#navaho pattern

[summerfyre]

Destruction and regeneration motifs in psychosis

Healing in myth and ritual

The patterns of healing ceremonial seem surprisingly widespread. In the early 1970s I was invited on several occasions to be consultant to a newly established psychiatric facility for the Navaho reservation, the dates being carefully designed to coincide with Native American ceremonials. It was, of course, a great delight to me to have this privilege of attending rituals that were free of the self-consciousness marking the more popular ones that were overrun by tourists, but one of them held a surprise that left a deep impression on me.

Hastily painted signs on cardboard pointed the turns and roads across the prairie to this "Fire Dance," more precisely known as Mountain Way. It was night and cold, and the ground was snow- covered as we entered the immense "Circle of Boughs" through its opening on the east. A throng of a thousand or more were standing clustered around small fires, members of clan and neighborhood, all assembled here to participate in the healing process of a young woman patient; she was in the eight-sided hogan over on the other side, seated on a sand-painting and surrounded by a group of chanters and the medicine man. Now an impressive cone of upright cedar trunks was sending its flames leaping up toward the starry sky and lighting up the faces all around. Hour by hour through the night the troupe of dancers circled around the central fire. First, they carried little flaming sticks portraying the element fire; second graceful lattices of feathers repre¬ senting air; then a vessel for the element water; finally a plant was made to bloom as a representation of the wondrously life-giving powers of the earth. The songs accompanying the dances told of the stages of creation, characterized by these four elements representing the four levels ascended by the first beings, from the lowest underworld up to the present world, as narrated in the emergence mvth. Tt was typical, I was told, for Navaho healing rituals to reenact creation; to be ill was to be out of tune with the world, and the cure was then to put the patient back to the beginnings of time and so to experience the creation of the world and establish the right relation to it.

One minor consequence of this experience was my taking the account of this ceremonial to the staff of the Agnew Project, our experimental study of the treatment of acute "psychosis" with and without medication. I was struck by the contrast between the picture of a healing process in the midst of a participating neighborhood community, all involved in the procedures, and that other picture of hospital wards where patients were all too often left to their own devices while the medication did the work. The staff seized upon the concept and devised a "vigil" in a specially designed room with constant attendance upon a single patient, for a few days, by a couple, a man and a woman, for each eight-hour shift to encourage going down into the ultimate depths of the psychic process, encouraging regression to mother, breast, and even the womb. However, that is not the story I intend to dwell upon.

What excited me far more profoundly was the content of this myth and ritual process enacted as a healing, because for twenty years I had been observing this creation motif in persons undergoing "psychotic" visionary states as a major element in their self-healing. I had been finding this "return to the beginnings" to have two concurrent aspects: a regression to childhood, infancy, or the womb, moving hand in hand 55with the return to Eden and the beginnings of time, even to the chaos before it, frequently accompanied by imagery of the final Armageddon and world destruction. I will briefly narrate a few of the more colorful examples (1949-61):

A young male: He was in the Garden of Eden as Adam with his female psychiatrist as Eve, with David as their son. "The Garden of Eden will live forever!" he exclaimed. Hell took over Eden from Adam, Eve, and Christ, the four being depicted as a cross in a circle. "The War of the Kings will be the end," those of the north, east, south, and west; he as hero would prevent this and stop the Communists from blowing up the world. A young male: Time for him was going backward, represented in diagramatic form as a clock with the sun at the center and the quarter-hours as the four cardinal directions, but in reverse. His task was to save the world from destruction in the war between Communism and Catholicism. A young woman: Her task was to go back to the beginnings of creation and to repeat it all from the start, and to go through the whole process of evolution step by step. She saw it in the pri¬ mordial sea with its monsters, then on land with its reptiles, and later among the primitives with their rituals. At the same time she had to return similarly to her own birth and repeat the stages of her growth up to the present, but without error, thus having to do it all over if she made a fault. The Devil was trying to destroy the world with radioactive substances and Christ was opposing him to save it, all in the form of the conflict between Communism and Christianity.  A young woman: She had visions of the time of creation and early evolution, seeing the first primitive peoples migrating across the continents and British Isles and Channel. She felt like a little girl. The world was divided in a power struggle between Communism and Democracy. The Bay Area was to go through a cataclysm in which it would drop amid fire and flood to become a New Hell, while San Francisco would become a New Bethlehem, a new heavenly city like the New Jerusalem. A young woman: For her all the people had died save three women and one man. She found herself in the Garden of Eden as Mother Eve, and this was the beginning of creation; she expected everyone to be "going around as primitives, all naked." Time stood still; her watch was frozen as solid gold. She was returning to the state of a young girl. She was also a divine creatrix, creating three stars and the moon, and peopling them. She felt herself to be the whole universe, as she was fashioning worlds and peopling them. She was expecting an invasion from the Communists. A young woman: She knew herself to be Eve the temptress, returning to the primitive emotions and ways of the Garden of Eden at the beginning of the world. She also saw the world turning inside-out, so that which had been hidden was now out in the open. Battle lines were drawn up of the struggle of Communism against Christianity, representing Evil against the Good.

So regularly were these themes occurring that one might wonder whether in some way I was influencing them. I can only comment that no one was more surprised than I to hear these visions, and that I had in those years no knowledge of the mythic background behind the imagery in "psychotic" episodes. Only after six years of this work did I learn of the myth and ritual parallels that I will recount.

I was deeply grateful when I found Mircea Eliade's profound study of such motifs in his book. The Myth of the Eternal Return, in which, at last, I could recognize the myth-and-ritual parallels to what I had been observing. For here, in the context of a scrutiny of the qualities of time as they are experienced in different cultural levels from the primitive to the sophisticated, he outlined the program of the New Year Festivals of the earliest urban civilizations of the Near East for the renewal of sacral kings and their kingdoms annually. In these rites the main features that I will select and briefly name are the same as in the visions of the "psychotic" persons just quoted:

The world center is established as a transformative locus; in it a symbolic death occurs; time returns to the beginnings and the world reverts to chaos and is regenerated; a cosmic combat is enacted between the powers of light and darkness or of order and disorder.

That these rites concerned the order of governments and their ruling figures struck me, and seemed to throw light on the question of why in their "psychotic" visions persons seemed to be fully as occupied with issues of political ideologies as with those of their own personal emotional life.

Now, however, I want to deal with the question, why the motif of the return to the beginnings is widely prevalent in processes of healing rites and self-healing visionary states. How are we to understand the function of this retrogression to the starting point?

As Eliade saw it, the key to the question lies in the perception of the nature of time. Archaic societies found meaning and a sense of reality only in actions established by the (first ancestral heroesjin the "time of origins"; all other actions not so prescribed lacked this sanctification. Time for these peoples was circular and in the cycle of the year all random and profane actions accumulated to the point of a contami¬ nation of the world, that is, the culture, comparable to the piling up of sin. Thus it was felt necessary at the end of each annual cycle to rejuvenate the world in ceremonial as a veritable purification. For those societies "life cannot be repaired, it can only be re-created by a return to sources. And the 'source of sources' is the prodigious outpouring of energy, life and fecundity that occurred at the Creation of the World."

