Marlow’s Blog Post Archive

What is Emerging?

by marlowpurvesnet, posted in Uncategorized

Y’know when you know something in your head but somehow the reality of it, the truth of it gets a little waylaid? That’s how I have been experiencing the lead up to this Equinox. I’ve seen the days dropping in the count-down on the calendar, been aware of that recent full moon in Libra and have been anticipating, hoping for, that much-needed return to balance that I have treasured at this time of year. This year? not so much.

We live in ‘interesting times’ or shall we just ‘call a spade a bloody shovel’, as my Mother used to say, and admit that we are living in times of upheaval and turbulence. Emerging from the darker months of winter into the equality of day and night usually feels like a relief,a promise somehow that everything is going to be alright after all. Longer days, daffodils, birdsong and all those juicy stirrings are undoubtedly a joy to witness; but I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s not going to be all sweetness and light from here on in.

I seem to have been tuning-in to another quality this year, one characterized by a sense of urgency, a kind of frantic energy, rumbling and fracturing nature’s sleepy repose. Part of me keeps checking to make sure it’s REALLY Equinox, that it is indeed that time of perfect balance and harmony. Well, we are on the cusp of Aries after all and bucolic is not part of the lexicon. Aries ruled by Mars, the God of War, Power and Action is definitely making his presence felt, on the international stage, in the plundering of the earth’s resources and our penchant for posturing and power plays. Frankly? It ‘s exhausting and more than a little futile. It seems pretty clear that this is a road to nowhere. As we are here, at the very beginning, suspended between steps having just raised one foot with an intention to move forward, we have a very clear opportunity. We have an opportunity to CHOOSE where our foot will fall, which direction we will orient ourselves toward. Stillness, yes, new life yes, growth and development are all on the cards.

This particular time in history with its opportunities of choice are unprecedented, more than ever before we are privy to awareness of how our actions impact all of our companions on the planet. Rather than rushing headlong into the next venture and rising blindly with the fires of Spring, let’s take a moment or even two to surrender our egos, lean into our hearts and consciously choose our course. Spring signals, as always, the renewal of hope.

Blessings on your steps and your unfolding journey!

Imbolc – Exquisite Paradox

by marlowpurvesnet, posted in Body-centred meditation, Cambridge, Creating Ceremony, Creating Ritual, Guided Meditation, Healing, Journeying, Spiritual Awakening, Uncategorized

snowdrop shootsThe days are DEFINITELY longer and the earth is just beginning to emit her irresistible fragrance, JUST. Snow drops are appearing and gardeners’ fingers are itching and turning to trays of seedling hope in anticipation of a warming soil and softening in the fields. On this sunny day I look around and see evidence of the sun’s fire drawing forth the abundance of a sleeping earth. Hope surfaces, tentatively, tenderly. It is truly an exquisite time of year and in ourselves, new-born time.

All this fiery energy holds us in its thrall because of it’s juxtaposition to the vulnerability of newly emerging life. This is animal time, where an appetite for life is making itself felt in our deepest selves. Raw, not wholly formed; wet with the fluids of previous hidden existence, we are being called to show ourselves. We are invited by Nature herself to rise in consciousness and make a bid for life.

Commitment time, Imbolc is a dedication and initiation festival. Making a commitment is a radical act of courage and of hope. It must be tended with care, protection and loving nurture; a dangerous undertaking, worthy and requiring support. Commitment has had a bit of a bad rap in the past, alluding to constraint, bonds and limitations and yet it provides the vessel from which to grow, a stable and faithful promise to protect new life, nurture it and bear witness to its unique creations.

Brigid, the Goddess of Poetry, Smith-craft and Healing sings the heart’s song, creates the containment of a manifest vessel and heals the wounds found on the path of emergence. Feel the fire and tend your vessel with loving kindness, there is a promise of oh-so-sweet bud and flower and fruit for the faithful.

Samhain – Doorway to the Other worlds

by marlowpurvesnet, posted in Uncategorized

Image 

There are two bushes at the bottom of my garden, I like to think of them as sentinels of sorts, they look and act as a kind of portal through which one must pass in order to come into or out of my home. These bushes are prickly, somewhat unforgiving and this time of year are often softly doused in dew from the autumn mornings and usually sporting some fine gossamer specimens.

 

Webs..spiders, World Wide Web… catching, trapping, surrounding, winding, weaving, creating, home, sustenance, holes, slight, strong, sticky, wind proof, fragile.

