Planets in Retrograde -- The Basics
By
Rebecca Brents

Astrology Coaching
Live Your Life by Divine Design

Learn in detail about your character, the way you were built to operate, the life you were meant to live, how you were designed to support yourself with money, in relationships, and with work that honors the unique spirit you are.

Is This Your Year of Living Prosperously?

Take a journey through your birth chart as never before.

Real Astrology ...
for people who take
their lives seriously.

Enroll in
Astrology Coaching
TODAY!!

Real People
Real Lives
Real Ambitions
Real Questions

Our Premium Members
Get
Real Answers
Real Direction
Real Information
Real Advantages

Become a
Premium Member
today!!

Shadow Dance
By
David Richo

Astrology is for Believers.

With an open mind and a knowledge of Astrology you can watch your life unfold in ways that make sense.

You can recognize the subtle knock of real opportunity and the soft voice of invitations to personal growth because you know they're coming, where to look for them, and what they'll look like when they appear.

Real Astrology ...
for people who take
their lives seriously.

Join our
Astrology and Tarot
Premium Membership
TODAY!!

	Kokoro no Kaze Does Your Soul Have a Cold? by Maya Talisman Frost Massage Your Mind
Astrology, Tarot, and Self Improvement for the New Age.

    Email This Page to a Friend    

Kokoro no Kaze
Does Your Soul Have a Cold?
by Maya Talisman Frost

Astrology is for Skeptics

Real astrology doesn't tell you how to run your life.

It doesn't make your decisions for you.

It doesn't say you're consigned to a certain "fate."

Real astrology charts life's natural cycles.

It describes your experiences in ways that make sense.

Experience what Real Astrology can do for you!!

Join our
Astrology and Tarot
Premium Membership
today!!

Feeling sad? Have you lost interest in things you used to enjoy? Perhaps you're suffering from a cold of the soul.

That's the concept that has taken Japan by storm in the last five years, thanks to a culturally savvy marketing campaign launched by pharmaceutical companies to turn mild depression into an acceptable malady that a simple prescription can cure.

Anyone familiar with Japan will recognize that "kokoro no kaze" (literally "cold of the soul") is a phrase guaranteed to resonate with the citizens of that country. Preventing and treating colds is practically a national pastime there.

Everywhere in Japan, you see people wearing gauzy surgical-style masks covering their nose and mouth. Although some may be wearing the masks to protect themselves from the latest bug, the majority of wearers are simply being courteous. In a nation lauded for its complex culture of politeness, the Japanese wear masks when they come down with a cold as a polite way of warning and protecting others.

In Japan, your dentist and dental assistants are likely to wear masks -- not to protect themselves from your mouth breathing, but to provide a polite barrier so that you won't be inadvertently subjected to their germs or the lingering odor of their sushi lunch.

Catching a cold in Japan is an opportunity to practice concern for others. How brilliant, then, that pharmaceutical companies have developed this new phrase to describe the symptoms of mild depression.

Now, Japanese businessmen, housewives and students are running to their doctors in droves to get prescriptions for antidepressants. In a culture steeped in politeness, it seems that the same folks likely to cover their noses and mouths to protect others from germs are recognizing their obligation to protect their loved ones from their melancholy.

After living in Japan for five years and having a Japanese sister-in-law and four beloved bicultural nieces and nephews, I have a great fondness for that country. That's why I am saddened by this new need to treat mild depression with drugs.

I'm all for turning to pharmaceuticals to help those who are severely depressed. I've lost two brothers to suicide, and even the worst drug on the market is better than that outcome.

Crown Princess Masako, a Harvard grad who surprised the world by agreeing to marry Crown Prince Hirohito and live behind the closed doors of the Emperor's Palace, prompted a national debate on depression when it was announced recently that she was undergoing treatment for the disease.

Though it doesn't surprise us that the life of a princess and its accompanying expectations to bear heirs might be difficult to handle -- we all watched the sad story of Princess Diana unfold -- this is an unprecedented admission in Japan. The fact that the Imperial Family has publicly acknowledged Masako's struggles will have a profound impact on the ongoing discussion of depression in a nation known for its suicide rate.

Preventing suicide? Good. Taking drugs for mild depression? Not always so good.

Does life in "advanced" countries like Japan create stress, frustration and sadness? You bet. Should a culture be treated, en masse, by drugs? I have to question that.

The me-too mentality is all too prevalent in a nation that prides itself on this phrase: "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down." I hate to think of millions of Japanese taking drugs in order to deal with the expectations of their culture. I hate to think of ANYONE taking drugs for that reason. And yet, it's becoming a remarkably common practice around the world.

Our folk wisdom tells us, "Feed a cold, starve a fever." Traditional remedies may help a cold of the soul as well. We don't run to the clinic every time we develop an itchy throat. We drink tea, take vitamins, get plenty of rest -- in other words, we take care of ourselves.

Shouldn't we try boosting our soul's immune system first before choosing a pharmaceutical solution?

Recognizing sadness or dissatisfaction is positive. Dealing with the pieces of your life that aren't fitting together is powerful and rewarding. Making decisions to improve your relationships or circumstances is empowering. Understanding our role as growing, changing humans and applying mindfulness to our greatest challenges strengthens and elevates us.

It feeds our soul.

Is it easy? No. Is it healthy? Yes. And letting our loved ones know of our struggle and our optimistic determination to work through it?

Priceless.

Face mask, anyone?

Maya Talisman Frost is a mind masseuse in Portland, Oregon. Through her company, Real-World Mindfulness Training, she teaches fun and effective eyes-wide-open alternatives to meditation. To read "The Dirty Little Secret About Meditation" visit Real World Mindfulness.

I feel we are all islands - in a common sea.
~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh ~
Born June 22, 1906

Please click on the titles to visit these fine areas of Enchanted Spirit

---

	PO Box 1080 Sandia Park · NM · 87047

Enchanted Spirit is a non-denominational spiritual center of healing, support, self-improvement, personal guidance, education and writing. We publish multi-media works of New Age thought and information to encourage serenity and growth in individual life choices, advance the universal search for life's meaning, and promote tolerance for positive ideas from all philosophies and religious traditions, believing as we do that truth is where you find it.

---

This site is hosted and maintained for Enchanted Spirit by

Catweasel Ink

Copyright © 1999 - 2008 by Enchanted Spirit and Catweasel Ink.
Contributed works copyright by their respective authors. All rights reserved.
Unauthorized reproduction specifically prohibited.

Last updated March 22nd, 2007

Rebecca is not available
right now.


Please check back
later
CLICK HERE FOR
MORE INFO

Cut through the confusion.

See clearly

Think better

Make informed choices

Discover why the Tarot has intrigued, informed, and interested spiritual seekers for centuries.

What is your life''s biggest question?

Get a reading on Your Situation

Join our
Astrology and Tarot
Premium Membership
TODAY!!

Astrology and Karma?
Sure!

Your Horoscope holds important keys to why you are here, what you came to contribute, who you came here to be.

Get direction.
Get information.

Put your life on course as never before!! Real Astrology ...
for people who take
their lives seriously.

Order a
Karma and Destiny Reading
TODAY!!

How To Keep People From Pushing Your Buttons
By
Albert Ellis