Don't try to solve the mystery; LIVE it!

Our last program of 2014 was the Winter Healing Retreat with Eliot Cowan. It was a wonderful time to slow down and feel myself turn inward. Deep dreaming and rest; which allowed things to move and shift profoundly as the healing sessions built on one another.

There was a Teaching Fire with Eliot one night. We ate homegrown popcorn while he answered our questions around the Fire. Eliot spoke to us about how to keep and nourish the gifts that we each received in the healing retreat. He shared the importance of continuing to support ourselves by slowing down in our everyday lives, by finding ways to connect with community, by letting go of our expectations and connecting with practices that support each of us in quieting the voice of our mind and listening deeply to our hearts.

The title of this blog post is a quotation from Eliot, that really resonated for me:

"Don't try to solve the mystery, LIVE it!"

A perfect message as we approach the mystery of this darkest time of the year, the Winter Solstice.

My Thanksgiving thoughts just for you!

Well, today is Tuesday before Thanksgiving and I am sitting here at the Blue Deer in complete silence. There is no one about and there is a stillness that is quite calming. These are the times, I often find most reflective. I sat down today to write some interesting and inspiring message for you but I am finding myself at loss for words.  Thanksgiving to me has always meant Family. A big family dinner, big family football rivalry, big family gathering… This year will be the same. I will travel to spend time with my family and, of course, everyone will be coming together for the Thanksgiving Day meal. I am so thankful for the time we get to spend together and celebrate our family.

This year seems some how different.  My own children are young adults now with most of them in their twenties.  I feel I am growing so much this year.  I feel everyday, I discover something new and meaningful in my life. Much of that I can attribute to my relationship with the Blue Deer Center and the people who I have met here.  Everyone I meet here and in my travels for the Blue Deer seems to touch me in some way. Each day my heart grows bigger.

So I thought I would share what I am thankful for with you.

I am thankful for the openness that everyone expresses each time I meet them and  the open arms that give the most amazing hugs. In times of stress, a hug can mean so much.

I am thankful for the relationships with people who over the past three years have become my dearest of friends.

I am thankful for the support from our board of directors. Each and everyone of them reaches out to me on regular basis and their friendship holds me in a way I  could never explain.

I am thankful for Eliot and his timeless wisdom and support. I am truly blessed to get to know him here at the center.

I am thankful for Mark Gionfriddo, our executive Director. Mark has gone out of his way to make me feel like family. I was able to spend more than a week with Mark and his family in Mexico during the Fiesta. I truly felt apart of something bigger then myself but yet felt supported and comforted by it all.

I am thankful for all the wonderful people I have met along the way. The conversations that have joined us; The moments that we will never forget; The laughter that we experienced; The tender moments that have touched me beyond my imagination.

I am thankful for the Blue Deer Center because it has opened my eyes to a better future, one that I never saw coming and one that I know I will cherish forever.

The Land, the river, the mountains will never be the same again and that is so very special.

I look forward to many more special times and relationships at the Blue Deer.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and I hope to see you at the Blue Deer Center very soon. Sincerely, Jenn

You too, can be part of it, The Home Project

You may have heard talk about the Blue Deer Center's Home Project, and perhaps caught a peek of one aspect or another of this important initiative.  Now, The Home Project is moving to the forefront of Blue Deer's efforts, and we would like you to participate in the big picture of this critical endeavor.

Providing a Genuine Home
The Home Project's vision is to provide Elders- from different traditions world-wide- a genuine home where they are supported in preserving their activities of guidance and understanding, allowing them to share their wisdom with the 21st century world.  The support this provides to humanity is immense, especially at such a critical time in human history.

Losing any ancestral culture of tradition on our planet is a deep loss to ourselves-- and the soul of this planet. by fostering this home for the Elders, Blue Deer's intention is to establish a repository of heart where you and I , with guidance from the Elders, can practice, learn, and heal.

The Home Project is at the core of the Blue Deer's mission and provides benefits to you, the center, the elders and the world:

Benefits to You- Creating opportunities for you to receive teachings and healing from the Elders, participate in rituals and ceremony, and experience their individual traditions on this centuries-old land used for group resolution and personal healing.