In the ritual expression of this return, sacred space was established, designated as the Center of the world, and so was sacred time, desig¬ nated as that of the beginnings, both set apart distinctly from profane space and time. Living in cyclic time in which deviations from the archetypal models were given no value, the status of reality was granted only to what conformed to the myths of origins and not to human history: such cultures were nonhistorical. With the cataclysmic changes brought about by the urban revolution of the Bronze Age, for a few centuries the sacral kings were considered identical with the founding gods and heroes of myth, and reality was still defined by myth. As the sense of the onward flow of historical time began to prevail, however, so did the desanctification of the kingship and of the tradition-bound order of society.

In a book written two decades later. Myth and Reality; Eliade went  over the same ground but with an extended perspective on the ritual return to the beginnings. In the review of a large number of instances of this practice in archaic societies, he stressed the point that any creative act tended to require that the myth of creation be invoked; innovations could in this way be made acceptable as part of reality or could be charged with creative energy. An example is childbirth:

 When a child is bom among the Osages, a man who had talked with the gods is summoned. ... He recites the history of the creation of the Universe and the terrestrial animals to the newborn infant. Not until this has been done is the baby given the breast. Later, when he wants to drink water [he] is called in again. Once again he recites the Creation, ending with the origin of Water. When the child is old enough to eat solid food ... [he] comes once more and again recites the creation, this time also relating the origin of grains and other foods.

Eliade's impression of the sense of such rites was that the moment of creation of the world was considered a “strong time," charged with tremendous power and that ritual time, being identical to that moment, would share in its creative dynamic. This line of thought led him to the conclusion that the healing rituals of archaic societies were founded on these beliefs in a supercharge of energy drawn from the creation:

There were many applications of the Polynesian cosmogonic myth, especially healing. It goes as follows:  In the beginning there were only the Waters and Darkness. Io the Supreme God, separated the waters by the power of thought and of his words, and created the Sky and Earth. He said: "Let the waters be separated, let the Heavens be formed. Let the earth be. . . . These are creative words, charged with sacred power." They are repeated during the rite for making a sterile womb fertile, or for curing the body and mind, or for death, or for war.... "The words by which Io caused light to shine in the darkness are used in rituals for cheering a gloomy and despondent heart, the feeble aged, the decrepit . . . [things], affecting man to despair in times of adverse war."

 A fine example of such healing rites is found among the Bhils, an Indo- Tibetan people:

The magician "purifies" the space beside the patient's bed and draws a mandol with com flour . . . until the patient is completely cured_But the mandala is primarily an imago-mundi; it represents the cosmos in nature.... Its construction is equivalent to a magical re-creation of the world. Hence when the Bhil magician draws a mandol ... he is repeating the cosmogony. . . . The operation certainly has a therapeutic purpose. Made symbolically contem- pory with the Creation of the World, the patient is immersed in the primordial fullness of life; he is penetrated by gigantic forces that, in illo tempore, make the Creation possible."

If among the "psychotic" visions of today, we take the concept of the supercharge of creative energy as a guide to the meaning of the return to the beginnings, I find that it doesn't quite fit. Granted that, with the veritable explosion of highly charged myth-making, the activation of all these archetypes is attended by an energy that altogether overwhelms the ego, still the purpose of the creation motif does not seem to be that. Rather, what we are told by persons having these visions is that they return to creation in order to start over again from the very first fashioning of the world, and to repeat the entire evolutionary development that followed, hand in hand with a review of one's own personal history since birth. This reenactment of one's life appears to be intended by nature as its precious gift of an opportunity to relive those early years in order to right the wrongs that had occurred, to heal the hurts and disentangle the distortions of the early development of the self.

In these visions the frequent allusions to the sight of peoples of the earliest times migrating to their various continents seem to refer to early phases of the development of consciousness. The standpoint of the ideation is modem, within an evolutionary framework of a cultural level that has a sense of history, where time is not circular but linear, where history is not static but changing, and where the person is no longer entrapped in custom but struggles to emerge out of the collectivity into true individuality.

In reviewing these practices of healing and self-healing, it has become evident that the psyche reaches for cure by reviewing and reenacting its past, its ultimate past to the beginning of its evolution. This may answer a question that might well have been on the mind of the reader: Why has so much attention been devoted to the history of myth and ritual in this chapter and the last two? The gradual differ¬ entiation of the Logos and Eros modes and of individuality were accomplished in cultural forms after being imaged first in visionary experience and then in myth and ritual expression. Here we must remind ourselves that in all the stepwise evolution of organisms it is recognized that in each single one the entire past of its species is repeated, and thus ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. The psychic aspect of the human organism is no exception. The visionary images of the creation and development of races are a vivid manifestation of this very recapitulation. If a well-endowed psyche is going to differentiate its various aptitudes and functions to grow into its wholeness, it must undergo that step-by-step progress from the beginning point toward bringing it all into consciousness. Usually it happens autonomously on an unconscious level, but in procedures such as dream work or in visionary experience it comes to conscious recognition.

Another element in the "psychotic" visions is rich in meaning: accompanying the creation theme is the image of political parties in conflict, having parallels in the motif of the cosmic combat in ancient rituals. Here let me point again to the tremendous stress upon concerns of social and religious reform and the urgent call to save the world from destruction by evil forces, all outweighing the more personal trials of one's own emotional development. One gets the impression of a great supercharge of energy in the feelings of messianic calling on the world stage. In my puzzlement over the great predominance of this motif in the visions I found the work of Wallace and of Lantemari to be most illuminating.

Wallace made an important contribution in his formulation of the distressing turmoils of acculturation, when societies tend to disin¬ tegrate under the impact of cultures of higher-level complexity, but are reconstructed by " revitalization movements" initiated by prophets. In their psychosis-like "paranoid hallucinations," as he calls them, these seers are overwhelmed with visions of the end of the world and of journeys into the heavens, and from these they provide their societies with new myths and cults around which the societies reorganize. Lantemari13 similarly made extensive studies of new religions in cul¬ tures oppressed by colonialist intrusion and dominance; in a large sample of such movements he found regularities in the program of prophetic visions and in the resulting cultic myth and ceremonial (see note 8 in chapter 3).

An example of the motif of world regeneration is the prophetic vision of an Amerindian, a Paiute living a century ago in the territory now at the border of California and Nevada:

On a mountainside he beheld the world opening up a huge chasm and totally collapsing into it (an alternate account said it rolled up like a carpet). For days nothing and no one existed, but on the third day the world was recreated anew, now as a paradise in which the Native Americans dwelt in the company of their deceased ancestors and the Great Spirit himself. No white people were granted the privilege of sharing this happy land, yet their much-coveted implements were there for the use of all present!

This revelation gave rise to the famous Ghost Dance to dramatize and reenact it, a ceremony that spread rapidly from coast to coast among numerous tribes as an expression of their desperate hope for survival in the new conditions of white dominance.

