite at a Time.

CLICK HERE to visit Casson Trenor’s SustainableSushi.net.

Transformative and Inspirational Living with Lucy Harmer – November 2009

Each month author Lucy Harmer dedicates her journal entries to the theme of “transformative and inspirational living” – finding the fun, magic and laughter in everyday occurrences! She explores ideas, thoughts and quotes from her two books, Discovering Your Spirit Animal and Shamanic Astrology.

November 2009

Shamanic Astrology
Exploring the Personality of your Spirit Animal Sign

© Copyright 2009 Lucy Harmer

Last month in my journal (October 2009), I gave an overview of what Shamanic Astrology is. This month, I am going to explore the twelve spirit animal signs of the medicine wheel a little deeper, so that you can begin to discover the special qualities each sign possesses.

There are twelve astrological “signs” on the medicine wheel, which are represented by twelve different spirit animals. Shamanic Astrology teaches us that inner power derives from knowing the properties, characteristics, and qualities of each spirit animal (known as their “medicine”), and applying this in our own lives.

To get you started, here are some of the main strengths and weaknesses of each of the twelve spirit animals. It is really interesting to note that weaknesses are often just a mirror of our strengths and qualities. What we see as “weaknesses” can often be transformed into “strengths.” Take Falcon people, for example, whose “weaknesses” can be their tendency to be impulsive and headstrong. Transformed, these qualities become Falcon people’s strengths – their spontaneity and pioneering nature.

(If you are not sure which spirit animal sign you are, you can find out by looking your birthday up in the second table below – “Which animal sign are you?”)

Strengths and Weaknesses of the twelve spirit animal signs:

I always find it fascinating to look up the qualities of my friends, family and work colleagues. It is amazing how much their spirit animal sign can tell you about why they may behave in certain ways!

You can find out more about the personality of your own spirit animal and how you relate to the other signs, in my book Shamanic Astrology: Understanding Your Spirit Animal Sign. You can also discover the different spirit animal clans that you, your friends and family belong to, and your own special plant, stone, element, color and life path.

Which animal sign are you?
To find your spirit animal sign, just locate your birthday from the dates below, according to your place of birth. If you were born north of the equator (eg; USA, Canada, Europe), then look for your date of birth in the column headed “Northern Hemisphere.” If you were born south of the equator (eg; Australia, New Zealand, South Africa), then look for your date of birth in the column headed “Southern Hemisphere.”

This month, I wish you lots of fun and magic in exploring the strengths and qualities of your own spirit animal sign, and discovering those of your friends, family and work colleagues too!

Love and blessings,
Lucy

Shamanic Astrology is available for purchase directly through NorthAtlanticBooks.com, as well as major book stores and online retailers.

CLICK HERE to learn more about courses, seminars and workshops offered by Lucy Harmer.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Shamanic Astrology.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Discovering Your Spirit Animal.

Rob Brezsny’s Free Will Astrology for November

One of our favorite new consciousness websites, RealitySandwich.com, is now featuring excerpts from Rob Brezsny’s Pronoia is the Antidote for Paranoia, Revised and Expanded. Want to get a taste of Brezsny’s optimistic outlook? CLICK HERE to read “Glory in the Highest, Part One.”

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
November
© Copyright 2009  Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): There was a time when wetlands were considered dismal and unproductive. At best they were thought to be a waste of space, and at worst stinky breeding grounds for insect pests. For over 200 years, many marshes, bogs, and swamps were filled with dirt and transformed into places suitable for farms, houses, and recreational areas. But all that has changed in the last 30 years. Science has rehabilitated the reputation of wetlands, showing how crucial they are. They clean toxins from water, help control floods and soil erosion, and are home to more biological diversity than any other ecosystem. The coming weeks would be an excellent time for you to make a comparable conversion, Aries. Something you once demeaned or underestimated could become an inspirational catalyst.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the coming weeks, you will have the potential to articulate what has never been spoken before and to name truths that everyone has been avoiding. Uncoincidentally, you may also be able to hear what you’ve never been able to hear up until now and tune in to truths you’ve been oblivious to. As you might imagine, Taurus, you must fully activate both of these capacities in order for either to function at its best.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Nature’s rhythm is cyclical. Everything alive waxes and wanes. If you’re smart, you honor that flow by periodically letting parts of your world wither or go to sleep. If you’re not so smart, you set yourself up for needless pain by indulging in the delusion that you can enjoy uninterrupted growth. According to my reading of the astrological omens, Gemini, this is your time to explore the creative possibilities of ebbing and slackening. Ask yourself the following question, which I’ve borrowed from the Jungian author Clarissa Pinkola Estes: “What must I allow to die today in order to generate more life tomorrow?”