 

Hallowe’en or Samhain is by far my favourite holiday of the year. We are sinking deep into the darkness, the cold. Contraction, slowing and quietude are the orders of the day (or night). It is the time when the veil between the worlds is thinnest, when we are invited to venture between the worlds, feast and remember our ancestors; our ‘Gone Befores’ and hopefully retrieve a sense of belonging, solace and connection in the face of our furiously-paced lives. It also marks the end of the year in the Celtic calendar, a time for reflection and deep communion. The last of the harvest festivals, we are now heading within to rest, dream and restore ourselves.

 

Webs, in all their intricacy, are ideally poised to offer us a gateway into this other-world. If we approach full on, we are likely to be trapped by them, stuck in our own illusions, our ego selves. If however, we attend to the ‘holes’ in the web, the gaps between the silken strands, we can move beyond to what otherwise might be dimly viewed but never touched. So, these delicate guardians stand everywhere, in corners, spanning impossible distances, valiantly connecting unlikely anchors in order to offer us a not only a view, but a way through. Be warned though, there are ‘keepers’ at these thresholds, prepare yourself with pure intent and offer respect as you pass between.

 

It’s getting dark outside, the world is in a whirling rush of blind panic. In the next few days if you find yourself confronted with a spider’s miraculous creation, take a moment to step through it, like the wind, and visit with those on the other side. There is counsel there and comfort and home.

 

Blessed Samhain!

Diet and Homoeopathy

by marlowpurvesnet, posted in Uncategorized

People often ask me if they are going to have to alter their diets and commit to fasting or change their habits in drastic measures in order for homoeopathy to work for them. In fact, occasionally they come to me assuming that I am going to ‘make them’ implement the changes that they already know they need to make in their lives!

The hot news in the public health forums these day inevitably has some link or other to do with diet. How to lose weight, how to gain weight, wheat intolerance, glucose intolerance, dairy intolerance… Image is probably one of strongest tools for drawing attention to what we do or do not eat. Celebrity diets are on the ‘up’ and miracle cures are touted continuously. More and more of us are being made aware of the increase of chronic illnesses such as Cancer, Diabetes, Coeliac Disease, IBS… The media bombards us with the new super foods and supplements that are promising the cure to all our ills; from obesity to ageing, depression to sleeplessness. It’s a veritable minefield out there, information overload leading many of us to retreat back into our comfortable patterns and surrender to what may or may not amount to low-level chronic illness.

I am not a nutritionist. As an homoeopath, what I will do is take a detailed summary of your health history, including your eating habits. Cravings and aversions are an important part of the profile because they not only give a sense of the overall shape and balance of a person’s diet, but they indicate certain important features about the person’s individual constitution. Homoeopathy recognizes that all of us are individual and so it makes sense that we each have different nutritional requirements and sensitivities. During the course of treatment, if people have had significant imbalances in their appetite or cravings these naturally balance themselves out. The goal of every homoeopath is not to restrict and control someone’s dietary options but to help them reach a state of health where they naturally make the best choices for themselves – because it feels right. Food intolerance can be borne of an overall sensitivity that can often be addressed with the use of remedies on a constitutional basis. Feeling well in yourself also reflects in a healthful level of weight, stamina and flexibility.

That said, there are certain basic principles that seem to work as a guideline to healthful eating. Eat sensibly. A diet rich in variety, fresh fruit and vegetables and a minimum of processed foods. Too much of ANYTHING is not good for anyone.

Homoeopathy, though well known and established in this country for almost 200 hundred years, is still a bit of a mystery to people. There seem to be so many different therapies and healing modalities available these days that it can be pretty baffling trying to figure out which is which, let alone whether the therapy is appropriate for you or not. If you have digestive related symptoms or basic questions about a balanced diet, call an Homoeopath!

Saturday Morning Homoeopathy with Marlow

by marlowpurvesnet, posted in Cambridge Homoeopathy, Evolutionary Homeopathy, Health, Homeopathy, remedies, Uncategorized

Linton Village College

presents

Saturday Morning Homoeopathy with Marlow
with Marlow Purves BA LCH MARH

Remedies for Power Surges and Other Eventualities of Menopause
Homoeopathic and nutritional advice for changing times…the best is yet to come!
18 May 2013

Homoeopathy for the Nursery
Common remedies for childhood ailments and practical tips for parents
25 May 2013

Vaccination – How to make an Informed Decision
DPT – HPV – MMR – BCG How much is too much?
1 June 2013

Colds and Flu
Managing Acute illnesses with homoeopathy
8 June 2013

10am to 1:30pm – each workshop costs £25

Marlow has been practicing and teaching homoeopathy for self-care for over 20 years and provides an accessible, fun environment for learning and discussion. Hand-outs are included.

