Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: sanctury

  • House Magic

    House Magic

    A Handbook to Making Every Home a Sacred Sanctuary

    What is that essential magic makes a house a home is a ponderable thought and one that Aurora Kane addresses in the richly welcoming House Magic, A handbook to making every home a Scared Sanctuary.

    From the welcoming words of the poetry just prior to the Introduction, to the delicate blessing at the end, there is much knowledge to be gained by working in rhythm with nature, discovering the sacred spirit and personality of the dwelling to create a space that once the door is closed, the stresses of the everyday world melt away.

    House Magic can be used as a guide book, as well as a course in creating your magical home full of love and peace. Aurora Kane begins with Manifesting which sets out and explains the reasons for and how to, go about sowing the seeds to create your magical home.

    She looks at Blessings, Harmony, Energy, Spells and Rituals, Water and Crystals and finally how to prepare the rooms of the Home to offer warmth, protection, peace and a place that nurtures those who dwell within.

    Each of the Sections are made up of many smaller segments, each one filled with information to savoured and built into the fabric of creating a sanctuary, but also offers much about the influence of colour choice, Feng Shui and its importance to good energy flow, the assistance crystals and plants can add to  the environment.

    For anyone moving into a rental or home that has been previous occupied there is an excellent section on clearing negative energy, along with a charming mantra, in order to cleanse the environment, allowing you to begin creating your happy, welcoming home.

    House Magic has something for everyone within the beautifully designed pages even if you do not believe in ‘magic’, but it can be assured that by following many of the suggestions only positive energy, and a welcoming home will be the end result.

  • Extraordinary Birds

    Extraordinary Birds

    Bitter sweet, poignant and spellbinding Extraordinary Birds from Sandy Stark McGinnes takes a delicate journey into the life of a child growing up with more questions than answers in her life, creating about her a story that will make her world alright, acceptable, allowing a place to dream, to believe, to simply be who she believes she is.

    December is eleven years old and knows heaps about birds. So much so that she often refers to her life as something similar to that of a baby bird, learning how to fly. Although she knows she is not really a baby bird, she truly believes that one day, just like a baby bird, she will be able to find her Mum and fly away with her to a new life. To her the scars on her back are the place where her wings will eventually grow.

    All she knows about her birth mother has been discovered through the book left behind and a photo with a message in her Mums writing; not a lot to build a dream on but in her away of viewing life, a far better choice than simply nothing at all.

    Eventually December is placed with a new foster Mum, Eleanor, who is a very special person, a volunteer at the local wildlife park and has her own taxidermy business. As time moves along December settles into her new home, beginning to make friends and slowly begins to learn that, with Eleanor’s love and care, there can be a safe haven where home is something more than just a word.

    There comes a time when choices need to be made, to live in the today world of love and Eleanor, or to keep trying to fly like a baby bird, even though she knows that to try and fly could be pretty drastic. But it is not until she does try to fly, she realises that what she has with Eleanor is something very wonderful.

    Beautifully written, this is a story of so much more than the journey of one little girl; it is a reflection on the lives of so many foster children in today’s world, who struggle to survive in a life which is constantly changing.

    Beautifully crafted and an unforgettable read.

  • Your Backyard Birds

    Your Backyard Birds

    Everyone has a story about a bird or birds and the fascinating antics they can achieve with their interaction with people, cities and their amazing adaptability. Dr Grainne Cleary, a wildlife ecologist firmly believes that how people react with the birds and other wildlife found in their backyards, can have massive influence on urban wildlife, as well as offering safe sanctuary in what is rapidly becoming a very hostile environment.

    Backyard Birds looks at both the serious as well as laugh out loud moments and the antics of the birds that visit backyards on a regular basis, to the very real need to understand how best to work with wildlife to ensure a positive outcome for both people and wildlife.

    Funny and most enjoyable are the many stories sent in and used lavishly throughout the book, as they help underscore the research that is and has taken place, in what is an endangered environment. One of many truly fascinating aspects of Grainne Cleary’s work is how very closely birds and their lifestyles relate to that of the human.

    Birds are incredibly intelligent, have very clearly defined sets of rules, are able to work together with other species to achieve a positive outcome and in many cases, have a very well-developed sense of humour and fun. Just have a look at a pair of Cockatoos living in the moment and the wonderful melodies sung by the Magpies as they go about charming all around.

    Australian birds are vastly different to their European brethren, as they have had to develop to the conditions they were given, that of a harsh climate, often sparse food supplies, serious water shortages as well as extremes of hot and cold, all of which have led to learning to be adaptable. Now, with the endless destruction of their habitats, it is becoming more important than ever before to understand and support our birds and their environment, a point reiterated over and over again.

    Grainne Cleary has combined science, stories from ‘backyard scientists’ and a little folkloric to present an endlessly fascinating and entertaining look at birds, their relationship to humans as well as joy and happiness they bring into the life of the observer, whether it be from a scientific perspective, or that of the owner of a piece of land the birds have discovered is a safe, friendly environment to visit.

    By the end of the book, there is considerable room to contemplate who got it right; the birds or the humans, as so much of their and our lifestyles are so very, very similar, if not the same. But one thing is very definite, never again will you look at the birds in your backyard without viewing their chatter, and enjoying their antics, then wondering just what it they are saying to each other!