Benefits to the Elders- providing the Elders a viable way of prospering wile continuing their traditional ways, and platform to make their teachings and healing abilities available to today's world.

Benefits to Future Generations- Ensuring the precious wisdom held by the Elders is not lost to this world, but remains available for our children and future generations.

Benefits to Blue Deer- Forming the basis of future prosperity for Blue Deer by making it a repository of ancestral wisdom so we can open our land to people from around the world.

Welcoming our First Elder
Through your support, the Home Project is able to welcome its first tradition holder. This is the fruit of a project guided by the Divine, and envisioned by Don Eliot Cowan.  It is because of your support that we are able to open the doors to the new Elder resident building at Blue Deer Center. This new property includes living space, healing space, and meeting space as well as new office for our expanding staff surrounding the Home Project.

The Home Project needs your care and support to ensure a home is available for tradition holders for many years to come so their teachings-- and what the worlds gleans from those teachings-- are not lost.

It's many individual donations coming together that have enabled us to make our first step. 

For more information, please contact Jennifer Schuman at 845-586-3225 or jennschuman@bluedeer.org. Last year, your generous gifts helped to raise $295,562. Our goal for 2014 is $598,800. Although the 2014 goal may sound ambitious, you have already donated 50% of that total, and with your help, you can achieve this goal.  Many times in our individual lives, we feel like one person or one gift won't make a differences in the world. But you couldn't be more wrong. Together we are stronger.


Look for your free CD with Eliot Cowan coming to a mail box near you!

Much happening this week, just before the first snowflakes are forecast to fall!

This week has seen much activity here at the Blue Deer. The Plant Spirit Medicine training class group in its final class workshops has gone but a new group of Plant Spirit Medicine students has arrived to the Blue Deer for their first class. The air has been warmer then usual and has allowed for our landscaping committee volunteers to come and button things up for the winter months ahead. Just in time too as snow showers are forecast for this Sunday morning!

The barn and the metal cage against the brilliant blue autumn sky! This day has been so magnificent.

This light fixture is located on the stone wall between the barn and the front lawn near the vegetable garden.

The vegetable garden has been given a warm blanket for the winter. It will be ready to go for next spring.

Here is Wayne working on the compost pile.

Much work was done on opening the pond up so our friends the frogs have space to enjoy it. This is the view looking back towards the barn.

The pond looking out from the tent over the stone wall.

Volunteer Wayne built a new compost bin as the other was showing its age!

Melody and Renee working to give the plants some room to grow and breathe.

The landscaping committee will be bringing you updates on the land, and the plants right here on the blog in the coming months. I know where I will see you next, at the Blue Deer!

Winter Healing Retreat Three Days of Traditional Huichol Shamanic Healing With Eliot Cowan - December 11 – 14, 2014

Come, experience the deep, mysterious transformation available through the ancient healing tradition of the Huichol people. Rest profoundly in the quiet of winter. Feel the wisdom of the Fire and of your own heart. Reconnect with your awe of nature on the sacred land of the Blue Deer Center.

We are offering a special, limited space, healing retreat with Eliot Cowan this winter. Eliot, a fully initiated Tsaurirrikame (Huichol shaman), has lead many healing retreats in the past two decades. Over the years he has gathered extensive experience working with the full spectrum of life events from birth to death. In this retreat, you will discover that the medicine of the old cultures runs deep and exerts a powerful effect on our bodies, minds, and, most importantly, our spirits.

This retreat will be limited to 10 participants. Each person will receive a private treatment each day from Eliot, plus lodging and meals. There will also be time to connect with Eliot and with one another around the fire, at meals, and on the Sacred Land of the Blue Deer Center.

Come, spend time with Eliot in residence at the Blue Deer Center.

Autumn at the Blue Deer

Well, it has been a few weeks since I have been able to write to you about what is happening at the Blue Deer. I would like to thank Liz for filling in while I was away in Mexico. The Fiesta was grant and I am so glad I went in support of the wonderful people who have dedicated themselves to their path.

You may be wondering what is happening at the Blue Deer. Well, autumn has come to the mountains and the fiery reds, oranges and yellows are lighting up all around us. The evenings are cooler and soon the days will be also but for now, we have had some warm days.  It has been a beautiful backdrop for our fall healing camp. The power of the change of seasons is touching us all.

