Reducing Post-Modern Pressures

Ubiquitous Stress And Anxiety

I find it both disturbing and fascinating that elevated levels of stress and anxiety are pretty much taken for granted today as standard features of post-modern life. The underlying causes for this condition are not hard to ascertain. Western civilization has encountered more profound changes during the last two centuries than at any other period throughout its colorful thousand-year reign. Prescient commentators have noted how so many pervasive technological innovations expressly designed to ease stress and anxiety have inadvertently magnified them instead. Our psychological predicament can be likened to squeezing one end of a balloon. Tension dissipated at the compressed end becomes instantly evident on the other. Often, a balloon will burst under repeated treatment of this kind, because rapid escalations of stress eventually prove too much to bear. The computer I’m typing on now provides a perfect real-world example: the wonderfully facile communication it enables is balanced - and perhaps offset - by the inherent stress and anxiety of corporate cubicle culture.

Traditional Approaches To Stress And Anxiety

Although we labor under burgeoning amounts of these irritants today, stress and anxiety are hardly new or unique. Problems they pose have long challenged both individuals and cultures. Traditional approaches to their alleviation invariably included prayer and ritual purification. Lucky Six Farms is dedicated to offering products capable of powerfully assisting the latter. We understand that effective purification is a multidimensional process. Since humans exist simultaneously on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual planes, reducing stress and anxiety is necessarily a highly integrated process. Over eons, wise women and men learned which plant helpers could best balance and cleanse energetic currents flowing through and between these life-sustaining arenas. Perhaps the most prominent and potent is the southern California White Sage (Salvia apiana).

Reducing Stress And Anxiety Naturally

Our White Sage essential oil, hydrosol, smudge bundles, cones, and whole leaves provide numerous avenues for attenuating the burdensome titer of stress and anxiety generated by ever-familiar barrages of hectic demands and unforeseen obstacles. Whether you choose our smudge stick’s measured, formal ceremonial or our hydrosol’s quick mist near pocket or purse, you may always rely on the organic purity - the very quality so valued by indigenous peoples - required for White Sage to work its ancient magick.

By Alan Beck 

Cosmic Cycles, Human Cycles

Eternal Life And The Mystery Cults

Ironically, mature civilizations inevitably focus on issues of eternal life. Western thinkers, both modern and post-modern, have shown great interest in the ancient mystery cults. No doubt such curiosity is justified by numerous historical parallels linking those troubled times with our own. Cults of the Magna Mater, Isis, Dionysus, Cybele, Mithra, and others flourished most in an era when daily vicissitudes generated by a newly formed and rapidly burgeoning empire emptied traditional belief systems of their relevance and emotive power. Life became precarious; death loitered menacingly around every corner. History provides ample evidence of the problem, as all hope of secure, let alone eternal life receded into a glowering distance.

Oppressive anomie coupled with a general feeling that something new and spiritually vibrant was needed filled the psychic atmosphere of those bygone days. When this yearning became almost palpable, the mystery cults proffered their intriguing solution. The question we ask today is: exactly how did those strange rites fill the yawning inner void which extended across lines of class, gender, and learning? Precisely what could they offer that comforted and satisfied so many whose hearts, under the baneful Roman eye, had grown cynical and cold? Could their hidden treasure be the confident assurance of eternal life?

Eternal Life Through Organic Vision

When our Lucky Six Farms staff raised these questions with monks and friars of nearby Madre Grande Monastery, the resultant discussion proved provocative and illuminating. Because both groups have long been involved in day-to-day issues of organic farming in the service of sacred vegetation, certain answers presented themselves with unusual vigor. One aspect of the mystery rites was shared in common by virtually every cult: an apotheosis wherein a sheaf of grain or similarly common plant was presented, bathed in radiant glory, to new initiates. Although forbidden to give clear voice to the principal mystery doctrines per se, all devotees agreed that the central concept involved new life after ostensible death, rebirth  after burial, resurrection following destruction. Both the Monastery personnel and those at Lucky Six Farms are well acquainted with such notions, since they lie at the very hub of ecologically sound organic farming.

Eternal Life Via Practice And Product

When such matters are broached, it is all too easy to lose the thread of meaning in a labyrinth of semantics. It is a maze in which today’s academics too often flounder. However, in whatever terms it is couched, the critical point here is simply this: Cosmic cycles so evident in our farming do not stop at the soil but, in fact, infuse every aspect of our lives and thoughts. We are profoundly connected to the Earth and share the essentially perennial nature of all her living forms. It is indeed in that spirit of eternal life and the purity underlying it that we offer our White Sage products. 

By Alan Beck

Earning Earth-Friendliness

Putting Down Our Ecological Footprint

What is the real size of the Lucky Six Farms ecological footprint? Recently, several industrial manufacturers of low-grade, synthetic incense inaugurated a campaign against the purchase and use of White Sage smudge bundles and allied products. In particular, they rail against traditional aromatics made from wildcrafted leaves, proclaiming that such harvests decimate long-established, indigenous stands of California White Sage, thus moving this precious vegetative resource close to extinction. In addition, they assert that entire native ecosystems are being trashed by small wildcrafting enterprises. Are these horrifying allegations true? Are we ruining our natural environment and ravishing Mother Earth? Does our ecological footprint resemble an oversized hobnailed boot more than an earth-friendly moccasin?

