Author: hcourrier

Healing holidays

.Reading time 6 minutes.

Holidays are a time that challenge us to step outside our comfort zone.

Sometimes, we deeply look forward to exploring beyond the boundaries of our daily routines. At other times, we are so stressed that our minds remain in control mode. Questions begin to arise even before the holiday has started, creating barriers along a road that has not yet unfolded. Regrets, doubts, and the fear of making the wrong choice can quietly take over.

But then, somewhere along the way, we find our flow again. We reconnect with our passion, with our soul, and suddenly, the sky seems clearer. We rediscover the simple blessing of just being — of being fully ourselves.

And when we reach that place where we can remain grounded while opening ourselves to the unknown, something shifts.

We become ready to hit the road without a plan, to follow a big YES — a crazy YES, a YES that the mind may not fully understand yet.

Sometimes, that is exactly where the adventure begins.

So let’s make a break from our comfort zones. And enter the world of holiday healing stories!

Walking with a prayer

I surprised myself this summer by bringing the same magic I use in my healing walks into my mountain expeditions.

Medicine walks offer insights into a particular question or subject. I accompany my clients in finding a walking intention and in discovering the answers that already live within them.

Of course, I also practice medicine walks for myself. Through my own quests, I have healed some of my fears by coming to understand the deeper nature of life.

But walking with a prayer was something new.

The idea came to me when my friend Lorraine invited her community to pray for the fires in France to stop.

Walking with a prayer is an ancient spiritual practice found in many cultures: It is going on a walk or hike while holding a prayer, intention, or heartfelt wish in your mind and heart. The walking itself becomes part of the prayer — you are not simply praying while walking, but walking as a spiritual practice, carrying an intention and being open to what Nature reveals along the way, entering into relationship with place, ancestors, animals, plants, and the wider living world.

So I walked into the mountains carrying a prayer, with the intention of restoring harmony between people and Nature and to pray for the forest fires to stop. As I walked, I read the signs, listening for what Nature might be telling me about the fires and about restoring balance.

Guided by Spirit, I walked into the web of life. I came to understand that the fires were also burning away the old, making space for new growth. Healing is coming. The prayer was heard.

Now it is up to us to respect the cycle of the seasons and act with vigilance as guardians — helping people move through their weaknesses and nurturing their strengths.

I took the same approach to my own healing hike — a prayer to find my calling — and, in the process, I healed my vertigo.

Sitting on a mountain pass at 2,440 metres above sea level, with the wind blowing through my hair, I watched the people climbing the mountain below. From where I sat, they looked tiny.

Then I noticed the bees and butterflies buzzing around the mountain flowers. They have wings, yet they remain so deeply grounded, moving from flower to flower — flowers that know only the slopes, never imagining the horizontal world below.

And so did I. In this surreal landscape, I felt deeply grounded. I found my balance again.

Then I looked below at the eternal snow forming a heart shape on the mountain. I understood that my own heart needed to be as pure as this snow.

As this thought came to me, an eagle appeared, flying alone above me — awakening that familiar sense of vertigo.

But this time, I was not afraid. I felt ready to open my wings, carried by a profound sense of blessing.

I didn’t follow my partner all the way to the summit. But I understood something important:

We each find our healing where and when our soul is waiting to meet us.

Walking for change

In addition to forest bathing, I accompany people on medicine walks, guiding them into a deeper relationship with Nature and with the wisdom within themselves.

From observing a flower to embracing resistance.

.Reading time 7 minutes.

From observing a flower to embracing resistance in those changing times…

I have been feeling a lot of stagnation over the last few months. Time flies, giving an impression of not going forward. I sense a transition coming, but I’m not able to grasp it.

So, waking up this morning with a knot in my stomach and the urge to go into nature with my camera. This is an activity that makes me happy. I have noticed that each time I am in a transition phase, I pick up my camera again.
Walking on the sand path, I think of a friend telling me that she never feels alone. It reminds me of the allegory of the man walking in the desert, seeing his own footprints and asking where God has been al the time. “There were no other footprints because God carried you”. How beautiful it is to feel supported by a higher power that shows you the way. I feel deeply supported by Nature, flowers, and trees.

