Spiritual Soup - 9 December 2015 - Next Gathering

4 Dates of Great Importance for the coming Year: 

Spiritual Soup

date change to 9 December 2015

v  Do you want to change your life?

v  Are you interested in working with nature and connecting to a deeper part of yourself?

v  Do you ever feel drawn to the New and Full Moons – wanting to understand more?

v  Is the spiritual side of you shriveling up from lack of care/attention/nourishment?

If this is you – or perhaps, you’re not sure what is yours anymore - why not come out to a gathering of women where you will be part of something special, spiritual, light and real with a focus on moving forward from the things that hold us back. We will find your focus….

This is life changing work – It is Time for You

Where: Liss Ard Estate, Skibbereen

When: 9^th December (NM), 24^th January (FM)

Time:   6:00pm each evening (light ceremonial meal offered)

Cost: €55

Please reserve your space with April on 0872361616 or email info@aprildanann.com deposit necessary

Our womens' classes have been going great! This next one is just before the New Moon - next week on 9th December at 6pm or so. If you would like to attend please contact April to reserve your space

Christmas Cactus - ready to bloom 

November Fermentation Workshop - West Cork

Wild Fermentation Workshop 

 Living Water – Food Alchemy

16th November 2015 at Liss Ard Estate, Skibbereen

Fermentation of food & drink is an ancient art and a necessary skill to maintain a healthy, balanced gut – turning ordinary vegetables, fruit and water into a healthy, tasty & probiotic gut friendly food is the ultimate quest for the Food Alchemist. 

Join April Danann, Food Scientist, Clinical Naturopathic Nutritionist and an expert in Living Water wild fermentation techniques, for an evening in nature reconnecting to the finer points of nourishing your soul.

During this evening practical workshop you will be introduced to several methods of fermenting foods, various means of increasing nutritional content and bioavailability of nutrients as well as how to create exquisite tasting high vibration tonics. 

Included in the evening are complete notes, your own sourdough starter to take home, loads of tastings and samples of food that is Alive!

Come out and join Rebel Foods Market Stall’s own Intuitive Rebel Nutritionist in the stunning setting of Liss Ard Estate, Skibbereen West Cork for Wild Fermentation – Living Water!

16th November evening class at 6:30pm  

€65 for workshop, includes your very own sourdough starter Mother culture with complete notes

On sale on the night - April’s Triple Goddess Mother Cultures, fermenting jar, books, recipes & notes 

Contact April Danann on mobile 087 236 1616 or email: info@aprildanann.com to book your place, 50% deposit required to hold a seat...booking essential, spaces limited to the kitchen in the Lake Lodge.

 Artisan hand crafted Apple Cider Vinegars

Creating the Life You Were Born to Live

Your life is created by the thoughts of both yourself & others around you – Yes!! It is so

How many of us have read, and pondered over these new-age books that inform us our thinking, our thoughts and the stuff that goes around and around in our minds is what makes up our reality? 

Of course it does. We attract to us what we are focused on.

So, we spend countless minutes, hours and days attempting to shift our thinking onto higher ground. Making every effort to get our thoughts from the dark and negative into the light and positive.

Form a new perspective and the rest will follow. Create a clear stream of consciousness and life will magically turn around – health, money, people and opportunities will simply knock on the door.

Except when it doesn’t.

Oh, we may have some times, spaces and break throughs of limited success with this type of exercise. Just like any other thing we try out along our journey – in a small way if can work for some of us, some of the time.

Then we hit a wall. Our thinking goes back to its’ old distorted patterns (that never even seem to belong to us, funny that) and we are the walking wounded soldiers of mis-fortune once again.

Trying to create that big, colourful, wonderful life from the ground is hard work!

Is there then something wrong with us? Are we doing it all wrong? Am I broken, unfixable, pulled low with these ridiculous thoughts (that I never seem to know where they come from) floating around in my head?

Wellllll…….we are also energetic beings. And being energetic beings, made up from star-dust of the Universe, we pick up things, spiritual junk, the very stuff that life is made out of.

We are constantly interacting with, bumping into and exchanging energy with absolutely every living and non living thing there is. Some more than others.

The next time you wish to use your thoughts to create, guide, shape and otherwise manage some aspect of your life, begin with clearing your energy field of people, things, situations etc. that pull you down.