One could cite many instances of native American prophetic visions: Handsome Lake of the Iroquois, Black Elk of the Sioux, John Wilson and his influence on the Native American Church, and many more.

In India, Fuchs has made an investigation of messianic movements and found a common sequence of motifs that echoed the ones we are enumerating here. When discontent with a society's condition reaches a certain pitch, the prevalence of hysterical symptoms rises and the people turn to drugs and alcohol. A visionary figure gathers a following and starts a cult demanding absolute faith and obedience; he orders them to change their lifestyle and destroy their property. He issues a call to revolt against the ruling authority and makes moves to restore the traditional culture-forms, engendering a myth promising a renewal of the world beginning with a catastrophe and ending with the establishment of an earthly paradise and a new golden age. As with the Native Americans, the desired material goods of the alien dominant culture are granted to the renewed society.

Prophetic and messianic visions occurring all over the world thus show in their image sequences remarkable similarities to one another and to the "psychotic" visions of today, and in all these the theme of world destruction and regeneration occurs with considerable consis¬ tency. To me this suggests that the psychic healing process with its regular mythic structure does its work in two principal areas: on one side there is self-healing in the individual person's renewal process, and on the other, cultural healing in the visionary work of the prophet. In both areas the formation of a new world-image lies at the heart of the process.

Another source of visionary image-sequences conforming to this model is the near-death experiences that Kenneth Ring has studied and formulated.15 In episodes of brief clinical death he has observed pro¬ phetic visions of the end of the world, in which great cataclysms of destruction lead over into its transformation into a new age of peace and brotherhood.16 In a recent article he has come to the conclusion that such glimpses into a near future are best taken as symbolic renderings of psychic changes in world-image rather than as future events. It is a timely comment, especially since the prophecies generally pointed to the year 1988 for the crisis! I am tempted to think that the present collective world-image might be in process of change this year, from one split into two halves hostile to each other and toward one that is beginning to loosen this frozen opposition, and allow a modicum of peaceable interchange.

Still another source of such image-sequences is one that contrasts with the role of prophets, who are motivated by their strong sense of responsibility for the welfare of their people and reform of their culture. From Jung's painstaking research into the visionary work of the Nature philosophers of the late medieval and Renaissance eras,17 one gets the impression of solitaries working in seclusion intensively in their al¬ chemical laboratories on procedures that were somewhat secret because of the dangers of promoting their highly heretical doctrines. The adepts' efforts were dedicated to exploring new views of the nature of matter, on one hand as chemistry and on the other as a vehicle for spiritual processes: the procedures were revealed to them in visions and led to a fresh realization of nature's transformative principle. These discoveries were often quite shaking when they led into a return to the "horrible darkness" of the primordial chaos attended by dread and onsets of depression, in turn giving rise to bright visions of the Creation reenacted in their substances.18 From these procedures were produced elixirs called medicina athanasiou and pharmacon athanasiou—medicine and drug of immortality—with healing properties. Not sharing the prophets' urge to advocate publicly their new worldview and ethic, or change their society with new cult forms, the alchemists tended to maintain the stance of practicing the occult.

In China's history there are clear expressions of the value of "returning to the root," that is, the origins.19 The Way of Nature was extolled as the source of the well-being of the world, of society, and of the individual. The Tao operates by constantly reverting back to the beginnings, to the primordial void and the earliest forms of societal life; in meditation one reverts in this same manner not only to the void but to the "womb breathing" of one's earliest life, and thus to the openly receptive and allowing state of mind in the infant. In this way the king fulfills his function best if he does not govern actively but gives his attention entirely to his own relation to the Tao in sagely quietude. In this Chinese frame of thought, time retains its cyclic quality in the alternating ascent and descent of the virtues endowed by Heaven in the ongoing process of creation. History takes on a somewhat negative cast by the accumulation of profane innovations in the ways of managing society; those ways were errors that could be set right by a constant returning to the experience of the void at the beginning of time and to the innocence of the earliest societies, thus to keep starting afresh in renewed attunement to the Tao.

I want to turn now to the work of one more person wrestling with this question of the healing capabilities of undoing time-consciousness. In his book Space, Time and Medicine, Larry Dossey gives an account of a discovery in his medical practice: patients could find their way to self- healing by freeing themselves from the tyranny of the flow of linear time. He argues that brain physiology itself can be changed by mental states to the extent that pain perception may be altered; "pain, an inward index of health, is tied to the time sense in our consciousness." All the current relaxation techniques can be seen, in his view, as aiming to do this work of "invoking a specific psychological mode with regard to time perception."The vivid experience of a nonflowing time can work for health as the exact counterpart of our ability "to destroy ourselves through the creation of illness by perceiving time in a linear, one-way flow"; especially, of course, is this the devastating effect of pressured time (as for instance in the well-known cardiac Type A personalities). The ultimate meaning of health and disease, he feels, can only be comprehended through a view in which the definitions of time, space, and matter are aligned with those of modem physics.

Dossey's discussion of these definitions in the new sciences pro¬ ceeds to make such an alignment, reviewing the salient features in the work of the many pioneers whose names are familiar to those in the transpersonal arena. Among these scientists I wish to point out a few that pertain especially to this investigation of the overhauling of world¬ view and world-image by means of a return to chaos and the begin¬ nings. In Prigogine's theory of dissipative structures,24 order is seen to arise out of chaos, and even has to; such structures can be seen to operate at all levels in nature from the microscopic to the social and cultural, a view thoroughly worked out by Erich Jantsch. One of the formulations is that perturbations in the ordinary flux of all living forms may reach such proportions as to allow an escape into higher levels of complexity, and on this point Ferguson makes a cogent comment bearing on worldviews:

 At first the idea of creating a new order by perturbation seems outrageous, like shaking up a box of words and pouring out a sentence. . . . We know that stress often forces suddenly new solutions; that crisis often alerts us to opportunity; that creative process requires chaos before form emerges; that individuals are often strengthened by suffering and conflict.

In this glance at the new style of consciousness in the sciences, Dossey creates a considerable perturbation on his own part in the statement that the space-time view of health and disease recommended for good therapy "tells us that a vital part of the goal of every therapist is to help the sick person toward a reordering of his world-view," recognizing himself as a "process in space-time related to all other phenomena in the universe in an all-embracing oneness, not an isolated entity .. . adrift in flowing time."

Nor is the mythic mode any stranger to the scientific thought of today. Niels Bohr is quoted in this same general context of the bewildering challenges to researchers when their experimental data and their mathematics indicate baffling and paradoxical connections that defy any common sense and any expression in ordinary language. On this Niels Bohr says that "when it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry. . . . Quantum theory . . . provides us with a striking illustration of the fact that we can fully understand a connection though we can only speak of it in images and parables." He adds, "The - hallmark of modem science is that it has outrun common sense . .. and run headlong into our metaphorical, poetic self, and some part of our self that mythologizes."