On my way back home, I observed a little flower. One of those flowers that you don’t take time to observe because they look very common. Looking more closely, I had to think of my daughter for its pink color and heart-shaped petals.
But observing it with a zoom lens, I could recognize patterns, sacred geometry, the golden ratio, chirality, the optical illusion of movement, connection with Spirit, and the TAO. So here is my fascinating story about encountering a paradox while meeting Silene dioica, also known as red campion and red catchfly.

From observing a flower to embracing resistance.

Silene dioica reading

From observing a flower to embracing resistance.

Reading Silene dioica from its signature, I see bold pink, heart-shaped petals symbolising harmony in the heart. But what triggers me the most is its center: a pentagon shape with side branches, and how the center line of the petal touches each pentagram point….

So I draw the flower center with lines to understand what it has to say. What I see is a regular pentagon, with side brackets all pointing in the same direction (right). It has repetitive patterns and is symmetric if you fold it into five from the center (fivefold symmetry).

In mathematics, the pentagon is linked to the golden ratio and its sense of harmony. Unlike minerals, living organisms favour five-fold geometry, the proportions of life and creation. Like the Vitruvian Man of Da Vinci, we are five-pointed stars when we open our arms, legs (and heart). In botany, five is linked to the rose family, the apple stands for renewal, and the rose for higher energy…. A pentagon in 3D becomes a Dodecahedron. In Plato’s philosophy, this symbolizes the cosmos or the universe as a whole. Spiritually, it represents the fifth dimension, ascension, and the highest consciousness.

I understand from Silene dioica’s pentagon message is about embracing life, life on earth, all forms of life, our own life force, despite our displeasures or maybe thanks to them, because they make us change and adjust for the best. Change involves perfect instability, which we shouldn’t be afraid of. Au contraire, change involves new possibilities, new ways of thinking, and dissolves old patterns to create what we really want.

Now my mind focuses on the mirror shape of this figure. The flower shares its geometry, but from the flower’s perspective—from within—the image is similar, except the external branches point in the other direction (left). This is called chirality. This shows us how perspectives (in and out), duality of life, coexist and can eventually harmonize. It’s like this inner feeling of change, but nothing is changing from the outside… yet.

From observing a flower to embracing resistance.

Now, about those black brackets, looking like little legs: they gave me an impression of movement. Things are moving! But on which side? Visually, I say right, but it’s moving left. When imagining a wind blowing, this little windmill turns left. Again, a lesson on illusion, an invitation to look beyond the first impression and dive into the deeper laws of the universe.

So Silene dioica shows a Counter-clockwise movement, which represents moving beyond linear time to an eternal present. I always feel a dissolution of time when I am in nature, in the presence of botanical beauty, or absorbed in writing or weaving. So the invitation is to do things that make you lose track of time.

And as I erase a paragraph written in linear time, I am coming back to this state of flow called intuitive writing. Defying AI and ChatGPT. Returning to the core of who I am, what I stand for, as a plant talk with a geeky edge, seeing patterns and always finding ways to connect with the divine. The divine feminine, the one we can see in plants and in life itself.

This is my way of working. Leaving my projects to start new ones, returning to an old project with more insights to complete it.
And this is how I juggle different projects at the same time. It does not give immediate results; it “doesn’t look productive”, but it takes time to ripen, like a cuvée tardive, yielding the sweetest wine.

And here I draw the pink lines, radiating outward from the center, as if emitting energy. My time will come to shine my light in all five directions, regardless of whether the journey leads inward or outward.

And this is what observing a plant does to me. Imagine the world filled with those wonders, each one a living expression of the divine, each carrying its own wisdom and medicine to share with us if only we slow down, pay attention, and take our time.

