Crimson Moon Spa & Boutique eLetter

Volume 4                                             1995 -2009                              August 2009 

f you cannot view the images below, click here to view page online.                  For the Body

Hello Moon Watchers       Skin Care tips and solutions for glowing summer skin

 Hot weather, salt water, humidity, and chlorine take their toll on our skin during the summer months.  You should drink plenty of water through the day, not merely to replenish humidity lost to the heat but also to help blush toxins out of the body and keep skin looking healthy and glowing.

 Dr. Michelle Copeland recently was kind enough share her top summer skincare tips-"Your skin has different needs depending on the month. During the summer, the glands produce more oil, so switch to a product that's not so moisturizing. The zone around the nose and down towards the mouth contains a lot of glands, so you probably want to go easy on it all year round. People often wonder whether they should stop exfoliating during the summer because they think the dead skin is protecting them from the sun. While it's true that surplus surface cells offer a slight shield against rays, that benefit is outweighed by the greater gain you'll get in encouraging cell turnover. Always wear SPF to protect from the harsh UVA/UVB rays of the summer months. Apply sunscreen every day to your skin and lips. An easy way to remember your sunscreen is to use a daily moisturizer with SPF built right in! Sunblocks containing clear zinc oxide offer both UVA and UVB protection with the added benefit of the antioxidant properties of zinc."  An easier way to remember sunscreen is; Wearing sunscreen everyday will significantly cut back on accumulative sun damage: It’s not just about the SPF number, it’s how often and how much you re-apply your sunscreen

Facials are equally important; an independent study at Harvard University has shown there is a strong connection between touch therapy and the overall heath of you skin and body.  Having a facial is something that improves not only your skin, but also your overall health.  Facials are recommended one at least every four to six weeks.

For the body as well as the face, the number one tip is exfoliation!  For the body dry brushing and or body scrubs will turn over the dead skin cells and reward you with glowing skin.   A gentle facial exfoliant applied 3-5 times a week or a facial will show much improvement for the health of the skin on the face.

Foods for healthy skin include: Berries, which give you a powerful punch of antioxidants that help you skin fight off free radical damage from the sun.  Avocados are loaded with B-complex vitamins and essential fatty acids, which give avocados anti-inflammatory properties.  Salmon is an important building block for healthy, younger skin by supplying essential fatty acids; whole grains contain selenium, which is an important mineral for maintaining healthy skin.  Also, look to sweet potatoes for vitamin A (beta carotene) which does wonders to create a great complexion, green leafy veggies that are loaded with vitamins including zinc which contributes to a healthy glow to your skin, as well as citrus which contain vitamin C and bioflavonoids that help your body detoxify and support collagen in the skin, that helps keep the skin firm and young looking.  We can't forget about olive oil, which provides healthy fats that are important maintaining healthy skin membranes. Your cell membranes hold water and help maintain the plump healthy look of your skin, and helps prevent wrinkles and age lines.  Last but not lest antioxidants, are excellent to protect cell damage from the sun, Green Tea extracts and Grape Seed extracts, even pomegranate extracts, which is said to have more antioxidants that similar amount of green tea or even red wine.

Shannon is available for Wellness Education Consultations by appointment, email or phone.  727-725-9977  shannon@crimsonmoon.com

Spa Service Menu: Crimson Moon Spa Menu  

 SUNDÃRI CLEANSER SANDALWOOD

A gentle exfoliating cleanser designed to balance and neutralize combination skin with Sandalwood Oil an calming Cucumber Extract.. For Dry Skin. 6 oz.  Check out Sundari  for all skin types Cleansers

SUNDÃRIis a distinctive collection of anti-aging skincare products created from the purest ingredients and rarest essences distilled from nature, SUNDÃRI blends modern science for immediate results with botanicals known through ancient wisdom.  Available in Pinellas county only  at Crimson Moon Spa.  

