NHT--hi. I've been thinking off and on about the "male/female" medicine issue ever since it was brought up and I've decieded that in my practice there is no such thing as "male vs female."

That we are all parts of a whole that we can only glimpse occasionally--and that what we culturally define as "male" or "female" is just that--cultural.

From a scienitific point of view we all as individual members of our species walk around with hormone complements that vary tremendously from one individual to the next-

--and we all--visibly/culturally male and visibly'culturally female--human beings have a wde variety of hormones both "male and female" hormones produced in our bodies.

Ergo for me it is a non-issue and I will ignore the other aspects of the above post in the name of working towards integrating all into one whole/holistic Shamanic worldwide presence.

Pacem.

(If I' haven't expressewd this well I refer people to the Taoist concepts of Yin and Yang which are always two parts of one whole. There was an excellent discussion of this on one of my fave philosophy shows not long ago.

We are all conmpound creatures made up of innumerable aspects which cannot be divided. The Taoist way of seeing all life as the indivisible whole.)

NHT--hi. My friend--I don't "hate" anyone.

I've been taught not to put myself in negaive situations/environments.

And I've been taught that if I find myself in such an environment/situation in any aspect of my life to leave as quickly and as safely as possible and to use my energy in positive ways as much as I am able..

No "hate" involved at all.

Maybe the debates keep this thread going when simple chatter wont? just a thought. But to say that she leaves safely is wrong, she is constantly on the attack, even though her argument is generally not very articulate or viable. Doesn't hate? hehe, checks in the mail, Mom was a German fighter pilot in Vietnam.

WGal writes: ...[we] might be talking about two different things.
Perhaps you are right...

WGal writes: BTW--I never heard of "negative energy" protecting "the sacred."
Can you say what culture/tradition this comes from?
This idea is not limited to any one culture/tradition -
in Hinduism, for instance, the lotus is such a symbol -
representing the true soul of an individual,
yet arising untouched from the protective mud -

the mud is the symbolic negative energy ...