Autumn 2001 Issue

Welcome to the second issue of our Online Newsletter. In each issue I am featuring an article on one of the service programs being conducted around the world by individuals and organizations using the Alaskan essences. In this issue I present the work of Cynthia Asseff and Projeto Renascer. You can read past issues by clicking on the link(s) below.

• Summer 2003 Issue
• Spring/Summer 2002 Issue - Reindeer Moss and 9/11
• Autumn 2001 Issue - Projeto Renascer and the Pregnancy Support Formula
• Spring 2001 Issue - The Animal Care Story

Projeto Renascer and the Pregnancy Support Formula
by Steve Johnson

The Pregnancy Support combination formula was inspired by the work of Cynthia Asseff, a mother and flower essence therapist living in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Cynthia started using the Alaskan essences with pregnant women, mothers, and babies at a center called Projeto Renascer (Rebirth Project) in January of 1999. This article was compiled from notes I took during my two visits to the center in 1999 and 2000.

The center receives new and donated clothes which they pass on to the women and children who need them. They offer job training in sewing, rug making, painting, and cooking, and sell the goods that are made to help provide food for the women, who are served lunch every day. There is also a bakery here that sells products to the community.

When a baby is born the family receives a package from the center which includes clothes and many of the necessary supplies they would otherwise have to go out and buy, if they had the money, which they do not.

The center also provides health care. A doctor is present every day, and a pediatrician, dentist, and psychologist visit on a regular basis. Volunteers from the project also go to the pregnant women’s houses to check on them before they give birth. There is also a pharmacy, and of course, flower essences are provided. At the time of my second visit, there were 130 volunteers and 4 paid personnel working at the center, and they had between 150 and 200 women visiting on a regular basis.

Using Essences at Projeto Renascer

Essences are provided at the center in a variety of ways:

• Each woman receives a dosage bottle of Soul Support once a week which they can take home.
   
• A special formula is given to the younger children who are spending their first few days in the crèche (daycare) while their mothers are attending classes in another part of the center. This formula is also being used with some babies who previously would only stop crying when they were in their mother's laps. It includes Soul Support, Hairy Butterwort, Grove Sandwort, Peridot, Turquoise, and Herkimer Diamond.
   
• Sprays made from the Calling All Angels, Guardian, and Purification combination formulas are used with all the children in the crèche and with the women in the classroom. The Calling All Angels formula is also given to mothers to use specifically with their kids who have sleeping problems.
   
• Cynthia also prepares essences for the volunteers and staff people working there.

During my second visit, Cynthia offered some very interesting insights into the use of essences at the center:

"I feel that these babies have special and very important purposes in their lives. They chose to be born in very miserable places and into families full of suffering. I am not sure if you know that in Brazil we have lots of these boys and girls growing up without houses, food, basic hygienics, education, and living around people for who it is usual to live together with violence and abuse of all kinds.

"I am telling you this because I believe that the new emerging consciousness, this opening of the "doors" of the hearts which will allow light to come down, raising us to the ‘fourth dimension’, is a planetary thing. I don’t believe it is just up to the ‘light workers’ to create this. What I believe is that these souls who have chosen to be born in such a difficult environment, at this moment on the Earth, also accepted this special mission, and so they attracted all this support that they are receiving at Projeto Renascer since the time when they were being formed, even before they were really born. It is amazing how much suffering these pregnant women show in their faces and bodies when they arrive there, and then, a few months later you can see such a difference.

"I believe the Alaskan essences are particularly helpful in this situation for several reasons:

1) There has been such imbalance in the quality of life in these disadvantaged communities and the darkness has been present for such a long time (as in the winter in Alaska) that they need to balance it, bringing into this darkness the most intense and continued light (as in the summer in Alaska). You need much light when you are dealing with such darkness.

2) These souls need to be able "to flower" in the most challenging environment as the plants that are able to blossom so beautifully in Alaska.

3) The levels of vitality and capacity of adapting that the Alaskan plants have in order to blossom abundantly will help these souls who will have to be really strong and "smart" in order to bring the big changes that those places and people need.

4) To help these souls connect very easily to the spiritual realms (since the plants in Alaska have been more connected with and relating more to the cosmic energies than with the human beings) in order to have more support to accomplish their purpose of transforming all those patterns of unconsciousness which are keeping their communities and all of us back from a better world to live in."

Cynthia also shared in more detail how she is using essences with the pregnant women and babies:

"They are also receiving the Soul Support combination for emergencies. From using this formula they have reported that they are sleeping better and that they are less nervous, and because of this they have been able not to beat their kids the way they used to. This is a great result. Another interesting aspect is that they are giving their Soul Support to their husbands (when they have them) and to their relatives, neighbors, and friends, so that many other people besides them are receiving this blessing.

"The babies receive a massage of their feet and abdomen twice a week with Prickly Wild Rose, Northern Lady’s Slipper, Enchanter’s Nightshade, Wild Sweet Pea, Calling All Angels, and Angelica. I put these essences in a basic oil and include the essential oils of Lavender and Rose. I feel that this combination helps to strengthen them. Some people say that flower essences are like "food for the soul" and in this case they definitely are.

"The older kids, from 1 year to 7 years, also receive essences in a spray bottle once or twice a week. It depends on how many times the mother goes there."

Developing the Pregnancy Support Formula

Here is how Cynthia describes her process of coming up with the initial formula from which the Pregnancy Support combination was developed:

"In my work at Projeto Renascer, since the very beginning, I was looking forward to reaching the day when I would be able to prepare a combination of essences specifically for these pregnant women. I wrote the following affirmations in order to help me to find the most precise essences for that community:

1) I celebrate my body changing, getting bigger and opening to bring to Earth a new soul.

2) While I feed with love the baby in my womb, I am also nourishing, strengthening, and taking loving care of my own inner child.

3) My baby and I have all the necessary protection and support to experience the pregnancy and the moment of giving birth.

4) I forgive and release all grief, anger, and resentment for all the abuse, violence, or any other pain that I have suffered, and open a new space of love, joy, creativity and light, in order to allow this new life to develop within me.

5) I am love and so I am able to generate and give birth to a healthy and beautiful baby."

The Formula

The essences contained in this combination are: Balsam Poplar, Bog, Devil’s Club, Diopside, Emerald, Grove Sandwort, Ladies’ Mantle, and Northern Lady’s Slipper.

This formula can be used:

•To help a woman create a nurture a sacred space in her life and body for the growth and development of her baby.

•To assist both the mother and the indwelling soul in clearing any ambivalence they have about being on the Earth.

•To help mothers strengthen their connection with the Earth so they can provide nurturing energy for themselves and their families without sacrificing their health and well-being.

•To enable women who themselves suffered a traumatic birth to heal this trauma so they can offer a stronger body/soul connection to their babies.

•To help develop the energetic triad between the mother, father, and baby.

Pregnancy Support can be used from the time of conception to the birth of the child. Apply topically by adding it moisturizing creams or lotions that are used during the pregnancy, or take internally.