TEA TREE ESSENTIAL OIL  (Melaleuca alternifolia) is the most researched of all the essential oils. In Chinese medicine, this is a cooling, slightly yin oil. It aids the circulation of Qi and blood, clears toxins, and reduces inflammation.  It is being used as a very effective first aid remedy and against countless skin aliments, infections, cuts, scrapes, burns, insect bites and skin spots, etc… just to name a few uses.

 Trying to control the causes of acne, it is very important to keep the surfaces affected by acne as clean as possible.  Infection of the skin only worsens the condition so including tea tree as a part of your skin care regime, results will follow.

 Tea tree being antiseptic oil it prevents any possible infections that could arise, and almost immediately soothes the skin, clearing out any ongoing infection. It has the ability to open clogged pores so that acne can heal faster.  Any acne scarring is reduced because the tea tree is effective on infection and very gentle on the skin.  

Sunburns are not only aesthetically unappealing, it is painful.  The complications can include sunburn swelling, peeling, nausea and fever.  Appling tea tree oil prevents the skin peeling and soothes the pain of the burn, and leads to faster healing.

 Other conditions and uses for tea tree essential oil include nail fungus, ringworm, athlete’s foot, dandruff, blackheads, and many types of infestations including lice, mites, scabies, and mosquitoes, etc. Tea tree oil is not just soothing and disinfecting, it is capable of penetrating into the lower skin layers with its anti-inflammatory, disinfectant, analgesic (pain-killing) and cicatrizant (wound- healing) qualities.

Crimson Moon

     June 2006 Newsletter 

www.crimsonmoon.com

 2006 Edition

1995 - 2006

A New Series

A global look into 

Spiritual Beliefs and Practices

First in our Series is Buddism, Contributed by David Durney

One day, soon after the Buddha’s enlightenment, a man saw the Buddha walking toward him. The man had not heard of the Buddha, but could see that there was something different about the man who was approaching, so he was moved to ask, “Are you a god?”

The Buddha answered  “No.”    “You’re a magician, then? A sorcerer? A wizard?”    “No.”

  “Are you some kind of celestial being? An angel, perhaps?”

  Again the Buddha said “No.”

The Buddha replied “I am awake.”

 Buddhism is more a philosophical standpoint than a religious one; Buddhists don’t tend to preoccupy themselves with questions regarding the creation of man, the universe or of the world, instead they focus on a manner of conducting themselves socially, individually and spiritually in order to liken themselves to what is known as Buddha Nature.

 The story of Siddartha is the most well-known of all the Buddhas: A child of royalty and immense wealth he was kept completely sheltered from all things but the illustrious palace and surrounding gardens in which he was born. In his (I believe) thirteenth year he snuck out the palace gates and for the first time saw a sick, old man. Images such as these had been kept from the young prince, and it confused him as to how one could look as such. The answers he sought he could not find inside his palace home and so he shed his fine clothes for robes, shaved his hair and left his home behind to explore the world and see what there was outside of what he knew. Years spent in meditation learning spiritual truths and various paths led Siddartha to become a secluded ascetic, one who causes physical suffering to themselves as a means to epiphany and enlightenment, this only brought the young prince to the brink of death, and were it not for a wandering village girl supplying him with food and water, he would have perished. Realizing pain was no release from worldly suffering, Siddartha rested beneath a bodhi tree, and it was on that spot that he attained enlightenment. Reflection, patience, compassion and wisdom are keys to Buddhist practice. Pragmatism and understanding are keys to following the path.

All Buddhist teachings, regardless of sect, are centered around the Four Noble Truths of existence.

 The First Noble Truth: The Truth of Suffering

Duhkha, suffering, is commonly misinterpreted by people to mean that life is hell, essentially, and this is not so. To a Buddhist living monastically suffering is greatly minimalized due to the very limited and solely spiritual environment he or she is in. Those of us living in society and in the world as we understand it have a greater challenge ahead of us. I can best sum up this first truth as the truth of Attachment. That is to say suffering is a result of our ignorance of impermanence. Ignorance is not a derogatory term, ignorance is a characteristic we all have; it is not a matter of stupidity or lack of reason, it is an unknowingness of All the things that make up Existence.