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Pregnant women sometimes have unusual cravings. From the fourth to sixth month of her daughter’s gestation period, for example, my friend Marta was on occasion beset by the longing to eat toothpaste. I’ve known other women who fantasized about nibbling on mud, coffee grounds, and chalk. Fortunately, they all resisted the urge, which is what health practitioners recommend. Instead they tried to figure out if their bodies were trying to tell them about some legitimate deficiency of vitamins or minerals. I offer this to you as a metaphor to keep in mind. As your own special creation ripens, you may experience odd desires. Don’t necessarily take them at face value.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): It might be tempting to turn your home into a womb-like sanctuary and explore the mysteries of doing absolutely nothing while clad in your pajamas. And frankly, this might be a good idea. After the risks you’ve taken to reach out to the other side, after the bridges you’ve built in the midst of the storms, after the skirmishes you’ve fought in the Gossip Wars, you have every right to retreat and get your homebody persona humming at a higher vibration. So I say: Be meticulously leisurely as you celebrate the deep pleasures of self-care.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Hey Rob: I was having trouble finishing my novel  — typical writer’s block. So I sidetracked myself into making silly creative projects — papier-mache chickens, masks made out of junk mail, collages incorporating bottle caps and dryer lint. I can’t say any of it is ‘art,’ but I feel creative again and my house is full of colorful stuff I whipped up myself. If you wait to be perfect, I concluded, you’ll never make anything. I tried something I knew I’d be bad at, so failure didn’t matter. Now I’m branching out with my inadequacy — not waiting for Mr. Perfect but having a beer with Joe Flawed, forgetting to be right all the time, admitting that I haven’t a clue. I’ve become smilingly, brilliantly dumb. -Inappropriate Virgo.” Dear Inappropriate: Congrats! You’re doing exactly what I want to advise all Virgos everywhere to try.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): At a yard sale today, I paid a dollar for a stained, pocket-sized horoscope book with many of its pages missing. The reason I made such an odd investment is that it had a forecast for Libra for the first part of November 2009, and this forecast struck me as even more useful than the horoscope I had composed for you. As a public service, I’m providing it here. “The graceful dragonfly lives for just a few months. But a sequoia tree’s time on earth can last 2,000 years. In the same way, some bonds, some creations, some worlds, endure for a mere blink in eternity, while others are destined to outfox the ravages of time. What will be the lifespan of the dream you recently hatched, Libra? It is time to decide and take action.”

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Your anti-role model — the person you should be the opposite of — is the Scorpio warrior, U.S. General George Patton, also known as “Old Blood and Guts.” He once said, “Practically everyone but myself is a pusillanimous son of a bitch.” That’s an attitude you should especially avoid in the coming weeks, since your success will depend on you seeing the best in people — even if they sometimes don’t seem to warrant it. P.S. It may be OK to think of yourself as “Old Blood and Guts” if and only if you dedicate your ferocity to the service of smart love and ingenious collaboration.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Congratulations, Sagittarius! Free Will Astrology’s Task Force on Creative Suffering has confirmed that your current dilemmas are exceptionally interesting and useful. You have demonstrated an impressive talent for getting embroiled in riddles that promise to bring out your dormant reserves of vitality and ingenuity. The dumfounding questions you’ve been wrestling with are high-caliber tests that have drawn you closer to the heart of the reasons you’re here on Earth. Take full advantage of this beautiful mess, my dear. Chaos this fertile is hard to come by.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): When Dante was nine years old, long before he became one of Italy’s supreme poets, he fell in love with Beatrice, an eight-year-old girl he met at a May Day party. They never had a close relationship. In the years after their initial encounter, they met infrequently, and both eventually married other people. But Beatrice played a crucial role throughout Dante’s life, although she died at the age of 24. She was not just his muse, but also his “beatitude, the destroyer of all vices and the queen of virtue, salvation.” Dante even wrote her into his Divine Comedy in the role of a guide. Is there any person or influence in your life equivalent to Beatrice? Any once-upon-a-time blessing that might be ready to give you the fullness of the gifts it has been waiting all this time to deliver?

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I would love it if you could find a sword that could cut itself. Or a fire that could burn itself. Or some water you could wash. But even if you can conjure the magic to attract an experience that simply resembles one of those marvelous paradoxes, it would set in motion a series of epiphanies that would liberate you from an inferior paradox — a confusing absurdity that is not worthy of you and that has been draining your life force.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The planets are aligned in such a way that suggests you may be able to experience an orgasm solely by meditating. This rare cosmic alignment also means that it’s conceivable you could generate money or attract new resources by following your holy bliss, or that you might stumble upon the tricky treasure you’ve been looking for in all the wrong places. But I can’t say for sure that you will actually be able to capitalize on any of these remarkable opportunities. It will depend on whether you can more fully express one of the skills that is your birthright as a Pisces: being wild and disciplined at the same time.