In the field of therapy of all kinds, from technological medicine to the psychotherapies, we have a good deal to learn from Taoism. This doctrine's mode of being in the world, its way of life and its ethic, based as they are on a constant return to the beginnings, have as their natural expression nature's own mode, which is wu-wei, that is, a species of action that does not force effects but allows them. This receptive principle permits one to sustain a clear realism because it allows one to see things as they actually are, rather than as one might prefer them to be according to one's own will. Our Western medical stance of forcing change to correct the accidents of disease by active interventions exacts a price: the loss of the fundamental guidelines of the older medicine, the intent to respect and cooperate with the vis mediatrix naturae, the healing power of nature. Chinese traditional medicine goes about it differently, helping to improve the entire state of the person by balancing the energies whose deviations have allowed the occurrence of the disease.

To reach an attunement to nature's own way of healing, however, it is necessary to overhaul the fundamental worldview that determines the outlook and attitude that create the need to do violence to the organism in our manner of treatment—a manner that reflects the spirit of regarding disease as doing violence in equal measure such that we feel required to defeat and obliterate it.

One of the clearest examples of this predominant medical attitude is the one under discussion, the treatment of the acute "psychotic" episodes, holding the assumption that psychic events are ephemeral and vague as well as secondary spin-offs.

Biases like these filter out from the citadels of the medical clinics and laboratories to common people and families. In parents of psychotic offspring, one frequently finds the automatic assumption at work in the attitude toward the identified patient, that the entire trouble began with his or her faulty constitution. This occurs even in the face of volumes of clinical studies on the role of the family system in the etiology of psychosis.

To outgrow these biases far enough to recognize the self-healing elements in the psyche, even in the midst of the "psychotic" visionary states, it is not enough merely to enlarge one's information or to correct one's view by rethinking the question. For the consequences of such a change of viewpoint expand out to involve the entire fabric of one's understanding of human nature and the world, becoming too drastic an overturning of the foundations underlying one's view of the nature of reality to be comfortable. Even the challenge to put the psyche and its emotions on an equal footing with the body chemistry seems to be asking a bit too much.

I do not at all intend to imply that the persons undergoing a "psychosis" with world destruction and regeneration imagery emerge from their visions with a sophisticated new view of the nature of reality and time and space. They might. But what is revolutionary and pro¬ phetic in their cry for change is the constantly recurring picture of a world suffused with human-hearted caring, tolerance, and lovingness. That worldview is, after all, what is hoped for in the new consciousness recently stirring in our culture.

On the other hand, in choosing staff members for Diabasis, to accommodate "psychotic" visionary turmoils of this kind, we looked for people who appreciated such upheavals of worldview and who mani- tested the capacity for this kind of caring and loving. In such a sub¬ culture the tone of the client s visions would not fall on deaf ears, but would be met in a congenial setting with recognition of their import, thus to bring them into conscious living.

The undertaking of writing a book such as Dossey's on questions of healing, demonstrates very vividly the all-inclusive complexity of the current changes in worldview. Once one is willing to take a truly fresh and open look into this train of thought, soon a whole new experience of the nature of reality takes over; one is wandering in the terrain of a new physics, a new biology and biochemistry, a new neurology, and a new approach to medical treatment. These compose the province of the trans¬ personal consciousness with its many well-known scientific pioneers who are opening up this new understanding of the nature of reality.

Probing into the ultimate issues that invite this overhauling of worldview sets in motion a chain reaction involving basic psychic processes. This effort tends to activate the archetypal motifs we have been reviewing, dissolving one's old world-image and regenerating a new one that can meet the challenge to hold the elements of knowledge together in a new integration. In these present-day changes, the world "cannot be repaired, only recreated," to use Eliade's expression. If this happens to be felt as a comfortable rearrangement of one's thoughts, then the overhauling is probably not happening yet. It is far from a smooth reconsideration of one's intellectual outlook, but rather is a turbulent overturning of one's cherished, basic commonsense notion of the nature of things.

Einstein offered testimony to the anguish of these tribulations of mind:

I must confess at the very beginning when the Special Theory of Relativity began to germinate in me, I was visited by all sorts of nervous conflicts. When young I used to go away for weeks in a state of confusion, as one who at that time had yet to overcome the state of stupefaction in his first encounter with such questions.

An even more eloquent sketch of these trials is made by the physicist Pascua Jordan: in Dossey's paraphrase of it, he "described the agony of the physicists in the early years of the century, when the world of physics was convulsing. He stated that it was as if the earth itself had started trembling, and one did not know when it might completely disappear from under one's feet."

A beautifully poetic account of an experience of the upheaval of world-image, with a somewhat romantic coloring, is rendered by Herman Hesse in his late youth. In his Incipit Vita Nuova he writes of a “point of transformation/' a “place of terror and darkness":

Shivering, I passed among the ruins of the world of my youth, over shattered thoughts . . . and everything I looked at dissolved into dust and ceased to live. . . . Everything that was still sacred and unravished and harmonious within me had lost its eyes and voice.... [A] spiritual derelict, I awoke to awareness of my misery . . . and like a hunted criminal who leaves his house at night, without taking leave and without closing the doors behind him. I departed from all the habits of my past. . . . My head reeled as I looked down into the abyss and found no end.

As the change came he “felt a swirling flood of gratitude, peace, and light and well-being" and then

 the position and recurrence of the heavenly bodies entered into a foreordained pact of friendship with my innermost life, and the eternal established a clear and soothing bond between its laws and something within me. I felt that in my life resurrected from the desert a golden foundation had been laid, a power and a law . . . everything old and new within me would forever after be ordered in noble crystalline forms and conclude beneficial alliances with all the things and wonders of the world. Incipit vita nuova. I became a new man.

—John Weir Perry en "Trials of the visionary mind"

[nursingwriter]

