Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Incredibly Beautiful Music!

This music gives me "truth bumps" of beauty!
Chris Botti in Boston - 
"Emmanuel" w/ Lucia Micarelli on PBS

Sooooooooo nice!

Blessings,
Shakura Cathryn
www.moonsinger.com
www.dancingpeace.blogspot.com
http://sites.google.com/site/dupnaz/
"Music is the unified language of the universe. Everything is melody, harmony, strings, and the universe is a symphony. The mind of God is music resonating through 10-dimensional hyperspace." ~Michio Kaku, physicist, author, teacher, advisor for NASA and Star Trek (www.mkaku.org)

Friday, April 23, 2010

The Strange Worlds of Matthew Albanese

I happened on this amazing artist while looking at Earth Day photos on www.pixcetera.com. This guy absolutely amazes me. Not only is he a great photographer…. he actually CREATES each scene he photographs!

“Through immaculate lighting and meticulous curation of tactile materials — faux fur for grass, cotton wool for clouds, bottle brushes for shrubs — Albanese creates uncannily realistic miniature worlds of wonder.”

“Sugarland,” made out of 20 pounds of sugar, jello and corn syrup. Albanese grew the crystals in his studio over the course of two months.

Click on the picture or visit http://tinyurl.com/yfoed9n to see an amazing photo gallery of his work.
Or visit http://tinyurl.com/24293a2 for more information about how he creates them. 

I’m awestruck!

Blessings,
Shakura Cathryn
"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. " ~Thomas Edison

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Earth Day / Sing for the Trees - April 22

Having lived in the desert for almost 12 years now, I have an ever-growing appreciation for trees. We just don’t have too many of them here. I find that although I love the big sky in this country, I also miss the big shade trees of my childhood in Texas. I honor trees – they “breathe” out the very oxygen we breathe in. We couldn’t even survive without trees. So on EARTH DAY, this Thursday, at Noon, I intend to join in with Susan Elizabeth Hale and thousands of other people around the world and SING for the TREES! (Information about this event is below.)

I don’t know yet what I will sing…. but I will sing a prayer for this beautiful Earth, for the Trees, and for all Life. And I invite you to join me, wherever you are. Even if you think you can’t sing well…. the trees don’t care. It our intentions of honoring Life that matters, not how well we sing!
__________________________________

This Earth Day April 22
Wherever you are anywhere on the planet,
Sing for the trees ~ Noon


Create your own Woodstock

My intention is to create a global perpetual choir, a choir without borders, so that there will waves of song sung to your own special trees.

This could be a tree in your own backyard, a forest in your area, a place on the planet where the trees have been clear cut, trees that are dying or endangered, trees in parks or trees scheduled to be cut.

You pick the place and invite your own friends and community. Record the event and post on You Tube so that others can witness and our love song will continue to be ripple out in waves of compassion.

We are at a crisis today because of global warming. One of the largest causes of global warming is deforestation of the rain forest. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) toilet tissue is responsible for 15% of all deforestation.

There are over 8,000 species of trees and 10% of them are facing extinction. When you lose a tree you also lose a community of birds, wildlife, insects, and plants that are dependent upon that tree. For example, the Bristle Cone pine, one of the world’s oldest organisms, 4,870 years old, is an important food source for small mammals and birds in eastern California, Nevada and Utah. Because of environmental conditions the Bristle Cone pine is not regenerating.

Trees are the lungs of the planet and we have a reciprocal relationship with the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Weareallone-support.org states that "we share the same DNA as tree and have a shared destiny."

Let's give our oxygen to the trees through singing to them, letting them know that we love, appreciate and need everything they do for us and the planet.

Save our trees for the generations of children to come.

A simple suggested ritual:

1) Stand in silence around or by the tree(s)
2) Place your left hand on your heart.
Imagine and feel the many different ways that you love trees.
3) Extend your right hand towards the tree or on the tree.
Suggested intentions to send to the tree(s) "I love you," "I'm sorry for the way we treat you," "I need you," "I send healing"
4) Tone the vowel Ah related to the heart starting on the note F#
5) Sustain this note but then allow your voice to open up to sound whatever you are feeling towards the tree(s)
6) Let the toning come to a natural end.
7) Stand in silence. Link with other trees around the world thanking them for all that they do for us.
8) Pass around a talking staff and share your experiences. A lovely way to open and focus the talking staff might be: "I heard the trees and they said... I link this tree with.... I send this love to...."
9) End with a simple chant.

Later write or draw about your experiences and continue to go visit your tree(s).
Please post pictures and links on this site and share with your friends and community.

Let's circle the earth with song!

Susan Elizabeth Hale
www.treesplease.webs.com

__________________________________
Blessings,
Shakura Cathryn
"The sound in our voice is a carrier wave of intention." ~Danna Loori
"Honored land that is sung to responds quickly and powerfully." ~Jose Stevens
“In my heart I see a singing planet, many people gathering in different places on the globe to sing, dance and pray together. In so doing sacred space is created, moments where we are reminded of the love and harmony which is our essence and birthright.” ~Barbara Swetina, Findhorn Community

Friday, April 16, 2010

Dalai Lama Interviewed by Barbara Walters

I don't know when this interview took place, but it brought me lots of smiles! I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. This amazing man is so practical and humorous!
Blessings,
Shakura Cathryn
www.moonsinger.com  
www.dancingpeace.blogspot.com  
http://sites.google.com/site/dupnaz/
"Sleep is the best meditation." ~The Dalai Lama

Friday, April 2, 2010

Virtual Choir

This is amazing to me ~ Beautiful and Astonishing!

Eric Whitacre is a composer who had an idea to create a “Virtual Choir” of 100 people singing the various parts to his a cappella choral composition called SLEEP. It is amazing musically, and also technically. I can’t even begin to understand how all the various videos and sound tracks were incorporated into one video to produce this “virtual choir.” 

Watch (and listen to) this beautiful video:

How they did it: http://tinyurl.com/yd6yjwj

Blessings,
Shakura Cathryn
www.moonsinger.com  
www.dancingpeace.blogspot.com  
http://sites.google.com/site/dupnaz/  
"In music one must think with the heart and feel with the brain." ~George Szell