Defining Our Ecological Footprint

Interestingly enough, the root of all these allegations lies unobtrusively within the dictionary, in the precise definition of the term “wildcrafting.” We cannot speak for other ventures, but for Lucky Six Farms wildcrafting means now exactly what it always has always meant: purposeful hand cultivation from heritage cuttings and seeds on carefully prepared beds. Thus, we first till and naturally enrich the soil of expansive private fields leased from Madre Grande Monastery, then prayerfully plant our Salvia apiana one at a time in the earth. Because White Sage is a perennial, most stands cultivated in this way will sprout new leaves and flowers several times per year for quite a number of years after initial planting.

Our Ecological Footprint - Fact Versus Falsehood

The fact is that false representations of what actually constitutes American wildcrafting usually emanate from large-scale fragrance industries specializing in cheap, lab-created synthetic scents and exceptionally dubious sources of natural aromatics. By leveraging their advertising budgets as new-found champions of environmental integrity, they believe they have hit upon a wonderful way to undercut genuinely earth-friendly competition. We at Lucky Six Farms know that such falsehoods have a very short shelf life for savvy customers. We are proud that so many Native American Tribes - foremost authorities on what does and does not respect our Mother Earth - continue to purchase our offerings even as they shun those of our detractors. So the ecological footprint of truth and love always proves the lightest of all.

By Alan Beck

Sage Wisdom About Sage Herbs

White Sage - Plant Personality

Each plant species is like a person, unique and individually focused. This point is not always well understood. Staff at Lucky Six Farms are frequently asked to clarify issues regarding the proper place of White Sage within the general family of sages. Queries often run,”White Sage is just a strong mint, right? Aren’t all mints pretty much the same anyway, like peppermint and spearmint? So it should be OK if I substitute one for another.” While such confusion is certainly understandable, we believe it should be dispelled before it can motivate imprudent enterprise. There are more plants classified as salvias then are found in any other genus of the mint family (Lamiaceae). In turn, each salvia species is a very special plant in its own right, with uses and caveats applicable to itself alone.

White Sage - Plant Power To Be Respected

Some of the characteristic vagueness surrounding sages is simply a consequence of old Linnean taxonomic designations indiscriminately rolled over into our current system of biologic classification. The sage genus as whole originally derived its title from the Latin verb salvere, which meant to experience well-being and health. Most people are familiar with sages through their renowned culinary representative, Salvia officinalis, usually called cooking or common sage, available on the spice rack of any grocery store or supermarket. On the other hand, White Sage (Salvia apiana) is a much rarer and infinitely more formidable plant. Too strong for casual ingestion under any circumstances and too spiritually potent for use as a throwaway incense, White Sage has earned a worldwide reputation as cleanser par excellence of lingering negative impressions and fast-acting psychic energizer.

White Sage - Plant Of Purity

White Sage has also been traditionally employed by Native Americans and professional herbalists in a variety of targeted medicinal contexts, where its intensely penetrating character can be carefully monitored and controlled for optimum effect. A reasonably safe way of exploring these potentials is through brewing an ultra-light tisane: leave one White Sage leaf in a cup of water for several hours, remove the leaf, and drink plain. No more than a single cup of this infusion should be taken per day and never by lactating mothers, as compounds in White Sage may attenuate their flow of milk. Apiana tisanes have long been reputed to alleviate symptoms of irritated respiratory and digestive tracts, but authorized medical practitioners should always be consulted in serious or protracted cases.

By Alan Beck 

New Senses, New World

Metaphysical Perception

An erstwhile correspondent once chided me for expressing interest in metaphysical topics. “No such things even exist,” he remarked ruefully. “If stuff doesn’t register on our regular five senses, it simply isn’t there.” For good or ill, my retort appeared to render him nonplussed. “But there are seven senses,” I noted, “and it’s those additional two that matter the most.” Of course, my assertion merely echoed century-old observations by Theosophical Society founder Helena Blavatsky, author G.A. Barborka, and others. These luminaries used both personal experience and logical inference as eloquent testimony for the presence of two additional senses: memory and spiritual insight. Of course, only an ineluctably metaphysical perspective would allow such arguments for the reality of nonphysical faculties.

Metaphysical Understanding

What does this putative pair of supersensory vehicles have to do with our White Sage products? Actually, quite a bit! At Lucky Six Farms the noumenal sits as close as the phenomenal. At times, the former’s relevance to real-world considerations may far outstrip the latter’s. When delicate issues of planting, optimum growth, pest control, maturity, harvesting, and distillation lie outside the narrow, blinkered purview of factory-farming - as they inevitably do with White Sage - we must draw upon evidence flowing from channels outside the mundane five. Since we employ no petrochemicals, pesticides, or industrial techniques to assure organic quality and purity, we have become aware of subtle information sources and ancient methodologies unavailable to those who must rely on mechanical instrumentation and coarse interventions.