Summer hydration

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Water is a vital component of all living cells and extracellular fluids. Water acts as a solvent, regulates body temperature, aids in food digestion and helps regulate the acid-base balance. The balance between water intake or loss and electrolytes is essential for a healthy adult . Water deprivation occurs when the balance between water intake and loss is disrupted and causes a state of dehydration.

Dehydration is caused by not drinking enough fluid or by losing more fluid than you take in. Fluid is lost through sweat, tears, vomiting, urine or diarrhoea. The severity of dehydration can depend on a number of factors, such as climate, level of physical activity and diet.

Common symptoms of dehydration are dry mouth/tongue, thirst, headache, and lethargy.

Rehydration blend recipe

Electrolytes are essential for the human body to function. These minerals regulate everything from blood pressure to pH levels to the fluid levels in your body. They also play a key role in contracting muscles, transmitting signals to nerves, building new tissue, and blood clotting.

When sweating (because of the heat) or when we have diarrhoea,  we lose electrolytes and become dehydrated. Research shows electrolytes are useful when it comes to remedying the signs of dehydration. To prevent too much liquid being lost from the body, an effective oral rehydration solution can be made using ingredients found in almost every household.

About lemon essential oil : it can help purify the water in which you wash fruits and vegetables before peeling them. Lemon essential oil has stimulating, calming, astringent, detoxifying, antiseptic, disinfectant and anti-fungal properties. Ideal to treat your digestive system while hydrating.

Ingredients

6 tea spoon sugar

1/2 tea spoon salt

1 drop lemon Essential oil

Directions

  • Combine sugar and salt in a small jar
  • Add drop wise the lemon essential oil 
  • Close the jar and shake the mixture.

Application

 Add to this mixture a liter of water (a pint). Drink this home made electrolyte to rehydrate. It  should be given to every time a watery stool is passed.

  1. Fluid and electrolyte needs for training, competition, and recovery. J Sports Sci. 2011;29 Suppl 1:S39-46. 
  2. Rehydration project.com
  3. Public knowledge of dehydration and fluid intake practices: variation by participants’ characteristics. BMC Public Health. 2018 Dec 5;18(1):1346

How to make a vision board

.Reading time 1 minute.

 What is a vision board?

You can see a vision board as the first step into the manifestation of your dreams. Indeed, it’s the first shape you give to your ideas, dreams, desires, heart longings…

Why make a vision board?

You can make a vision board for all different reasons. Starting from materialistic, organisational, to spiritual life changing:

  • interior design vision board
  • event organisation
  • dreams and longings

Rules for a successful vision board

First, it’s about the energy of the images you are choosing: what feeling does the image give?  happiness, freedom, love, connection, fun…. those are the energies you are calling into your life.

  • use happy, fresh, lively images (your own or from magazines that inspires you)
  • you can add quotes that are inspiring you
  • collect and assemble the images in a way or into symbols that are meaningful to you
  • remind yourself that it’s by changing yourself that the world around you can change…

Celebration of Holy Nights

.Reading time 4 minutes.
The celebration of Holy Nights, or the Twelve Nights of Christmas, is observed in many cultures. It can be celebrated as an Inner Journey that we take to give birth to the sun in our being in order to illuminate the darkness. Holy Nights begin in the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere when the forces of Nature have withdrawn into the earth. Outside, there is usually snow and cold, a calm that is not available at other more active times of the year. It reflects a desire for inner peace that is not easily accessible in an outwardly material Western culture.

During the celebration of Holy Nights, the windows of heaven are opened so that you can see your potential in a new way. The veils are raised between Heaven and Earth. Archangels are free to create a choir of revelation and full knowledge is possible.
During each night, in our sacred space, we can reflect and welcome in our heart the different virtues. It is interesting to take notes of your insights. 

Ways to celebrate
There are many ways to celebrate the 12 holy nights. The best is to explore  yourself on basis of meditation and cleaning ritual. But here you can find a structure that can help you to start. 