Life, love, property, friends, family, pets; these are all impermanent, worldly aspects. The First Truth is simply stating that it is through attachment to these impermanent things that all beings suffer. In your life and mine, there are things that we feel conditioned to be attached to: your career, your husband, your daughter. To say these things are impermanent is not to say they do not matter, it is to say in the grand sum total of The universe they are particles stuck to grains of sand that make up the beach; in Your universe, they are the beach. Through the suffering and hardships of these various aspects you will find yourself suffering with them, and this is not wrong of you, it is simply something you do, something a great deal of us do.

 This First Truth is a reminder to remove yourself from worldly concerns, to remain in the constant, unchanging space of the Universe, and to be free of suffering as there is and always will be suffering.

The Second Noble Truth: The Truth of the Origin of Suffering

Samsara is a Buddhist term denoting life and existence as it is a total of all things suffering through their actions. The Second Truth tells us that these worldly, impermanent actions are what lead us to suffering.

Something that on the surface can be taken as a positive and joyful action is actually something that can lead to more and greater suffering. Your academic and financial careers would be excellent examples: You strive and fight to attain one degree, with the knowledge that it only leads you to more tribulations on the way to yet another degree, and so on and so forth. Even finishing your Master’s degree was a path to more struggles in order to get your license, then your own practice, and so on and so forth. These are accomplishments, and ones you should be very proud of, but your personal accomplishments and your spiritual identity very rarely intertwine.

The primary mode of thought throughout your travels through Buddhism is to remember that all things you learn and hear are to be taken on a ‘Grand Scheme of Things’ level, that is these are Universal Truths explaining methods to attain Oneness with all things beyond what we see and experience in samsara, in our sensual(experiential) world. So to say that your accomplishments lead you to greater suffering is not to say you have wasted time, as time is an impermanent worldly aspect, it is to say that you have simply taken on more suffering, more duhkha, and that is OK, it is just another day, just another particle on a grain of sand.

Karma is a concept that the total of actions over the course of our lives affects our next incarnation in samsara, our next life. Reincarnation is a profound concept, all things are created in the sense that all things revolve around existence finding places where they fit, for a small time, return to the outside of existence, only to eventually find their way back to it. This is the Wheel of Life, and the primary concern of the Buddhist individual is leaving the constantly spinning wheel, and passing on to nirvana, a place outside the wheel where nothing is bound by the limits of existence. By living according to your indestructible Buddha Nature, one can escape this Wheel of Life and suffering, or one can remain assisting those that find themselves caught and unable to pass beyond the cycle of birth and dying. What we choose to do and how we live affects our Karma, in turn affecting our future incarnations. This is essential to understanding the Second Truth as we are the sum total of our Karma, and the struggles in this body, in this life, may in some ways be out of your or anyone else’s control.

 The Third Noble Truth: The Truth of Cessation

The concept of No-Self is one that asserts we all have the capability to remove ourselves mentally and spiritually from the tethers that bind us to samsara, and we have this capability due to logical reasoning. Emptiness is the driving term behind this Third Truth; emptiness as expressed by “the absence of negation”. To negate a fear or an apprehension is to feed that fear with mentality, to give it a greater hold over us. Instead of affirming to yourself that there is no reason to be afraid of something or someone, we must instead empty ourselves of specifics: there is no reason to be afraid.

Zen teachers impress upon their students the state of No-Mind, a selfless totally empty space of mental thought in which one can contemplate ideas on a grander more universal level because they are not clouded by worldly preoccupations. Regarding suffering, your duhka, it is important to remain in the universal emptiness in order to not consume so much of it yourself and get stuck in samsara. This is the Truth where one needs to focus on separating themselves from their suffering, from their worldly tethers, and empty their Minds (intellectual body) and their Selves (spiritual body) in order to remain in the Buddha Nature, in the center of the lotus, in the Nowhere of Emptiness.