Only then will you start to have absolute success in pulling yourself up! Clean up that space around you - and clear your mind of un-necessary thoughts, fears, worries and other time wasting patterns by releasing the energy that holds you down. 

Onwards & upwards?

April

What's Another Word For Positive?

Everything you do, makes a difference the key word here is DO. 

This little sentence is what I repeat to myself often as I go about my daily tasks – I wanted to focus my mind on being and feeling positive as I set up my market stall, make my ointments or even do the chores around the house. 

And I do subscribe to the thinking – that if you say it often enough, you start to believe it.

So why not say something positive? Especially to yourself, about yourself and when thinking of or referring to yourself. Make that mind shit special and eventually you start to see some magical results!

You start to believe and think in a more positive way when your mind is focused on words that are constructive, supportive and encouraging – of course then you are half way to getting your life moving (in any direction) because you are using some of that powerful mind energy to create something better for yourself.  

How many of us find ourselves hoping and wishing for outside affirmations to make us feel as if our lives are worthwhile? In the meantime we spend an awful lot of time allowing over-riding thoughts to inform us of just the opposite.

With all of this in mind, make today a day of action – focus on your goal (pick one), then taking a step in any direction is almost certainly bound to get energy moving in places and spaces where it was once stagnant. 

I have learned and experienced many times over these years how important it is just take a little step and either doors will open or close – and there will be movement.

Everything you do, makes a difference. Keep your goal in mind, make it happen. 

April

Focus on Life

So, now we have a focus! LIFE

Isn’t it funny how often we think to ourselves, this is our life, yet, it’s not the one we’ve wanted, dreamed of or envisioned for ourselves. But, here we are spending day in and day out – doing things we don’t always like ‘doing’ or ‘being’ in places when we wish we were doing something or being someplace else. 

And then there’s the biggest one – being around people who either do not appreciate us, understand us, like us or who are down right harmful to us - (read toxic to be around). If you are anything like me, you end up soaking up all those negative vibes (absorb!) – taking on board nearly everything, in an effort to make people happy and feel better. 

And such is life. Or is it? 

If this is life, then I don’t want to have anything to do with it. Which is exactly what I figured out a long time ago and have endeavoured to live ever since. The place I was in, timing, people, food, things, the work I was doing and so on, was all wrong for me! 

I did learn things everywhere I went, and I tried to make the most of what I had, where I was and deal with things as they arrived. I always wanted to be positive about ‘things’….but there came a time, when I had to wake up and make decisions about what I wanted and about what was 'healthy'.

Somewhere deep inside of me…..I always knew it wasn’t my life I was living but a mere shadow of something constructed from the thoughts of others around me. I could do so much better if I was creating it myself! 

Of course, I then realized I needed to get out of the situations I found myself in and get focused on the ‘real’ life that I was seeking. And that is an on-going project……Life on the inside and the outside needs to be a mirror and a focus when on the spiritual path.

April

Little lamb......

Motivation for the Day Ahead

I've been hearing a lot about motivation these past few weeks....and indeed this summer in West Cork has been tough! It's rained nearly non-stop, been a few degrees colder than usual and we've all been feeling vitamin D deficient - a bit more than we normally are (LOL!).

Each morning I wake up and wonder about the day ahead.....what I've realised lately is that I am looking for the 'motivation' to get up, get moving and get going. Of course, having a plan helps, so does having a routine, a schedule as well as something to look forward to each day (a little sunshine doesn't hurt either).

For me it has been absolutely essential to have these things in place, or else I seem to lose myself in the doing rather than being. I like discipline and the energy shifts that occur when we allow an unfolding as well as structure to interact with each other.

So....what exactly is motivation and why do we need it? Well, when I look it up, it means a reason or a motive for acting. However, when I look a bit deeper, the words emotion and motivation actually derive from the same place - a Latin word meaning 'to move'. 

This is quite interesting for me this summer in particular - just when I find little to motivate me on the outside (a shortage of sunny days and unable to be in the garden as much as I'd like), I must find my motivation from something inherent inside of me. And perhaps that is emotion - or as I like to call it.....

Passion.

Discovering many of the things we are passionate about, allowing them to develop and grow deep roots in our lives, will provide some of the motivation (emotion) necessary to get us out of bed in them morning and hopefully a whole lot more.