Health Assessment -- Older Adult SBAR TEMPLATE The SBAR (Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation) technique provides a framework for communication between members of the health care team. Although this technique was original developed to target a patient-centered condition, the NNLC will implement this technique to communicate and address critical issues to support immediate attention and action by the committee. This SBAR tool was developed by Kaiser Permanente. Situation: The patient is a 75-year-old Navaho woman who lives with her family on the reservation. She has not ever been hospitalized, has not had any major or minor surgery, and does get annual check-ups and immunizations. She presents today with complaints of joint pains in her hands that are keeping her from working on the handicrafts that she makes to supplement her income. B Physical Exam Nutritional / Metabolic: The patient does not take any supplements and reports that she does not consume much meat, other than lamb during the season and chicken all year long. Her salt consumption is low and she does not eat many packages snacks. She drinks about six glasses of water each day and makes "sun tea" as a frequent beverage. The patient has remarkably retained most of her own teeth, and says that chewing is not difficult, but swallowing sometimes gives her problems. She reports that her skin feels dry. Elimination: The patient reports that she does not have difficulty with bowl elimination. She believes her diet and her regular walking about in the morning and evening help keep her regular. Lately, she reports that she has some issues with bladder control, but does not experience pain or discomfort. (Lab reports show very low white blood count in the urine and no infection.) Activity exercise: The patient maintains a small garden and helps to tends sheep and chickens. She shops in town about twice each month, and says she has no trouble getting around, other than occasional stiffness. Cognitive-perceptual: The patient has worn glasses since she turned 40. She reports that her hearing is less acute than when she was younger, but that she gets by. She has thought about getting a hearing aid. The patient reads the nation's paper and could name several events that she had watched on the news. Self-perception / self-concept: The patient seems to have a positive self-image, is proud of her family and of the fact that she can still take care of herself. She still chops firewood, preserves food, and sews. Role relationship: She is interested in the activities of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She organizes traditional dance lessons and helps plan cultural events. She would like to have more income, and hopes that some money from the government for restitution (this was in the paper) will help her and the tribe. Sexual reproductive: The patient said in no uncertain terms that she had no interest in this area. Coping-stress tolerance: The patients said that the most stressful things in her life have to do with the difficulties of the young people in the tribe. She worries about drugs, alcohol, and lack of opportunity. The patient said that she relieves her stress by working hard and talking to her daughters and at tribal council. Value-belief pattern: Her religion is a strong support to her, and she says she gets along. A Assessment -- Vitals Blood pressure -- 120 / 80 Pulse -- 86 Respiration -- 20 Temperature - 96.8 degrees Breathing was clear, no murmurs detected, palpation did not reveal any masses or irregularities. R Recommendation The patient appears quite healthy for her age. Some dietary changes were recommended to ease the arthritis in her hands, including consumption of natural anti-inflammatory supplements (or the native equivalent). The patient was urged to increase her fluid intake to 8 to 10 glasses / day, and encouraged to take a probiotic every morning to help relieve some of the urinary track issues she is experiencing. When asked if she would consider being fitted for a hearing aid, the patient said that she would -- as it might be useful when she went to tribal council meetings or in to town. She says she will look into getting financial support to purchase the hearing aid. While in the office, the patient agreed to schedule a mammogram and a Pap smear. NNLC reviewed on (date) Recommendations were made on:(date) Was this forwarded to the Chief Nurse? Yes; No. If so, on what date: .   https://www.paperdue.com/customer/paper/sbar-assessment-of-older-adults-192284#:~:text=Logout-,SBARAssessmentofOlderAdults,-Length3pages Read the full article

[ruah-kibriya]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: NWT BOXED TWISTED X 9M WASHABLE WOMENS HOOEY LACED SHOES, NAVAHO-STYLE PATTERN.

[ecwt-tim]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Bongo Distressed Jean Vest.

[dressagecow]

The Most Pathetic Excuse for a Forelock, Ever

[saytoons]

I created this Southwestern Native Pattern Face Masktoday using Repper and an old pattern I made years ago. The result was color tweaked in Photoshop and this is the result-available on Cafepress!

[sparklytastemakerwitch]

The ancient fabric that no one knows how to make

In late 18th-Century Europe, a new fashion led to an international scandal. In fact, an entire social class was accused of appearing in public naked.

The culprit was Dhaka muslin, a precious fabric imported from the city of the same name in what is now Bangladesh, then in Bengal. It was not like the muslin of today. Made via an elaborate, 16-step process with a rare cotton that only grew along the banks of the holy Meghna river, the cloth was considered one of the great treasures of the age. It had a truly global patronage, stretching back thousands of years – deemed worthy of clothing statues of goddesses in ancient Greece, countless emperors from distant lands, and generations of local Mughal royalty.

There were many different types, but the finest were honoured with evocative names conjured up by imperial poets, such as "baft-hawa", literally "woven air". These high-end muslins were said to be as light and soft as the wind. According to one traveller, they were so fluid you could pull a bolt – a length of 300ft, or 91m – through the centre of a ring. Another wrote that you could fit a piece of 60ft, or 18m, into a pocket snuff box.

Dhaka muslin was also more than a little transparent.

While traditionally, these premium fabrics were used to make saris and jamas – tunic-like garments worn by men – in the UK they transformed the style of the aristocracy, extinguishing the highly structured dresses of the Georgian era. Five-foot horizontal waistlines that could barely fit through doorways were out, and delicate, straight-up-and-down "chemise gowns" were in. Not only were these endowed with a racy gauzy quality, they were in the style of what was previously considered underwear.

In one popular satirical print by Isaac Cruikshank, a clique of women appear together in long, brightly coloured muslin dresses, through which you can clearly see their bottoms, nipples and pubic hair. Underneath reads the description, "Parisian Ladies in their Winter Dress for 1800".

Meanwhile in an equally misogynistic comedic excerpt from an English women's monthly magazine, a tailor helps a female client to achieve the latest fashion. "Madame, ’tis done in a moment," he assures her, then instructs her to remove her petticoat, then her pockets, then her corset and finally her sleeves… "‘Tis an easy matter, you see," he explains. "To be dressed in the fashion, you have only to undress."

Still, Dhaka muslin was a hit – with those who could afford it. It was the most expensive fabric of the era, with a retinue of dedicated fans that included the French queen Marie Antoinette, the French empress Joséphine Bonaparte and Jane Austen. But as quickly as this wonder-cloth struck Enlightenment Europe, it vanished.

By the early 20th Century, Dhaka muslin had disappeared from every corner of the globe, with the only surviving examples stashed safely in valuable private collections and museums. The convoluted technique for making it was forgotten, and the only type of cotton that could be used, Gossypium arboreum var. neglecta – locally known as Phuti karpas – abruptly went extinct. How did this happen? And could it be reversed?

A fickle fibre

Dhaka muslin began with plants grown along the banks of the Meghna river, one of three which form the immense Ganges Delta – the largest in the world. Every spring, their maple-like leaves pushed up through the grey, silty soil, and made their journey towards straggly adulthood. Once fully grown, they produced a single daffodil-yellow flower twice a year, which gave way to a snowy floret of cotton fibres.

These were no ordinary fibres. Unlike the long, slender strands produced by its Central American cousin Gossypium hirsutum, which makes up 90% of the world’s cotton today, Phuti karpas produced threads that are stumpy and easily frayed. This might sound like a flaw, but it depends what you’re planning to do with them.

Indeed, the short fibres of the vanished shrub were useless for making cheap cotton cloth using industrial machinery. They were fickle to work with, and they’d snap easily if you tried to twist them into yarn this way. Instead, the local people tamed the rogue threads with a series of ingenious techniques developed over millennia.

What is flannel fabric?

Essentially, flannel fabric simply refers to any cotton, wool, or synthetic fabric that fulfills a few basic criteria:

Softness: Fabric must be incredibly soft to be considered flannel.

Texture: Flannel has either a brushed or unbrushed texture, and both textures are equally iconic.

Material: While many materials can be used to make flannel, not all materials are suitable for this fabric. Silk, for instance, is too fine to be made into flannel, which is supposed to be both soft and insulative.

Flannel in history

It’s believed that the word“flannel” emerged in Wales, but we know for a fact that the term was in common usage in France in the form “flannelle” as early as the 17th century. While flannel was periodically popular among the French and other European peoples throughout the Enlightenment era, interest has waned elsewhere while Welsh flannel use has only increased.