Register no: 01223 891233 or e-mail adult.education@lvc.org.
Visit our website at http://www.lvc.acl.co.uk select Adult Education from the menu.

The Gardener’s Apothecary

by marlowpurvesnet, posted in Health, Holistic Healing, Homeopathy, remedies, Uncategorized

Apothecary Plant images

The Gardener’s Apothecary

We’ve been waiting for such a long time and finally encouragement is coming from the garden. A few degrees warmer temperatures and a little bit of sunshine seems to be all we need to woo us into our over-wintered bits of paradise.

Joyous reunions, plans for sowing, the promise of colours, scents and home grown delights have us reaching for spade, fork and trowel. We often seem to fall prey to a sort of collective amnesia at this time of year, so eager are we to be in the dirt, our bodies have forgotten the toll exacted by the labour of planting, mowing and mulching.

Fresh air, fragrant earth, mellow sunshine BLISS — All of earth’s energies are pointing up and so many shoots are making their way skyward. With such a riot of life making itself visible it’s difficult to pace ourselves in our endeavours to match it. Warning a gardener NOT to overdo it is a little like saying, ‘Drink slowly’ to one who has just crossed a desert!

Commonly the results of our first forays into the garden leave us feeling a little worse for wear – strained and over-used muscles, bruises, wear and tear, a chill from having over stayed our time can interfere with the best laid plans of the most seasoned among us.

Homoeopathic remedies come into their own in these circumstances and are a gentle, safe and effective cure allowing us to return tomorrow and the next day to our little bits of Eden.

These common remedies are made from plants that may well appear in our gardens, proving the maxim that ‘everything we require for healing is provided for’. They are commonly found in health food stores and Chemist’s shops. All remedies with the exception of Calendula are in pill form and to be taken internally. They are safe for pregnant women, children and the elderly.

ACONITE – Monkshood

For the effects of exposure to cold winds. Sudden violent onset of fever, earache or headache. This is an acute and extreme state that may also be accompanied by fearfulness and palpitations.

ARNICA – Mountain Daisy

An old friend for the gardener. Useful in the event of over-strain and injury, bruising or damage to soft tissue. Arnica is indicated in one who has worked beyond their capacity (who me?!) and insists all the while that they are fine, even when it is very apparent that exhaustion has set in. There is a bruised sensation and achy-ness in the whole body.

CALENDULA – Marigold

(Used in the form of a cream for topical application)

Calendula is a first class remedy or salve for cuts, abrasions or open wounds. It is, in fact, such a good remedy that it is imperative that the wound or cut be very thoroughly cleaned before applying as the cream. The remedy promotes granulation of the tissue and enables speedy and effective healing for the skin.

RHUS TOX – Poison Oak

Useful for the ‘morning after’ when soreness and stiffness surfaces.
Muscles, ligaments, strains and sprains are the hallmark affinities and symptoms associated with Rhus Tox. Soreness, stiffness in backs, knees and arms; restlessness and aching from too much digging and unusual repetitive movement. People needing Rhus Tox will naturally gravitate toward a hot bath and a gentle rub… these symptoms are typically relieved by slow continued motion and feel MUCH worse on initial movement.

RUTA GRAV – Garden Rue

The sphere of action for this remedy is in the event of damage and strain to ligaments and tendons. Ailments from small repeated twisting motions…carpal tunnel syndrome or repetitive strain injury activated in wrists, ankles fingers and small joints.

LEDUM PALUSTRE – Marsh Tea

Puncture wounds, soil, rusty tools can all add up to a lethal cocktail that equals tetanus. Ledum is a preeminent preventative to tetanus and is especially indicated when deep puncture wounds are cold, bluish in colour, threatening infection and the pains are relieved by cold applications. Also indicated for the treatment of animal bites.

HYPERICUM – St John’s Wort

Like Ledum, Hypericum is a highly effective preventative and treatment for wounds or injuries suspected of leading to tetanus. The puncture wound or cut requiring Hypericum will be very red and angry looking and possibly hot to touch. It is a first class remedy for pain associated with nerve damage – misfire with a hammer and a stake for the new fence? Slamming ones fingers in the shed door? Trip and fall on your tailbone? Arnica and Hypericum will ensure that you’ll be up tomorrow morning musing on where to plant the spinach and the salad greens.

As you make your way into the garden, prevent injuries by stretching first, ask for help with lifting the new paving stones and make sure that you have plenty of water to drink! If you do over-do it and these remedies do not resolve your symptoms, contact a qualified homeopath or consult your doctor.

Happy Planting!