Each night: highlight at sunset a coloured candle. There is also a zodiac sign corresponding. If desired, the previous 12 months can be explored for lessons learned and accomplishments made. We will literally give birth to a new world through our love and honor for the earth and the stars.
The Twelve Nights ritual uses candles in 12 different colors placed in a circle with a gold candle, honoring the golden light of the sun, in the center. If you can find them, here are the suggested colors: Dark Red, Pink, Peach, Red-Violet, Blue-Violet, Purple, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, Gold.
DaysignVirtuelessons
to remember
from		color candle
24 DecPiscesGenerosityDecemberdark red
25 DecAquariusDiscretionNovemberpink
26 DecCapricornCourageOctoberpeach
27 DecSagittariusSelf-disciplineSeptemberred-violet
28 DecScorpionPatienceAugustblue-violet
29 DecLibraEquanimityJulypurple
30 DecVirgoCourtesyJuneindigo
31 DecLionCompassionMayblue
1 JanCancerAltruismAprilgreen
2 JanGeminiPerseveranceMarchyellow
3 JanTaurusBalanceFebruaryorange
4 JanAriesDevotionJanuaryred
5 JanTranscendenceAllgold
Twelve Nights symbols, monthly lessons to remember, color of the candle to light that night

On the 5th Januari, this night of Holy Epiphany, we light the gold candle, representing transcendence, the Highest Light. We have created the entire circle, by remembering all lesson learned each month of the past year. All the virtues are now integrated. We now see the year as a whole and we are prepared in a mindful way to start the year to come.

Dreams are important Holy Nights. By turning inward during the twelve nights, we create a space to listen to our dreams*. It is said that dreams during this period predict the future. Each night represents a month of the following year. The first night represents January, the second night February, the third night March etc. Each night dream predicts the future of its related month.

*By having a dream notebook, and the intention to remember the dream before sleeping helps to have a mindful dream life. In your dream book, note every detail of your dream in order to interpret all symbols offering you a message. Also you can put herbal sachet under your pillow, this will help you to dream and remember your dreams.

Wishing to all a mindful holiday and more…

Hélène Courrier

Elder moon

.Reading time 5 minutes.

In the Druid tree calendar, the Elder is the 13th and last tree of the year. It closes the year ( 25 November and ends the 23 December) and stands for death and rebirth. It was considered as a sacred tree by the Celts. Elder is the “tree of death and life“. He embodied the infinity of life: in winter the tree was “dead” – in spring it awoke to new life.

History

  • Germanic tribes like the Frisians buried their dead under the Ellhorn (elder) near the house.
  • The Teutons revered the elder and offered it bread, milk and even beer.
  • The similarity of the name of Holunder (elder in German) and Holda, the mother goddess from Germanic mythology, is not accidental. The name Holda (also Holla or Hohe, in Grimm’s fairy tales: Frau Holle) means the “radiant one”. Holda was worshiped as a house goddess, like Hestia. Her offerings were brought to the elder bush. Holda was also the patron saint for people & plants. She was able to heal people from illness. In her the goodness of mother earth and the radiance of heavenly light were equally embodied.
  • Freya, the Germanic goddess of love and fertility, is also said to have a special relationship with the elderberry bush and live in the Holler.
  • As long as people believed in Frau Holle, it was forbidden to fell or damage a elder bush. Illness and death, it was said, were the consequences.
  • In the course of Christianisation, St. Nicholas replaced Frau Holle. The elder branch he held in his hand – a symbol of fertility – turned into a rod.
  • It is said from the 17th and 18th centuries that people asked forgiveness for the elder when they had to cut it down. Only widows & children were allowed to cut them down.
  • An old belief says that it is a sign that a deceased has found his peace when an elderberry branch planted on his grave begins to grow.
  • References to the elderberry is also found in the Bible: the cradle of the baby Jesus is said to have been made of elder wood, the Holy Family is said to have rested under an elder tree on their flight to Egypt. Hence the belief that the elder is one of the trees that are not struck by lightning. The cross of Christ is said to have been made of elder wood Judas is said to have hanged himself from an elder tree.