Flannel today

These days, types of flannel are often known by their association with certain Welsh towns or regions. Llanidloes flannel is very different from Newtown flannel, for instance, and Welsh flannel varieties vary significantly from all other European flannel types.

Blanket

Sheet, usually of heavy woolen, or partly woolen, cloth, for use as a shawl, bed covering, or horse covering. The blanketmaking of primitive people is one of the finest remaining examples of early domestic artwork. The blankets of Mysore, India, were famous for their fine, soft texture. The loom of the Native American, though simple in construction, can produce blanket so closely woven as to be waterproof. The Navaho, Zu?i, Hopi, and other Southwestern Native Americans are noted for their distinctive, firmly woven blankets. The Navahos produced beautifully designed blankets characterized by geometrical designs woven with yarns colored with vegetable dyes. During the mid-19th cent. the Navahos began to use yarns imported from Europe, because of their brighter colors. The ceremonial Chilcat blanket of the Tlingit of the Northwest, generally woven with a warp of cedar bark and wool and a weft of goats' hair, was curved and fringed at the lower end. In the 20th cent., the electric blanket, with electric wiring between layers of fabric, gained wide popularity.

How to Properly Use a Bath Mat

Whether you’ve just remodeled your bathroom or you’re looking to spruce up your existing space for the season, accessories like a handsome bath mat, perfectly patterned shower curtains, or the plushest of bath towels will take the room from everyday necessity to serene spa destination. While just as important as the others, the lowly bath mat can get overlooked. But don’t make the mistake of opting for the first white terrycloth style you see. The right bath rug won’t just help you avoid the unpleasant shock of stepping onto bare tile after a shower. It will give your floor—and the whole room—an extra hit of much-needed personality. Here, we’ve gathered bath mats that are soft, absorbent, and beautifully designed. Think geometric prints, cheery stripes, even a cheeky banana-shaped option—plus many more.

First off, everyone had some great suggestions as to why we use bath mats at all. They soak up water, yes, but they also keep us from slipping and smashing our heads through the toilet, and act as a temperature buffer for our toesies between the hot shower and the ice cold floor. Gee, bath mats are pretty swell!

When it came to usage, the general consensus was that this is the wrong way to do it:

Finish shower

Step out onto mat

Grab towel

Then dry off

It leaves the bath mat soggy and wet for whoever showers after you. It also makes you much colder during the drying process.

Most people seemed to agree that this is the right way to do it, though:

Finish shower

Grab towel from inside the shower

Dry off inside the shower

Then step out onto the mat

But you all suggested a few excellent additions, like keeping your towel within arm’s reach of the shower so you don’t have to get cold to grab it, squeegeeing your hair and body to remove excess water before you dry with a towel, keeping the curtain or shower door closed while you dry off to stay warm, drying off from the top down (hair first), and hanging up the mat over the edge of the tub or shower when you’re done so it can dry without looking like a random wet towel on your floor.

What is the Difference Between Fleece and Flannel?

As you already know, the main difference between fleece and flannel is what they are made of. Fleece has synthetic fibers, and flannel features loose cotton threads. But because of their different fibers, these fabrics and finished products have several unique characteristics.

Take a look at this in-depth comparison of key features such as warmth, softness, and sustainability for each type of fabric.

Warmth

Most of the time, fleece has a thicker nap and also provides more warmth than flannel. Now, flannel is quite a cozy and warm fabric in its own right! But in comparison, fleece usually wins the warmth contest.

The exception to this rule is that some high-quality types of flannel contain wool fibers, and these types of flannel provide intense warmth!

What makes fleece so warm? Its many tiny, raised polyester fibers trap heat and hold them in the loose, velvety surface of its pile. If you have ever stuck your hand into your dog’s fur in the middle of winter, you know how all those tiny hairs hold immense warmth against your pet’s skin! Fleece fibers work the same way when you wear them against your skin.

Softness

Fleece is often softer than flannel, but if you have sensitive skin, you may find that its synthetic fibers also have a slightly plasticky feel. Of course, you will find exceptions to this rule, especially in flannel made with silk fibers. This will probably feel much softer than even the softest fleece!

Because both types of material go through a napping process, they both feature an incredibly soft texture on at least one side of the material. Fleece usually has a thicker, deeper pile, while flannel has a faint fuzziness on top of its woven surface.

If you rest your hand on top of the fleece, you feel as if your fingers can sink into the thick surface, at least a little. When you rest your hand on a piece of flannel, you typically feel a cozy fuzziness.

Blankets

Both fleece and flannel make excellent blankets and throws! You can find soft, pretty fleece and flannel blanket in pretty much any color or design you want.

That said, you should probably go with flannel for a baby blanket, as synthetic materials can sometimes cause allergic reactions.

If you plan to sew a blanket, though, you will want to use fleece. Flannel unravels super fast due to its loose weave, making it challenging to cut and sew. Fleece does not unravel when cut because it has a knitted construction with threads looped over each other.

[penhero]

This is an American Indian combination fountain pen and pencil in yellow c. late 1930s, made by the American Pencil Company of Hoboken, New Jersey. Observed examples come in two lengths, with two clip types, and nickel plated trim. The 1937 catalog shows the writing instrument available in four colors with nickel plated trim and a gold plated stainless steel nib retailing for 25 cents. The pyroxylin celluloid cap and barrel are made of a multicolored pattern that emulates Navajo Eye Dazzler fabrics, and were offered in red, blue, green, or yellow versions. The varying length of the instrument appears to be related primarily to the pencil unit installed, as all pens appear to have the same fountain pen front end, cap size and cap threading. The pencil unit is distinguished by either three or four engraved or stamped grip rings, with the unit having four being on the longer writing instrument. They will therefore measure 5 3/8 inches or 5 5/16 inches with the cap on. Clips are stamped INDIAN and are either plain faced with a ball end or will have an elongated, raised triangle design with a flat ball end. The nib is stamped DURIUM 14KT. GOLD PLATED No. 4. #fountainpen #pencollecting #indian #combo #penpencil #dazzler #navaho #artpen #penhero https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch5m5V5PhFl/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[gregmatheny11]

Shopping Ultimately Vibrant City Of Shanghai

When Stanley Davis was 12 he got hooked on comic strips. He especially loved the western comics like Gene Autrey, Roy Rogers and Red Motorcycle rider. One day while enjoying a western comic, his mom came into his room and saw the cover that depicted an Indian chasing a cowboy. She snatched it from Stanley and tore it up telling him hints too violent for him to read. Stanley never forgot that incident.

Purchase or paint a wall mural of a western sight. Frame it with rough boards to depict a "window" around the view. Create a western feel through the utilization of western, southwestern, Native American, or Navaho area location. Use western blankets and throws actually chair or bed. Use two western blankets or throws, and convert them into draperies.

Linens: Be a plethora of colors and patterns. Answer to linens is to think about out for unmatched sets, as they are the best bargains. When really wish to hit the funky trail find a plan of patterns and colors and position the together, be used up on a limb and be creative.