 The Fourth Noble Truth: The Truth of the Path

Meditate. After contemplating all of the previous three Truths, after understanding yourself as a being capable of attaining Buddha Nature, through meditation you will find your Way, your Path to travel outside of the bounds of samsara, outside the reach of your duhkha and into the center of the lotus where all things are No thing, and all is Empty and all is Free.

  Om mani padme hum

{Ohm mah-nee pod-may hoom}

 - Hail the jewel in the lotus

Books Referenced and Recommended:

Jesus and Budda Item BM3170 by Marcus, Borg $14.00

Next issue David will take a look at Hermetics

Movement 

I chose this month to pull a card to share from the beautiful Goddess oracle deck.  

And as with the medicine cards I found this Movement card profoundly appropriate for us at Crimson Moon.  And maybe you will it's a time in your life that this card has meaning 

The British horse goddess Rhiannon is believed to appear to her followers while riding an unearthly white horse.  In this way Rhiannon symbolizes the unceasing force of movement which pulls all of life along with it.

Meaning: Movement into the next phase of life.  If you are feeding impatient, do not worry.  Transitions will go smoothly.  Advancement. Good timing  

We would love to hear your experiences with guidance received in your life from your encounters with  our animal friends.  Email us at crimsonbks@aol.com.

In need of physical or spiritual care.

Crimson Moon recommends:

Rev. Anthony Calandro II is a Spiritual Counselor and Massage Therapist. If you are concerned with emotional, spiritual or physical balance, contact Anthony at 727-712-9788 or email at Kaula@worldnet.att.net.

Dr. Sara Shui Acupuncturist 727-507-8555, 13501 Icot Blvd., Suite 110, Clearwater. email:  hua52@aol.com  www.acuandphy.com

Shannon's Corner

Hello everyone,   We appreciate your patience as we bring more products for you to our web site daily.  

In addition to my blogs, I am also setting up a couple of  forums. Take look and join in:  http://crimsonmoon.com/forum/

I will have more to share in our next issue as I am spending a geat deal of time getting our products on the web and in the process of closing our storefront by the end of July.

Stay cool!

Look forward to hearing from you... http://360.yahoo.com/celticspirit117 http://celticspirit117.blogspot.com  

Taking Confusing out of Diffusing 

There are a number of ways to scent your room or house for pleasure or well being.

Suggestions to Fragrance your home, office or car inexpensively and without use of electricity.  Use an essential oil blended with a carrier oil*  or water in one of the following devices which are suitable for any essential oil of your choice: 

 Lamp Rings – are usually made of metal or ceramic and are place on a light bulb and filled with a small amount of oil.

 Tea Light Diffusers - these are made from fire resistant materials such as metal, ceramic, pottery, glass or stone with a tea lite candle under a bowl filled with water and a few drops of oil.

 Passive Diffusers such as ceramic figures, discs, or natural potpourri have oil on them and it disperses in the air.  For a sleep aid and minor congestions issues use oils on cotton balls, tissues, a handkerchief, on a pillow case.

v     Carrier Oils  - Usually sweet almond or grape seed are cold pressed from the plant, typically the seed and is base oil used with essential oils.  There are other carrier oils used based on the use.  Some are for sensitive skin, conditioning, softening, or anti-inflammatory, tissue normalizing, antiseptics, and massage.

The upfront cost for the next selection is more but the products are economical and efficient.  These items are available with a select number of fragrances based on the manufacturer.

 Reed Diffusers – Reeds of placed in a glass bottle of essential oil fragrance and the oil diffused as it feeds of the bamboo reeds.

 Fragrance Lamps – A glass decorative container is filled with an alcohol based fragrance and  the wick is lit for a few seconds then extinguished and the liquid continues diffusing for desired time usually 20 minutes to fill a large area of a home. 

 Electric Fan - Add a few drops of essential oil or aromatherapy blend on the replaceable pad, plugs into any 110 volt wall outlet.  A breeze carries the aroma throughout the room.  There are also Car diffusers that plug into car lighters that use replaceable pads.