I sat for a while with several people on the porch today, just taking in the brilliance of the color with sunshine beaming down, touching it, changing it and enhancing it.

I will be happy to welcome back out Plant Spirit Medicine Training Class for their six week of classes and excited for the new group of Plant Spirit Medicine training, which will be starting very soon. The energy around this feels so good to me, a new beginning for so many. 

Here are some photos from around the center.

I look forward to seeing you at the Blue Deer so very soon!

Plant Spirit Medicine Healer Training

Session One - Oct 14-21 2014

Bringing together shamanic techniques with the ancient Chinese medical philosophies of the Five Elements. This is the first of a series of 6 programs, held over the course of 2 years, followed by 2 clinical weeks for a total of 8 weeks to complete the training. Begin your journey...learn more at www.bluedeer.org

Retreat. Discover. Heal. In the New York Catskills.

We all yearn to be free of illness. And we long to feel connected… to our spirit, to each other and to the natural world, yet how often do we give ourselves time to nurture that heartfelt yearning? Our lives have become so busy and stressful! We know the pace takes a painful toll, which we try to remedy with healthy food, therapy, yoga classes or meditation. All these approaches help, yet still we wonder, could there be more?  Find out…

September 28 – October 3, 2014

Healing Camp

Five Days of Traditional Huichol Shamanic Healing

Learn more at www.bluedeer.org/events

It has been a few weeks but it is well worth it!

I have to first say, sorry I have not posted anything in a few weeks. I went on vacation and spent some time away. Upon returning, I have been trying to get back up to speed and prepare for heading off to Mexico. I am so excited to be joining many of you in Mexico. It will be my first trip there.

You must be wondering what is going on here at the Blue Deer. We have had a few weeks of quiet. The business meetings held in August were very productive for all three organizations and many left with much work to do.

Maria has been working hard getting the firewood moved and stored for upcoming events and for the winter. She with help of some local young men have moved mountains. As well as keeping everything else in shape before she also heads down to Mexico in a few days.

As I sat here yesterday, looking at the reports, lists, my calendar and reading list of emails, book and articles, I began to feel overwhelmed. Communicating with all of our community is something I have been trying to achieve on a regular basis and sometimes, I feel I don't do enough. As this feeling began taking over all my thoughts and I started feeling ineffective. I stopped and thought:

why do people come here?

What are they looking for?

What does that mean to me?

So I put down my work, closed my computer and decided to go and sit outside.  Sitting outside and avoiding the work on my desk seemed like a better idea that actually getting work done.  Then I thought maybe I should really think about Blue Deer while I was sitting outside.  So I decided I should really take a good look at what Blue Deer means to me and all who come here while I was avoiding my work.  Now, I know everyone has there reasons for coming and they are different for each one of us, but I think it is the feeling of connection that is the underlying reason.  I feel it too.  It is the personal relationship with the land and what ever else that feeling is that touches each time we land here.

As I walked out the door of the office, I grabbed the video camera and found myself walking past my normal rest spot on the porch and walking down the stairs toward the field. I sat down on the stone stairs and took in the view. I took a few deep breaths of fresh air and just sat and listened. I heard the birds, the wind, the river and myself begin to quiet.

I must have sat there for a half an hour. I watched birds fly by and then notice that the clouds barely moved across the sky. It almost seemed that time had stopped for awhile to let me take in the beauty of the day. The sky was a vivid blue and the clouds were the most perfect white. The greens of the mountains seemed to be more deep and then I noticed the hints of fall. An occasional splash of red or yellow starting in a few places on the mountains.

All of the sudden, I felt the river call me to her side. I got up and walked down the trail. Her voice growing louder as I got closer. I found myself going to an area where I don't usually go to sit and visit with her. I walked down the beautiful stairs that seem to welcome you to her side. I found a large rock right by her side and sat. I heard sounds I had never heard before. I heard a bass sound that seemed to give her voice a rhythm and then the more melodic sounds to complete her song.

