Can we talk to a person about the Affordable Health Care possibilities? Here’s the links and the phone numbers to two local resources to get you off a website and into a conversation:

Public Policy and Education Fund (New York)  :800-803-8508

Maternal Infant Services Network (New York)  :800-453-4666

and consider attending an informational session about the marketplace for insurance at the Kingston Public Library on Tuesday, November 26th, 2013 from 5:30 – 7:30pm

at 55 Franklin Street, Kingston New York.

Four days ago I had the honor of being a guest lecturer at Marist College (in Poughkeepsie, NY) to talk about Chinese Medicine and acupuncture in particular. I began by asking the students what questions they had and they smartly dove into all directions from mechanisms to theory to my personal journey. One student asked who I typically work with and since the student did not ask a demographically-based question I gave a broad categorical answer: I see many seekers who have tried and often regularly use multiple medical modalities.

A unique possibility of Chinese Medicine is to help a person understand that they already have what they need: the unchanging truth of change and every asset of the natural world around you within you.

The medical modality and practitioner are your companions, tools, mirrors, instruments, to accessing what you need – what you already have.

Food is medicine, and there’s a crop of adorable medicine in the fields right now! Sometimes crusading as a jack-o-lantern, sometimes fighting parasites. Here’s a summary about pumpkins from Paul Pitchford’s Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition:

Pumpkin [has a] cooling thermal nature; sweet and slightly bitter flavor; relieves damp conditions including dysentery, eczema, and edema; helps regulate blood sugar balance and benefits the pancreas – used for diabetes and hypoglycemia. Promotes discharge of mucus from lungs, bronchi, and throat; regular use has been shown to benefit bronchial asthma. Cooked pumpkin destroys intestinal worms, but not as effectively as pumpkin seeds. For parasitic worms, eat a small handful of seeds of winter squash or pumpkin once or twice daily for 3 weeks.

“In mid-autumn, when the air is growing colder and the nights longer, comes the Blood Moon. Also called the Hunter’s Moon by indigenous peoples in the eastern woodlands, it was a time when northern dwellers of many cultures would work to ensure that their store of meat would last the winter. They did this by hunting wild game or slaughtering farm animals. It was a time of year when blood was shed.”

 – Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection by Jessica Prentice

Tonight it’s also an eclipse! A penumbral eclipse, which means the earth’s shadow partially covers the moon but not completely.  Remember: full moons rise when the sun sets – 7:38pm is peak viewing time.

For some astrological connections to this Blood Moon I refer you to the excellent Astrologer Rhea Wolf: link here.