My lesson for this week.....don't push those emotions down - work with them, understand them and allow an open heart to lead us forward into the deeper corridors of feeling. That's where passion resides - and we can't get there without 'feeling'. 

Those feelings will then motivate us to align with our true natures. Onwards! 

Higher Consciousness - Waking Up is a Physical Process

A lot of people are waking up right now....to the things that are happening in their lives and in the world around them. They are questioning their own sanity - because nothing feels right, looks right or seems as if it makes sense. The way things used to be, and that never felt safe, now cannot be tolerated under any circumstances. 

They may be backing away from people, situations, jobs, groups, family and friends - people who are still completely asleep to the fact that so much is wrong with this world and it's time to act on making them right. Welcome to the awareness phase of Higher Consciousness. We are many, you are not alone. 

In order to wake up you will be taken by your Consciousness through emotions, energy, spirituality and finally physical cellular tissues into your inner world. This is a journey that takes some of us many years - don't be in a hurry, there is much to be done with each step of the path. 

Waking up......It's a physical process - look after your body, eat fermented foods (yep, foods that are ALIVE), exercise and stay away from medicines and drugs in all of their forms. Detox regularly and then you will enable the process of awakening within your cells. Sometimes it happens spontaneously - a trigger word, event or location can jump start the process. 

Go to sacred sites, seek the light 

smile emoticon

Saving the Bees....One Backyard Hive At A Time - Bee Keeping Workshop Liss Ard Estate 7th June

Bee Keeping Workshop 7th June 2015 - West Cork

Press Release: Natural Beekeeping Class

Liss Ard Estate, West Cork, Ireland, 7^th June 2015

A chemical free - Natural Beekeeping Class is being offered on Sunday 7^th June 2015 to introduce people to a gentler approach to Beekeeping at Liss Ard Estate in Skibbereen.

This is a perfect venue for the beekeeping class with plenty of space to roam around in their own natural habitat.

Max Danann & Trevor Danann both certified Beekeepers, are offering training in Natural Beekeeping (chemical free) through use of Top Bar Hives and their own hybrid mixed hives. The workshop is geared toward those with no prior experience in beekeeping but Beekeepers of any level are welcome.

April Danann will also be on hand to discuss her research project on Irish honey - The Honey Project - a microbiological review of honeys from around the world and their unique healing properties. 

Top Bar Hives are an alternative type of hive to commercial or national framed style hives currently in use. These are considered to closely resemble natural bee habitat and bees thrive in them. Many long time beekeepers are switching over to using some form of top bar hive. As well, our own mixed hive featuring framed Top Bars will be discussed.

During the class, you will be introduced to some time honoured traditions in beekeeping, learn about honey, equipment needs, initial start-up, bee health; including disease, pesticides, colony collapse disorder and how to keep a bee garden.

Students will be walked through a Top Bar Hive as well as other types – how they work, how to maintain a hive, and how to provide a family with a source of honey. There will be plenty of time for questions during this discussion style workshop.

Bees are everyone’s responsibility – at one time most back gardens had a hive or two – it’s time we came back to supporting these beautiful creatures – this class is a step forward in learning how to do just that.

Date; 7th June 2015

Place; Liss Ard Estate Skibbereen

Time; 1:30 to 4:30pm 

Cost: €55.00 (includes notes, light refreshments)
Contact: Max Danann 0873284762, email info@aprildanann.com or stop by our stall to book your place. Deposit required to hold a seat.

Wild Fermentation Workshop 11 May

Wild Fermentation – Living Water

Fermentation of food & drink is an ancient art and a necessary skill to maintain a healthy, balanced gut – turning ordinary vegetables, fruit and water into a healthy, tasty & probiotic food is the ultimate quest for the Food Alchemist. Join April Danann, a Naturopathic Nutritionist and an expert in Living Water fermentation techniques; for an evening with nature reconnecting to the finer points of nourishing your soul.

During this evening practical workshop you will be introduced to several methods of fermenting foods, various means of increasing nutritional content and bioavailability of nutrients as well as how to create exquisite tasting high vibration tonics. Included in the evening are complete notes, your own sourdough starter to take home, loads of tastings and samples of food that is Alive!