Moonwork

Because a damaged Elder tree can regrow and a replanted branch can root from itself, the Elder tree represent the power of energy renewal and regeneration. This lunar month offers the energy to end the year mindfully and get ready for a new start

In the dark days of the end of the year, our energy goes inwards to feed our inner journey, to feed our heart’s desire. To start the new year, with this past year wisdom, we need to gather the lessons and release that does not serve us anymore. Indeed, it’s time to make an annual evaluation, by acknowledging old patterns restricting our growth and happiness and heal the eventual wounds. Taking time to evaluate what we have learned this last year and how we want to move one next year. Therefore time is needed to listen to our dreams, concentrate, go back to our roots in order to create new dreams for the New year which are blessed to become true during this moon .

Botanical

The latin name of Elder is Sambucus nigra is composed of "Sambucus" which in ancient Greek comes from  "sambúkē", a string music instrument, made from the wood of the elder tree.  "nigra" means "black", and refers to the dark berries.

Since Hippocrates, the Elder has a very great fame. We use the flowers, leaves, the second bark, berries for multiple domestic or medical uses. 

Berries and flowers have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immune enhancing properties. Berries work on the airways and are  prepared as cough syrup.
Gender: Female
Planet: Venus
Element: Water
Divinities: Holda, Hestia, Freya
Powers: Protection; Counter-spell; Healing; Prosperity.
Elder makes the strict and rigid person softer and gives to the too soft person structure and clear boundaries.

H.C

Smell training for odour loss

.Reading time 2 minutes.

There are many people who have lost the smell and taste after having corona. It differs per person for how long they don’t smell a scent, for one it is about 10 days and for the other it is months…. Losing our 5th sense affects one’s ability to form and maintain close personal relationships. Without our nose, our environment, our taste, and the contact with our family becomes flat. Loosing the smell dimension gives the feeling of being isolated and cut-off from the world. This feeling can lead to depression.

The good news is that with loss of smell (after corona), you can train the sense of smell through olfactory training with essential oils.

Essential oils for odour loss
For the training you will need the following essential oils:
rose
lemon (citronella) or lime 
eucalyptus
clove
mint 
jasmine 
thyme 
mandarin


Carry out the smell training as follows:
1. take a bottle with oil
2. Look carefully before smelling which fragrance you are using
3. hold this about 3 cm below your nose. It is important that the
oil does not touch your nose
4. relax and take a slow, deep breath through your nose. If you go too fast
inhale, the smell does not enter properly
5. repeat 4 times; you have inhaled the scent a total of 5 times
6. rest for 1 minute before moving on to the next fragrance
7. Repeat the above steps for all fragrances. You can choose the order yourself
choose scents
Repetition of the smell training
Repeat the 7 steps preferably 2 times a day, for example in the morning and in the evening. It is important that you continue the training for as long as needed.
Sources: University Wageningen, Reuk- en smaak centrum

Reed Moon

.Reading time 3 minutes.

The Reed Celtic Month starts on 28 October and ends the 24 November. This lunar month offers the energy to take distance with the outside world enabling deeper connection with our inner world and our ancestors.

All Festivities under the Reed Moon are linked to death and rebirth. The celtic tradition of Samhain, meaning literally “summer’s end” corresponds to the end of the harvest that marks the end of celtic year, and the start of a new year with the entering in the dark season. The veil between the worlds is thinner, enabling live and death to connect at a deeper level. In other regions, we celebrate “dia de la muerte” in Spanish and la “Toussaint” in French. It is the occasion to celebrate our ancestors, wash and decorate their tombs, talk about them, celebrate them, inviting them to be present in our life.

The Reed Month is also the time to let all the battles go and gain some insight of the year that has been.

Reed is a common name for several tall, grass-lie plants of wetlands, so they are may species. Common Read is Phragmites australis derived from the name φραγμóς meaning “barrier, palisade, fence”. Reed is associated with water: it grows in wet and swampy soils and to air.

Reeds spread in three ways: by seed, vertically by rhizomes and horizontally by suckers

Signature

At first, leaves emerge in the form of sword blades, linear, slightly wavy at the edges. Here we already recognize its aerial signature, the preferred space of the soul. Then its floral stalk rises with disconcerting ease towards this privileged azure because it benefits from the light reflected by the surface of the water.