Metaphysical Results

For customers across the globe, our uniquely purifying White Sage products have come to function as much more than conventional aromatics. With Native American Tribes, our clients have learned to appreciate the many dimensions of life benefited through the use of our essential oil, hydrosol, smudge bundles, cones, and whole leaves. In fact, I can state categorically that the primary channels through which White Sage works its wonders are metaphysical. By rapidly energizing minds while calming bodies, it magickally opens psychic portals hitherto closed or inaccessible. Such metaphysical results are undeniable: see for yourself!
 
By Alan Beck

 

Organic Perspectives

True Wisdom In Theory

Where does true wisdom lie? As many readers already know, Lucky Six Farms leases all of its White Sage fields from world-renowned Madre Grande Monastery. In addition, all of our products - essential oil, hydrosol, smudge bundles, cones, and whole White Sage leaves - are processed according to rigorous standards first set forth by the Monastery. The arrangement allows for a continuing exchange of opinion and information between the two organizations, an ongoing and often remarkably fruitful discussion forging links between pragmatic aspects of organic farming and esoteric Theosophical principles. Key components of the latter include belief in extremely long evolutionary cycles or waves, wherein immutable hubs of conscious being are carried across immense gulfs of time and space in a cosmic process encouraging constructive change. The wisdom of this approach has been recognized by cultures as diverse as the western hemisphere Maya and eastern hemisphere Hindu. 

True Wisdom In Practice

Farmers who personally participate in their profession can find much with which to identify in this perspective. Such an expansive view is directly at odds with most popular notions of progress largely derived from post-modern corporate demands. Instead of catering to inflexible, narrow time-lines set by requirements for quarterly profits, farmers must cultivate patience, genuine adaptability, and openness marked by a keen awareness of seasonality and yearly yield. Stately movements of sun, moon, stars, and clouds against a solid background of soil gradually unfold the stage on which successful cultivation thrives. Thus, the difference in thought patterns between farmer’s market and commodity market are clearly evident and often stark.

Fruits Of True Wisdom

At Lucky Six Farms, we are - and have always been - firmly committed to the living Earth that supports us, the welfare of all her children, and the long-term spiritual satisfaction of our customers. Profits are merely a vehicle for achieving these ends rather than ends in themselves. Whatever the bureaucratic arrangements necessary for our enterprise, we acknowledge the fundamental validity of traditional views: in the final analysis, our blue planet and her wondrous resources cannot be owned by anyone. All we can hope to do is ethically manage those elements that lie temporarily under our aegis. We know that responsibility alone constitutes a serious charge as well as an unparalleled privilege.

By Alan Beck

Understanding Purification

Wisdom Is Self-Insight

Unlike most enterprises, Lucky Six Farms has learned what wisdom is. Why is this so? Our certified organic White Sage products - essential oil, hydrosol, smudge sticks, cones, and whole leaves - are well-known for their spiritually purifying properties. But there exists much popular misunderstanding concerning exactly what such purification entails. As with many concepts rooted in actual spiritual experience, purification may easily be approached one-sidedly or erroneously. That’s where our years of wisdom come into play. When potential customers ask questions such as: “Can purification wipe out the consequences of wrong-doing? Will others ignore any harm I commit if I purify afterwards? If I hurt someone, will subsequent purification make it alright? Does a rite of purification cleanse my karma?” we can reply authoritatively. We understand the beginning of wisdom is self-insight.

Wisdom Is Moral Clarity

The wise truth abut what purification is and isn’t can be communicated quite vividly through an illustrative example. Suppose a person plans to attend a ceremonial purification at a sanctified site, a church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or monastery. Prior to the sacred service, (s)he steals a valuable relic from a nearby shrine. The rite of purification will in no way obviate their crime. Instead, when the chain of cause and effect - the karma - set into motion by the theft matures days, months, years, or even lifetimes later, the perpetrator will not be able to remain oblivious. They will have a sudden, possibly even preternatural, insight into the underlying reason for their intense suffering. While they may not be able to identify the precise act that created their painful predicament, they will nonetheless be made explicitly aware of the negative inner quality that has generated their misery. This is because the purification rite ultimately provided cleansing insight. The purifying environment entered near the time of their crime worked to create an unusual sense of moral clarity. 

Wisdom Is Empathy

Traditional forms of spirituality operate on the principle that no one is perfect. Thus, they all stress a central tenet which we usually identify as the “golden rule.” They advise devotees not to treat others in ways they themselves would find loathsome were they to end up on the receiving end. Although chains of causality may often appear interminable to those who disregard empathy, this perception is illusory. What is proudly and exultantly grabbed at another's expense will eventually be received with a tearful face. Purification provides a powerful tool whereby irrelevant and superfluous impressions may be readily cleared away, thereby opening space for our own inner Light of the Divine to shine through. Lessons we learn through such a process may be extremely hard, but they ultimately devolve to our lasting benefit.

By Alan Beck