Come out and join an Intuitive Rebel Nutritionist at Liss Ard Estate, Skibbereen West Cork for Wild Fermentation – Living Water!

11 May evening class at 6:30pm to 9:30 (or finish) 

€65 for workshop, includes your very own sourdough fermentation Mother starter with complete notes

On sale on the night - April’s Triple Goddess Mother Cultures, fermenting jar, recipes & notes 

Contact April Danann on; 

mobile 087 236 1616  

email: info@aprildanann.com to book your place...booking essential, spaces limited

Wild Fermented Sourdough Bread 

An Uncommon Light

Such an exciting year to be on this planet! We are waking up - of course, along with that comes looking at the world with those new eyes, clearer head and an unfurling spirit. Each one of these celestial events has been a trigger for the earth and for us - it's time to step forward into a new this uncommon light.

Last week was another powerful event that is only now re-forming through earth time and space, to ultimately become solid matter. If you could re-create your life - what would it be? Well, perhaps - this is your chance! :)

Full Moon April 2015 

Pathways to the Spirit

With all that is going on around us – the world is waking up a little bit more each day – it is often difficult to remain focused on our common goals. I wanted to comment on these times as I have been both living this, working to change things and observing things as they come about for a very long time.

Right now there are a good many people letting out a collective ‘sigh’ as it seems the earth is beginning her stretching, yawning and waking from her enforced slumber. The divine feminine being of our planet has been raising her consciousness and along with it, pulling up those of us who have willing spirits. 

So, if all around you appears to be turbulent, troublesome and as if you are being asked constantly to let go of ever more and more…..do not despair. You are being asked to let go and to make a choice.

There are many roads to the beyond, for higher knowledge and a bright future – but not all lead inwards towards your core. In order to awaken and then remain committed to the goal – each cell in our bodies must ignite. 

This time around – raising vibrational consciousness is a physical process. Of course, there is nothing more dense and toxic right now then our physical bodies. Challenging, but not impossible! 

In my own life I keep coming back to words and phrases to help myself stay the course and not give in to any negativity. I remind myself constantly that there really is nothing to be afraid of…..wonderful things are happening all over, that people are starting to change.

But, more than that, I am always looking for ‘signs’. Those phrases, words, symbols, numbers, chance meetings, coincidences and synchronicities all add up to a path well sign-posted for those who are paying attention. 

Some days it’s a single word written on a city bus noticed as it whizzes by ---- Believe. Or other times it’s a brief discussion with mothers waiting for after school activities & picking up children – nourishing the spirit. 

We have come this way before. There is a clear pathway that leads us home – when we watch the sky, touch the earth and listen to life all around us, we can hear our ancient selves beaconing....... 

How amazing is that?

Full Moon

New Moon, Eclipse, Equinox - The Greatest Show on Earth

So...we have a celestial show in the heavens taking place shortly and perhaps many of us can 'feel' or sense all of this Universal Magic unfolding. Or maybe our lives are so busy and clogged up with everyday distractions, this is just another day like any other.

If I was to say one thing about this coming event - 20 March 2015 - and to mention only one thing for us to observe; perhaps that would be this;

Plan a ceremony. Take some time (even a few minutes) and walk outside, soak in the energy, lie in the grass - lift up your heart and open your mind, just a little, even if you don't 'feel' or sense anything. So what. Do it anyway.

Why?

Because, the Universe is putting on a show. For us. And we should pay attention, even if only in some small way. Another level of Consciousness is having an opening day and we are invited to the greatest show in Earth! 

April 

Lough Hyne, West Cork - The Darkness of the Goddess 

Fermenting Workshop @ The Fumbally Cafe in Dublin this Sunday.....

I'm at The Fumbally Cafe in Dublin to give a workshop 1st March.....so looking forward to working with the gang at the cafe again and doing what I love to do.....let's get fermenting! 

You can check it out and book your place with The Fumbally Cafe 

Imbloc - Earth Energy

Love this time of year! Feels like spring is just waiting to burst through.....#earthenergy 

This photo is from our full moon Imbloc fire ceremony - inner magic

I can't say enough about the power and importance of ceremony and celebration. We need to be incorporating more of this into our days and lives. Marking occasions, special times and creating the room for honouring ourselves through the changes of the earth is part of the deeper magic.