 Nebulizing Diffuser – Great product for practioners and as well as individuals.  There is a variety of sizes 200 sq ft to 900 sq ft. and options (like a timer, settings.) This type of diffuser uses therapeutic grade essential oils.

 Diffusers are used by aromatherapists, massage therapists, spas, healing arts practitioners and individuals.

 “Several different devises are used to fill the air space of a room with essential oils to maximize the therapeutic benefits of inhalation.  Some use heat as a means of "evaporating" the essential oils, which spreads the essential oil vapor throughout the room.

Candle diffusers and ceramic or brass rings placed on light bulbs are commonly used. These types of apparatus are sufficient for environmental fragrancing.

 Other diffusers consist of an electronically powered air pump and glass nebulizer which micro-ionizes the volatile oil allowing for the most efficient form of inhalation treatment, as well as fragrancing the room.  Excerpt taken from article by © 1998 National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA).   

We hope this information helps you to make a choice when wanting to fragrance home, office or car. Crimson Moon carries diffusers and essential oils you can find under aromatherapy and others by special order.More than just diffusing fragrance in an area there are many therapeutic uses for essential ils.  If you have questions you can go to our Community Forum and “Ask Shannon” at   

 http://www.crimsonmoon.com/forum/index.php/board,2.0.html

Featured Products

   Edgar Cayce Products

 Chakra Essential Oils 

 Alexandria Fragrance Lamp w/free Fragrance

Essential Oil Reed Diffusers

Desk Pendulums

New Designs! Laini's Fairies & Angels

Beautiful New Greeting Cards

RhythmTonics™ 7 Pack CD's

We have an awesome collection of a Davinci code, Mary Magdalene, and the Templar books and the Judas Gospels

FEATURED BOOK

RULING YOUR WORLD: Ancient Strategies For Modern Life

by Mipham, Sakyong

Handsome and hip, Tibetan lama Sakyong Mipham is the director of Shambhala International, a global network of meditation and retreat centers. In his second book, he shares ancient teachings on how to take charge of your life, and makes them accessible to a Western audience. These teachings are based on four mythical creatures (tiger, lion, garuda, dragon) that exemplify powers we all have within us, but rarely connect with. These valuable qualities are the essential tools of a confident warrior and a strong, benevolent ruler. This is The Art of War for the 21st century.

ISBN: 0767920651 10/05

Hardback $22.95

Paper $12.95  0767920805    Order either book on line for 10% discount http://www.crimsonmoon.com/home.php?cat=39

STORE WIDE 

Merchandise

20% to 50% and More

 New Mark Downs!

Display Sale-Book & Jewelry

 Cases and more  

After 10+ years of serving the Tampa Bay area with books, gifts and classes for conscious living, Crimson Moon is closing their storefront.  We are moving to the web and will be doing  local area festivals and holistic shows with unique art and gifts.

 We are humbled by the support we have received over the years and look forward to continuing to be of service with the web, special orders and local venues.  We are making arrangements to have a local pick up location on Main Street at This Old Place at 5th and Main for special orders.

Shannon is committed to sharing with those of you interested in natural wellness modalities and the healing and wellness use of aromatherapy.  Shannon is also helpful with books and music selection.  

David will be available trough email to answer your questions and be a contributor to our online newsletter. 

 If you would like to continue to receive Newsletters and show schedule please email or call us with any email or address changes.  

Crimson Moon  will maintain their phone number 727-725-9977, email  crimsonmoonbks@aol.com  and our web www.crimsonmoon.com.  Register on line and Use Coupon No. 1000 for a 10% disocunt on your 1st web order. .

Blessings,   Crimson Moon Owners and Staff  

Readings available

 Saturday s11:30 TO 5:00

by appointment or walk-in

call 727-725-9977

Astrology Charts & Reports

CRIMSON MOON  Angels to Zen

    Crimson Moon Books and More                          327 Main Street, Safety Harbor, FL 34695  727-725-9977        www.crimsonmoon.com  Crimsonbks @aol.com

Sherrie, Shannon & Staff at the Moon