Homework: I invite you to launch a crusade to raise the level of well-being everywhere you go. Report results to FreeWillAstrology.com.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Rob Brezsny’s “Free Will Astrology.”

CLICK HERE to subscribe to Rob Brezsny’s newsletter.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Rob Brezsny’s book, Pronoia is the Antidote for Paranoia, Revised and Expanded.

Healthy Autumn Fruit Cobbler

I admit that I’m hopelessly plagued by a persuasive sweet tooth. Holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving bring gastronomical temptations galore, trumping my otherwise healthy diet. You can imagine my excitement for Sweet Gratitude: A New World of Raw Desserts, a book chalk full of delicious guilt-free recipes! In honor of our current “Season of Temptation,” I’d like to share this delectable prescription for Pear, Persimmon, and Pomegranate Fruit Cobbler (from Sweet Gratitude). Good luck in your kitchen endeavors, and enjoy!

Fruit Cobbler

Makes one 9×9x2-inch pan of cobbler

WALNUT CRUST/TOPPING
3 cups walnuts
2 ounces date paste (weight)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon liquid vanilla
⅛ teaspoon salt

Process all ingredients until walnuts are still slightly chunky. Once ready, separate the crust into two equal portions. Sprinkle one portion evenly over bottom of pan and lightly compact. Reserve the other portion for the topping.

FRUIT FILLING
8 cups sliced fruit of your choice
(any combination of fruit or berries)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons agave syrup (optional)
1 tablespoon liquid vanilla
11/2 teaspoons cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon salt

FRUIT FILLING DIRECTIONS
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Evenly distribute the filling on top of the crust. Then crumble the remaining crust on top of the fruit and gently press. Decorate with fresh fruit slices.

Variations: Use pecans instead of walnuts for the crust/topping. This cobbler lends itself to endless variations of fruit that can be used. Be creative—use what you love and what is in season for the best result. Some of our favorite cobbler combinations are:
Apple/strawberry, white peach/raspberry/mango, pear/persimmon/pomegranate, and berry medley cobbler (blueberry/strawberry/ raspberry/blackberry).

Storage and life span: This dessert is best on the day it is made. Over subsequent days the cobbler will begin to juice and the nuts will get soggy. Keep covered in the fridge for up to two days.

Want to try your hand at Raw Cacao Fudge? CLICK HERE for the recipe.

Meet the Author of Origins of the Tarot!

11/13 Book Signing and talk with author Dai Léon

Origins of the Tarot: Cosmic Evolution and the Principles of Immortality

Where: Mystic Journey Bookstore

1319 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, California
When: Friday November 13th
Time: 7-9pm

Conventional wisdom traces Tarot cards to medieval Italy, but their roots go back much further in time and draw on a surprisingly rich variety of cultures and spiritual traditions. Combining pioneering scholarship with practical spiritual instruction, Origins of the Tarot is the first book to unveil the full range of the ancient streams of wisdom from which the Tarot emerged. The timeless principles of conscious realization and cosmological unfoldment underlying the Tarot have never been explored in a comparably extensive and detailed way.

The Tarot is about a universal procession of evolution and the soul’s quest for enlightenment. It is a unique exemplification of perennial teachings on the soul and its liberation. It was developed through teachings and practices within a tremendous range of traditions, including Kabbalah, Western esotericism and alchemy, Buddhism, Taoism, yogic disciplines, Sufism, mystical Christianity, Gnosticism, and Neoplatonism. Dai Léon masterfully incorporates and synthesizes these in his book, seminars and daily life.

“Origins of the Tarot’s profound learning and unprecedented range of references are sure to attract close study among students both of the world’s most enduring esoteric tradition and of esotericism itself.”

A lifelong student of East-West philosophy and contemplation, Dai has served for 25 years as a cultural emissary between modern and traditional, scientific and spiritual domains. Dai began his studies of esoteric ritual, yoga, alchemy and martial arts at the age of eight in France, where he was raised as a youngster. After studying the philosophies and spiritual ways of the great traditions at the University of Illinois, Dai was invited to directly study under the Venerable Gia-fu Feng, head of Stillpoint Foundation in Colorado. In the spring of 1978, Sifu (indicating monk or teacher) Dai Sealed Heart-Mind with Master Feng (a traditional method of Lineage or Dharma Transmission), who requested Dai to teach the Tao that is none other than the One of Heraclitus, Plotinus and Western wisdom through the ages.

Come chat with Dai during this Mystic Journey evening. And schedule a future reading! Adept of the Buddhist-Taoist way of insight, Dai integrates transpersonal advice with intimate and immediate realms of personal development. East meets West in what will prove to be an unforgettably insightful interaction.