You furthermore try warehouse sales. Sometimes, big furnishing stores lower the prices of items when they're about to phase out a particular model. For people who have a Best vintage furniture store store, place even find good deals in showcases that are oldies but goodies.

Check out eBay's Site Map. This may aid you in tutorials on understanding how to bid, listing items, building a store, and address and shipment challenges. Plus, this page lists the various categories of buyers and sellers that come involved already in the market.

The best interiors have always been those have got evolved period. By being patient when decorating discover fill your home with things you truly love, and dollars by replacing things less often due to dissatisfaction. Taking your time also means that you can wait for pieces to go on sale prior to buying them (see rule #4).

Besides these places, town has many other shopping areas. The cheapest airline connecting to this city implies that people purchase bronze ware, paintings, porcelain items and antiques at Dongtai Right track. This is also the perfect place to accummulate vintage items, ceramics, wood carvings and furniture. It is treasure trove of goods waiting end up being discovered.

[indiastreetantiques]

Looking for the stunning #midcenturymodern #navaho #flatware pattern from #1847rogersbros #internationalsilverco ? We have two sets, mint in boxes, of 25 piece services for 4. #danishmodernsandiego @littleitalysd @best.of.sandiego (at India Street Antiques / Danish Modern San Diego)

[art-now-uk]

Marks in the Sand, Corinna Boughton

Marks in the Sand: oil and mixed media on canvas 78x68in As a landed immigrant in Quebec aged 21, I travelled throughout Canada and eventually when working in a children's home in Vancouver I soon became aware of the plight of the people who are now known as the First Nation. These strong memories stayed with me and later, after returning to England, became an inspiration for the work during my Bachelors Degree... This painting refers to drawings I had seen. 'The labyrinth' design in the painting was a pattern used in the tribal rituals of the Navaho, '...a group of Apache Indians who lived in the vicinity of an abandoned peueblo know as Navahu (Great Fields). The Spanish named them L'Apaches de Navahu. Complex sand paintings and diagrammatic drawings made on the ground with coloured sands depict the mythical songs associated with cures where people are restored to health and are able to 'walk in beauty'. Bancroft Hunt 1997: North American Tribes Drawings in the Sand. Fragile and temporary

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Marks-in-the-Sand/341183/3225726/view

[somecoolitems]

(via "Navaho Vibes Geometric Pattern - Black Brown Yellow" Mini Skirts by taiche | Redbubble)

[marienela]

2 MONCLER 1952

1952 is the year in which Moncler was established in a small village in the Haute Savoie mountains. Fast forward to 2018: Moncler is a global brand with a fast-paced metropolitan appeal.

Stretched between such chronologic pillars, the collection, for both men and women, is a fast-spinning, poptastic recollection of the quintessential Moncler trademarks. The logo and the puffer jacket – Moncler in a nutshell – are protagonists, amplified to get a sense of contemporary pop and visual vibrancy.

Moncler’s status as a trans-generational status symbol plays as an ironic subtext, as the logo gets to giant-sized proportions, immediately attracting attention on puffer jackets in laqué and matte nylon in vitamin colors such as orange, blue, a plethora of reds, intense purple, green.

Otherwise, it’s two tone textures or colorfully graphic mosaic patterns and Navaho motifs on both jackets and capes. A sport attitude defines the whole: outerwear, jumpers, padded scarves. In keeping with the pop spirit, bold patches spell aloud the names of legendary ski-resorts such as Sankt Moritz, Aspen, Gstaad, Zermatt and Megève on T-shirts and sweatshirts. Embossed comic strip appliqué is a nod to the Eighties culture.

2 MONCLER 1952 is available from September 6th in Moncler boutiques, moncler.com and in selective wholesale networks worldwide.

MEN Fall/Winter 2018 Collection

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

2 Moncler 1952 Men F18

WOMEN Fall/Winter 2018 Collection

2 Moncler 1952 Women F18

2 Moncler 1952 Women F18

2 Moncler 1952 Women F18

2 Moncler 1952 Women F18

2 Moncler 1952 Women F18

2 Moncler 1952 Women F18

2 Moncler 1952 Women F18

2 Moncler 1952 Women F18

2 Moncler 1952 Women F18

2 Moncler 1952 Women F18

2 Moncler 1952 Women F18

2 Moncler 1952 Women F18

2 Moncler 1952 Fall/Winter 2018 Collection Now in Stores @moncler @cmmedia 1952 is the year in which Moncler was established in a small village in the Haute Savoie mountains.

[po-te-pottery]

Beautiful and HIstorical Designs I love this book I originally ordered this book from Naturegraph Publishing and have had if for years. I love looking through it repeatedly and have used it for DIY art projects. I recently ordered it for a friend who does quilting and applique, as she was interested in using some Native American designs. She has received it and is highly pleased with it. The paper is heavy and the book is very durable for a paperback. I have considered framing some of the pages and may do it yet. If you are a crafter and like Native American designs, you will find much to inspire you in this book! Go to Amazon

Not what I thought.... I gave this book 3 stars not because it is a bad book......because no where in the description of this book, or in the reviews of it, does it say that this book ONLY contains southwest(and a couple Aztec) native American art. I expected a variety of native American art: Cherokee, Apache, Mohawk, Navaho, etc., not just a 30 page book with 30 pictures of southwest (Pueblo) art. Go to Amazon

Very Pleased This is exactly what I was looking for. I was hesitant about buying this book since I couldn't see inside it. I went on all the reviews by happy customers and bought it. It's exactly what everyone else says it is: Great book! Go to Amazon

Cheesy Such cheesy designs and so few of them Go to Amazon

Kind of interesting. I've scanned a few of the ... Kind of interesting. I've scanned a few of the older designs and was able to transfer them to a beading grid which helped me reproduce them in 11/0 lazy stitch bead work. I will also try it on the loom as well. Go to Amazon

Excellent purchase! This is what I was looking for. The drawings are great and make easy models for tracing these wonderful traditional patterns onto whatever medium you choose. Some I've never seen before but the designs are just great. Wonderful addition to my crafts library. Recommended for anyone! Go to Amazon

Four Stars useful Go to Amazon

will be easy to change to my knitting card templates This has more native american symbols in one place than seen before; will be easy to change to my knitting card templates. GREAT!!! Go to Amazon

Five Stars Perfect! Fast shipping Five Stars Five Stars Four Stars Five Stars Five Stars Five Stars

[bandclandscaping]

Ottawa Commercial Snow Plowing & Removal

Did you know that Ottawa is the coldest Capital city in the world? It is easier to answer that question in February. But keep in mind that winter is what distinguishes us as Canadians. Sometimes it’s a pain, but it also keeps the snakes and alligators out.

We all know that the snow is coming again this year, we just never know when. Whether it’s early or late, short or long, we understand how important it is to have your parking lots, driveways and sidewalks cleared, promptly and without having to pick up the phone.

  Snow Storm? We’re on it!

Accessibility is important for every business. This is especially true in the winter. Getting your customers and potential clients out of the weather quickly and safely is a hallmark of a successful business. As a successful business in the Ottawa/Carleton Region for the past 25+ years, we have prided ourselves in being quick responders to changing weather patterns.