Meditation

Here is a little meditation in the middle of the reeds:

May I be as resistant as the Reed
having his feet in the cold water and in the ice
May I be as flexibel as the Reed
that is bending in the wind
May I receive all the sun, and the reflexion of the sun,
to have even more light in me
May I sing and dance with birds coming near me
May I let things go and let it be as it is

Reed is also used in phytoremediation to clean industrial polluted grounds.

Ivy Moon

.Reading time 3 minutes.

The Ivy Celtic Month starts on 30 September and ends the 27 October. This lunar month offers the possibility to be grateful for life’s blessing and prepare to inner growth during the dark season. The Ivy month coincides with the end of the harvest season, where success and failure are put onto the balance so that we can learn from all.

Taking into account that opposition, negativity or pain are also teachers, gives us a wiser perspective on life in which all becomes a blessing. This balance in learning to see ” the good” and “the bad” as ONE, enables us to take full responsibility of our life, take off our victim coat and embrace fully what’s coming up without giving a judgement, knowing that it makes you stronger.

Ivy is strong, it grows in spiral resining us stay center and move along while focusing on the core.

Signature

The latin name of ivy is Hedera helix, which means “hold on” and “spiral”. When ivy can no more grow, it is going to bloom. Flowering occurs in November.
It is quite impressive to see how Ivy holds on to a tree: by sucking the tree bark with its aerial roots. In the signature theorie, this means that ivy is for people who seeks support and contact. Finding ivy climbing on an oak is a sign of wisdom. But ivy is also able to squeeze the oak to death, showing its possible oppressive relationship. The evergreen, woody and autumn flowering Ivy stands for resistance. When leaves get older, they also get rounder showing softer temper. the black berries makes from the plant a female symbol.

The Ivy is a plant for people who know who they are but haven't found a way to express it. That is why they rely on a partner and stay in the shadow. It is a plant for high sensitive person who get overstrung in an oppressive relationship until they learn to find a way to be authentic to themselves. Ivy supports in transforming normal in wonderful!

In ancient Greece, was ivy used to color grey hair dark again and also as anti-poison. Dionysus wore ivy as a wreath to protecting him against alcoholic intoxication, to help to think clearly and creatively. Brides and grooms in Greece wore crowns of ivy as a representation of fidelity.

Magic

House protection: Hang at your door an ivy wreath with rose and myrtle

Love: Place Ivy and Holly together around a white candle to harmonise love with your partner.

Femininity: place holly fruits around a white candle to honour your femininity

Vine Moon

.Reading time 2 minutes.

September 2th – September 30th

In the Celtic tradition, the lunar month of the vine offers the opportunity to bring your plan to fruition before the winter.

Summer has brought its abundance, enabling early harvest.

At this time of the year, the grapes are green and still need to grow. They will mature with the support of Nature’s last burst of energy before it enters in the Autumn equinox, when the day and the night are equal length (September 22nd) .

Like the warmth of the earth, the sunlight, the bees and all elements collaborates for the vine to grow and ripe, we need the extra support or cooperation with others to complete the projects we started this year. Indeed, when we follow the rhythm of the Nature, our project feel like unripe grapes who need a little external support. Until the 22th September, it’s time to focus on the last solar energy for our project maturation.

This Month we will concentrate on the valuable input from others, consolidating relations and network. It’s time to make peace, end arguments, pay off existing debts to be aligned in our community where our project has a meaning. Collaborative work made under the Vine Moon may be very valuable for the forthcoming darken months.

In the ancient times, Grapevine was a symbol of fertility as well as bramble or blackberries in the colder areas where Grape didn’t grow.

Hélène Courrier

During this MOONLIGHT MINGLE, we will:

  • Bring peace within
  • Open up to fruitfulness at this time of the year
  • Find ways to complete your project
  • Eat a prosperity pie

Reserve a spot : here