At this point, you may be thinking, "yes, I have heard that before, where have you been that you have not heard this?" I have heard this before but I don't think I have really heard it in this way. It touched me deeply. I watched the leaves swirl in the water as they traveled through the water. I became involved in the bubbling of the water as it traveled over rocks and and fell in falls down to lower levels.  I was absorbed into everything that was the river and everything that was me. It became one. I may have sat there for an hour or for ten minutes, I am really not sure how long it was. I seem to awake for this experience to arrive at the moment of clarity for me. I was able to get up and head back to work knowing that what I had on my plate might be a lot but it was worth every moment.

Please enjoy and watch this short video of the view I watched on that perfect day and the sounds of the river that I heard on that perfect day. click here

I am blessed each and every day. Thank you Blue Deer and thank you to all of you!
Jenn

The Blue Deer Center is busy with activity this week!

With colder evenings and cool days, the Blue Deer Center is busy with activity.( and yes, it has been cooler here the last few weeks even in August) the Center has hosted several programs and events over the past few weeks. Mostly recently, The Fire Keepers for the Sacred Fire Community have finished their annual retreat here. As these important members of the community head home, member of the three organizations- Sacred Fire Foundation, Sacred Fire Community Organization and the Blue Deer Center have begun arriving for their annual board meetings on the land. The Center is blessed by their arrivals and their community here.

In recent feedback to the Blue Deer Center, there have been requests for additional lamps in the rooms and hooks to hang towels and clothing. Good News is the Blue Deer Center Staff has purchased several lamps and will be installing hooks through out the guest housing areas for your convenience. The staff is working to make your stay with us better every time.

Over the last few weeks the center has seen a steady stream of volunteers. Many of our volunteers working on the land have been young people from around the community. We would like to send out a great big thank you to some of those young people who have returned to help again and again.  Sarah Schuman, Nathan Juckett and Nick Gionfriddo. It is so nice to have such energy on the land helping to care for it.

The next few weeks things get to quiet down here at the center. The staff will have time to get things back to ship shape before programs begin again in a few weeks.

If you have feedback on your experience here at the center, please let us know.
Questions, concerns or comments can be sent to jennschuman@bluedeer.org.

And I hope to see you at the Blue Deer Center!

Plant Spirit Medicine Class

Last week at the Blue Deer Center, the Plant Spirit Medicine class came back to the center for session five. In between class time, students are able to blow of steam and have some fun. Jimmy spent a lot of time walking around on his hands.

 Students share thoughts, ideas and drawings to help in their studies. They are able to keep their smiles while working hard on their studies.

 Lunch was a great time for conversation and enjoying the delicious and healthy foods prepared fresh each day by our chefs.

 Students work together to develop the techniques needed. They give each other advise and use each other for practice. Here they are practicing pulses.

 A sense of humor goes along way during their studies and a good cup of tea.

 After many weeks of studies together over that past year and half, great friendships have been formed and will last for many years to come!

Next Week, The Plant Spirit Medicine Association Conference comes to the Blue Deer Center.

Take a look at the changes in progress at Blue Deer Center

Renovations are picking up and moving along on the expanded office space and elder's residence. Walls are being removed and reconfigured and the space is opening up. Our goal is to be using the new offices and to have Eliot moved in by the fall of this year!

Above: Walls have been removed at the Kitchen and Master Suite areas to create a more open layout. New load-bearing beams have been engineered and created utilizing the existing wall framing above.

Above:Walls have been removed and new walls are being framed in the Master suite of the residence.

Below: A new opening is created from the lower office level up to the residence level for a new stair.

Fireball At The Blue Deer Center!!!!!!!!!

This past weekend, the Fireball ! Great times were had by all. There was dancing, talking, healing music, Bocce games, Silent Art Auction and lots of conversing with the many who attended.
Here are just a few pictures! Lots of new people came to see the Blue Deer Center. I enjoyed meeting many of them.

It was an amazing time and I can not wait for next year! If you are interested in becoming part of the committee who puts together Fireball, please give us a call! We need your help. Jennschuman@bluedeer.org or 845-586-3225

Speaking about Water Event at Blue Deer Center

Last Weekend, The Blue Deer Center hosted the Speaking about Water Event. People came from as far away as Ohio to attend. The Global Processing Institute facilitated the event. Local residents from Margaretville, Andes and Roxbury joined together in discussion and debate about our local watershed, the rules and regulations that effect our everyday lives and so much more. Thursday night was an open forum for all to share their experiences, feelings and views on how the watershed effects each of us. Friday and Saturday consisted of in depth conversation about the importance of water in our daily lives.  I would have to say, it was a very interesting, engaging and enjoyable program. I am looking forward to more programs like this one in the near future!