    Snow Plowing, Salting & Sanding

B&C Landscaping and Snow Removal offer time-sensitive show plowing and snow removal services throughout the greater city of Ottawa. Our custom snow management services include snow plowing, sidewalk shoveling, snow relocation, salting and sanding services. You can read some of our client testimonials HERE.

    Our Fleet, Our Team

We have an extensive fleet of combo trucks, front-end loaders, plows, spreaders and dump trucks for snow management and removal from commercial properties. Our team members have been doing snow removal & ice control for multiple seasons, and they go to the wall for our customers.

      When the Snow Flies

When the snow flies, then so do we. We have perfected our process over the years of understanding the local weather patterns and preparing for a “big dump.” Our drivers and de-icing teams are dispatched through our state-of-the-art communications center and coordinated by the owner of the company. That is our commitment to personal service.

      Types of Commercial Properties We Serve

Our commercial snow removal service includes, but is not limited to…

Condominium Corporations

Townhome Developments

Medical & Emergency Clinics

Veterinarian and Animal Emergency Clinics

Corporate Parking Lots

Small & Medium Sized Businesses

Bakeries & Restaurants

Factory Properties

Warehousing and Storage Facilities

Apartment Buildings

Full Size & Strip Malls

Office Buildings

Peace of Mind

When it’s 20 below and the snow is accumulating, making a warm beverage is all the work you want to do. We understand. We don’t mind being outside in the weather, clearing the streets, shoveling off the sidewalks and salting the entranceways, because that is just who we are. So, let us handle the flurries and you can handle the kettle.

  We Know It’s Coming

Plan ahead, because we know it’s coming. We are already getting calls for commercial snow removal services. It usually starts in June and rises right through to the New Year. Those property owners and companies that lock us in early get the best pricing.

  We sincerely hope that you at least give us a call and get a quote. Some of our competitors are very cheap, and around the second big storm of the season, you discover why they’re prices are so cheap. Shoddy workmanship can leave your driveways, steps, parking lots and sidewalks as a risk to visitors. We are very competitive in our commercial snow removal pricing, and with over 25 years of experience, we do not let our customers down.

  Sincerely,

Sylvain

  Neighbourhoods We Service in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario

Hampton Park, Highland Park, Hintonburg, Kenson Park, Island Park, McKellar Heights, McKellar Park, Mechanicsville, Lincoln Heights, Ottawa West, Queensway, Terrace North, Michelle Heights, Qualicum, Queensway, Rideau View, Redwood, Tunney’s Pasture, Westboro, Woodpark, Woodroffe North, Whitehaven, Nepean, Bayshore, Fairfield Heights, Bells Corners, Briargreen, Centrepointe, City View, Navaho, Ryan Farm, Craig Henry, Crystal Beach, Davidson Height, Rideau Glen, Ashdals, Fisher Heights, Skyline, Graham Park, Qualicum, Convent Glen, Convent Glen South, Cyrville, Edwards, Elizabeth Park, Ficko, Findlay Creek, Gloucester Glen, Hiawatha Park, Honey Gables, Johnston Corners, Kempark, Leitrim, Limebank, Manotick Station, Pineview, Piperville, Ramsayville, Riverglen, Riverside South, Rothwell Heights, South Gloucester, Victory Hill, Windsor Park Village, Central Ottawa, Byward Market, Centretown, Downtown Ottawa, Havenlea, Winding Way, Heart’s Desire, Chapman Mills, Jockvale, Knollsbrook, Leslie Park, Longfields, Manordale, Meadowlands, Crestview, Golden Triangle, Lebreton Flats, Lower Town, Old Ottawa East, Old Ottawa South, Sandy Hill, Castle Heights, Robillard Quarries, Quarries, Forbes, Lees Avenue, Lindenlea, Manor Park, New Edinburgh, Overbrook, Rockcliffe Park, Vanier, Viscount Alexander Park, Airport-Uplands, Alta Vista, Billings Bridge, Confederation Heights, Ellwood, Elmvale Acres, Greenboro, Parkwood Hills, Borden Farm, Stewart Farm, Fisher Glen, Pineglen, Merivale Gardens, Grenfell Glen, Country Place, Stonebridge, Strandheard Meadows, Tanglewood, Trend, Arlington, Orleans, Avalon, Bilberry Creek, Cardinal Creek, Chapel Hill North, Chapel Hill South, Chaperal, Chateau Neuf, Chatelaine Village, Orleans Wood, Convent Glen, Convent Glen South, Eastridge, Fallingbrook, Hiawatha Park, Mer Bleue, The Glebe, Hawthorne Meadows, Heron Gate, Heron Park, Hunt Club, Hunt Club Chase, Hunt Club Estate, Hunt Club Park, Riverside Park, Riverside South, Riverview, Hunt Club Woods, Mooney’s Bay, Sheffield Glen, South Keys, Ambleside, Bel-Air Heights, Bel-Air Park, Braemar Park, Britannia, Carlington, Civic Hospital, Carleton Heights, Central Park, Copeland Park, Courtland Park, Glabar Park, Notre Dame Des Champs, Notting Gate, Orleans Village, Queenswood Heights, Queenswood Village, River Walk, Kanata, Beaverbrook, Bridlewood, Glen Cairn, Harwood Plains, Kanata Lakes, Kanata West, Kanata Estates, Katimavik, Hazeldean, Lakeside, Malwood, Marchhurst, Marchwood, Morgan’s Grant, South March, South March Station, Strathearn, Kanata Town Centre, Gloucester, Beacon Heights, Beacon Hill North, Beacon Hill, Blackburn Hamlet, Blossom Park, Carlsbad Springs, Carson Grove, Cedardale, Chapel Hill, Chateau Neuf in Eastern Ontario.

    Source: http://bandclandscaping.ca/ottawa-commercial-snow-removal/

[penhero]

This is an American Indian combination fountain pen and pencil in blue c. late 1930s, made by the American Pencil Company of Hoboken, New Jersey. Observed examples come in two lengths, with two clip types, and two clip types, and nickel plated trim. The 1937 catalog shows the writing instrument available in four colors with nickel plated trim and a gold plated stainless steel nib retailing for 25 cents. The pyroxylin celluloid cap and barrel are made of a multicolored pattern that emulates Navajo Eye Dazzler fabrics, and were offered in red, blue, green, or yellow versions. The varying length of the instrument appears to be related primarily to the pencil unit installed, as all pens appear to have the same fountain pen front end, cap size and cap threading. The pencil unit is distinguished by either three or four engraved or stamped grip rings, with the unit having four being on the longer writing instrument. They will therefore measure 5 3/8 inches or 5 5/16 inches with the cap on. Clips are stamped INDIAN and are either plain faced with a ball end or will have an elongated, raised triangle design with a flat ball end. The nib is stamped DURIUM 14KT. GOLD PLATED No. 4. #fountainpen #pencollecting #indian #combo #penpencil #dazzler #navaho #artpen #penhero https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch28iCPvlMo/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=