Toni Gilbert, Transpersonal Counselor www.tonigilbert.com
Hi everyone,
Time sure seems to travel fast when you are busy. I try to put the skids on the ole “doing” thing but somehow things find me and beg to be done. Then, I am sure that there are things that would be bad karma to ignore. So, what’s a person going to do? My summer was filled with family, and friends, as well as canning and freezing of our garden harvest and tending to my pets…the flowers. Life is good and I am blessed.
The following a list of what I’ve been up professionally that might be of interest to you.
New Articles on Toni Gilbert.com
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here are two new articles on the “published articles” section of my web site www.tonigilbert.com: Grandmother Moon which is about an evening of self-care when the full moon inspired me to meditate and visualize healing. Lewis took the above photograph from inside our two person tub, the night of my experience with the moon. I left that part out of the story.
The second article is about the therapeutic effects of the Breitenbush experience. It is aptly entitled Forest Immersion Experience: Mother Nature Promotes Introspection and Healing. This article was the inspiration of my co-author Lynn Keegan, PhD, RN AHN-BC FAAN a founder of the American Holistic Nurses Association. She visits our holistic organization in Oregon from time to time and has fallen in love with the Breitenbush experience.
Lynn will be our guest speaker this year at the Oregon Holistic Nurses Association (see dates below). She is the author of numerous books in holistic nursing . This year she will be discussing her newest book and interest, The Golden Room: A practical guide for death with dignity.
My New Book
I’m still hard at work on the new book about my family that has the tentative title of Images of Our Time: A history and pictures of a pioneer family. I just finished restoring about 300 pictures that my grandmother, Lilly Wilson Curtis, took as professional photographer at the turn of the last century. She was a teacher and a photographer before she married my grandfather. In those years, you either had a profession or you married and had a family. She chose my grandfather (luckily) but she had her camera ready during their homesteading years and beyond. It is a treasure trove of images for our family and I think others will enjoy it too. I ‘m working on the text and it is all falling in line with a flow of synchronistic happenings…coming together in a magical way. So, it will be completed soon. The picture at the right is my grandmother’s sister, Abby.
My Published Books
Gaining Archetypal Vision and Messages from the Archetypes The main aim of these books is to educate caregivers to the potential of learning to counsel with the archetypal images of Tarot cards (and other modalities that use the human archetypes.) For instance, I believe that Tarot cards can help provide a therapist or counselor with a pictorial assessment of the client’s state of mind. The cards illustrate the emotional investment a client holds and indicates various ways to help him or her to access inner levels of consciousness for insights and solutions.
How does that work? Basically, each of us has the same energetic structure that, not only gives us life but, also informs us on how to respond to life. There are many models of how this energetic structure is configured but the Freud/Jungian sits well with my experience: The conscious mind and the id take care of the world we see out there; the earthly level. On one hand, the unconscious mind is a personal reservoir of experience unique to each individual. It is the structure of the psyche that autonomously organizes personal experience. Then there is the collective unconscious, also a part of the unconscious mind. It has a universal and impersonal nature. These levels of consciousness are identical in all healthy individuals. The collective unconscious accumulates and organizes personal experiences in similar ways, but it does not develop individually. Rather it is inherited, consisting of pre-existent energies known as archetypes.
If you know yourself at deep transpersonal archetypal levels, you can guide others to find these other dimensions of themselves. Using the archetypes is a transpersonal journey of great importance to your growth, development, and overall well-being.
During the counseling session, I am deeply involved in the process of active listening, becoming receptive to intuitive impressions and honoring the sacred by focusing my awareness on the synchronistic collaboration between spirit, self and other. I also have faith in the flow and trust that the creative process will unfold for the benefit of the client….and it does.
Oregon Holistic Nurses Association
On another note, the Oregon Holistic Nurses Association is holding its annual conference and retreat at Breitenbush Hot Springs in October.
Yours truly is heading up the Fundraising: In addition to a book sale and auction, I will be there with my cards giving Archetypal Tarot Counseling™ sessions to benefit the organization.
All holistic practitioners are welcome. Breitenbush is truly a healing place but it is also a place of teaching and a place of rest. Take your pick.
Book Review
I like to study religions not only for their historical perspective but for the perennial wisdom that runs through every one of the wisdom traditions. So, when the book Zealot: The life and times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan came out, it was a must read. The fact that the author is an internationally acclaimed scholar of religion was even better. Someone who actually puts in the time to study religions is, not only credible but, much better at explaining all the events in a way that is grounded in the reality of their research into historic data banks. Of course, I take in the fact that they are writing from their perspective/interpretation and are not necessarily bearers of the “right” truth of the actual events.
The book did not disappoint me. The first few chapters described the times that Jesus lived; the landscape, the people, and the culture. It was very much like today, with the various factions fighting for their beliefs. The fundamentalists clung to olden beliefs as if those truths were the only right ones and the more liberal factions espoused a new vision of truth. Both archetypal sides had people who were passionate about what they believed to be true. Such people are known as Zealots because they pursue their path with zeal…or conviction. Of course “zealot” is an archetype and as such would have different levels of consciousness or development.
The author’s portrait of Jesus and others are vivid and believable. As the story unfolds the history of the region is interwoven with the characters of the New Testament or the Hebrew Bible. For example, The author tells us that Jesus’ brother James, was a good and just man, who went to great lengths to keep Jesus’ teachings pure after his death. Paul, a major player in the formation of the Christian religion, saw things differently and added a few touches to help people understand the story…. or for political reasons.
All in all it is a darn good read and I recommend it to everyone….Christian and non-Christian.
Lastly, I find beautiful images on the internet. Sometimes they have a photographer’s name and sometimes not. If you are an author of an image posted here, let me know so I can give you credit. A big THANK YOU to all of the artists, for you improve our world with your art.