Wisdom of the Divine Natural World Class at Blue Deer Center

 This past week Eliot Cowan led the Wisdom of The Divine Natural World class at the Blue Deer Center!

This course is for those who wish to explore the natural world and discover themselves. You may be a beginner or a veteran. You may be a healer. You may have no interest in healing. You may consider yourself talented or dense, spiritual or mundane. It doesn’t matter. Whoever you are, you are a child of the world, and your Mother has much to share with you.

In this largely experiental course we will delve into:

• Believing is Seeing and What You See is What You Get
• The World Forces: Sun, Soil, Mineral, Rain, Growth
• Emotion – How Do I Touch the World? How Does the World Touch Me?
• The Voice of the Seasons
• Learning Plant Spirit Language
• Plant Wisdom and How to Hear It
• Dream and Reality
• Ancestors, Soul and Spiritual Path
• Time Around the Fire

 Students spent time at the river journeying and reflecting on the Divine Natural World. Here students sit by the river and the fire with Eliot. Student also had time in the yurt.

As well as in discussion and conversation with Eliot. A few students have stayed on at the Blue Deer Center as volunteers for our next program and to help turn things over. It is a busy few weeks here at the Center.

As I write this we are hosting our Speaking of Water Event which will be the blog feature next week.  Thanks for tuning in and Hope to see you at the Blue Deer Center next time.

Fireball is coming and We need your help!

The 11th Annual Fireball is scheduled for Saturday, July 5th, 2014 and 1:00-10:00. This Day of music with performances by Blue Paradox- Electric & Eclectic Dance and Trance, Myra Melford- Solo Piano, Steve Gorn & Ray Spiegel- Indian Classical Twilight ragas, The Breath Collective "unplugged"- Psychedelic rock from the Hudson Valley, Kirtan & Drum Circle- Grab a drum and join in, Eliot Cowan- Book signing and Saskawhihiwine- The beautiful timeless sounds of the river. Admission is $10. Lodging and Camping spaces available onsite, book your reservations today.

There will also be food vendors, raffle- a weekend at the Blue Deer Center for you Hamlet and more, Homemade Dessert Auction, and Silent Art Auction. We need you help getting these events and raffles put together. If you would like to volunteer to help with one or more of these events please contact Jenn Schuman Or Aaron Bauman at 845-586-3225.

What's New at The Blue Deer Center this week...... Liz Warren joins the Fundraising Department.

This week, Liz Warren became the newest member of our staff. Liz will be working in the Fundraising Department as our new Fundraising Assistant. Help us welcome Liz. Next time you are at the Blue Deer Center, please stop in and say "Hello, Liz!" Here is a little bit about Liz from Liz.

Hello, my name is Liz Warren.  Over eight years ago, my husband and I bought a weekend home in Margaretville to escape city life. After four years of enjoying hiking and the amazing outdoors, we decided to make the Catskills our full-time residence and I opened a store on Main Street. Two floods and a dwindling economy has led me to pursue other career opportunities. Having over twenty five years of experience in the hotel/hospitality industry, having held positions from reservations management to event planning, sales and administration, I was confident I’d find something interesting.
I’ve landed at the Blue Deer Center and am so happy to be here! Beautiful grounds, great people and a meaningful purpose.  I look forward to working with all of you!

What's Happening at the Blue Deer Center this week.......

This week the Blue Deer Center welcomes Jeannie Zandi and her Living in Love program.

Jeannie is the director of Living as Love, a nonprofit organization dedicated to seeding a culture of the Heart on the planet, inspiring, teaching and supporting people to live from their essence as Love. A year before the birth of her daughter, Jeannie was plunged into a dark night of the soul that culminated in a radical shift of consciousness. She is known for her fearless clarity, tender mercy towards humanness, and a juicy, poetic and often humorous style that draws from Advaita Vedanta, Sufism, Christian mysticism and the ongoing revelation of fully engaged living. Residing in Colorado, she travels widely in the U.S. and Canada, bringing a down-to-earth embodied teaching of living as love.