BODHI NEWS
February, 2012
Another month has gone by and we are in the middle of winter and both of those facts are hard to believe. I am enjoying every minute of this lovely season. How about you? Let’s see what there is to enjoy at Bodhi.
SALES
JEWELRY
All of our Jewelry (except consignment and already on sale items) is 15% off from Feb. 1st through Feb. 14th. You know we’ve got your covered for Valentine’s Day.
CALENDARS & DATEBOOKS
We still have a few left and are marking them down even more. 30% off until they are gone.
STONES
This month Amethyst stones and jewelry are 20% off. I love purple. How about you?
INCENSE
The incense this month is Lumbini Rope incense. It is 10% off. Oddly enough, I had never smelled Lumbini burning until a month or so ago and was totally surprised by how lovely the smell is and how much time I’d wasted not burning it.
THIS JUST IN
As you may or may not know, Jen is off to the fabulous Gem show in Tucson. So you can start getting excited about all the incredible rocks and jewelry she’ll be bringing back to Bodhi. She’ll probably start unpacking the treasures on the 7th. It may take a few days to get it all out, but she should have it all out by the 14th. Come by and check out her progress and feast your eyes on the treasures.
LOCAL ARTIST
Bodhi is happy to welcome another local artist to our store. She is a young lady named Elizabeth. We have several of her canvas paintings at the store. They are quite delightful, ranging from abstract to whimsical. Here is a little something about her, in her own words:
My name is Elizabeth Lewy. I am only 17 years old and graduating Lincoln High School this May. All my life I have been drawing – ever since I knew how to pick something up in order to create. I’ve created on the walls, carpet, paper, dressers, etc. In High School I have taken almost every art class available to me. This year I enrolled and was just recently accepted in the Creative Center in Omaha, NE. My family and I have bending everything possible to break the bank in order to pay for rent. I have been applying for scholarships in order to pay for college and saving up what I can.
I am trying to sell my art here at Bodhi Imports in order to help acquire supplies and pay for my college courses coming up in August. I really hope my art is to your liking. I would really love to continue throughout college and watch my dream come to life. You all can help build my future. I will be forever grateful to you all.
My favorite way to create is drawing with oil pastel. I love to paint and draw. I have also begun painting designs on furniture such as chairs, tables and dressers. Any ideas for future designs in drawing or painting would be awesome. I am willing to test my talents for the favor of the people. Thank you all very much.
Namaste,
Elizabethe Lewy
DAY OF GRATITUDE
We’re going to try to mark one day a month as Bodhi Gratitude Day to show our appreciation to all of our loyal customers. On that day, everything (except consignment and already on sale items) will be 20% off. This month, we will have it on Wednesday, Feb. 8th (coinciding with Nirvana Day – see below). It won’t be the same date every time, so be sure to check your Newsletter to see what date it is on for that month. And be sure to tell all your friends.
A FEW INTERESTING FEBRUARY DATES
FEBRUARY 6TH
WAITANGI DAY Marks the day that representatives of the British Crown and 500 chiefs of the Maori people of New Zealand signed a treaty. The year was 1840. It should be noted that, in spite of that treaty, there are still racial and civil rights tensions between the indigenous people and the colonizers.
To celebrate Waitangi Day, we are marking all of our Masks at 20% off this day.
FEBRUARY 8th (or 15th )
NIRVANA DAY Commemorates the death of Shakyamuni Buddha. The Buddha was 80 years old when he entered into the peace and bliss that is Nirvana. Nirvana Day is a day for meditation and contemplation of the Buddha’s teachings. It’s said that his last words were: “All conditioned things are subject to decay. Strive for your liberation with diligence.”
In honor of this day (and as part of our Bodhi Gratitude Day) everything in the store (except consignment and already saled items) is 20% off this day.
FEBRUARY 12th
RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS WEEK Well, I guess the name of this event is self-explanatory. Hope you can get in the spirit and come up with unique and fun ways to practice kindness this week. How about a gift for a friend? And how about all of us manifesting a world where this event is on-going, 52 weeks a year!
Pop in and see what Random Acts of Kindness we’ll be practicing this week.
FEBRUARY 20th
MAHASHIVARATI This is the Grand Night of Shiva in the Hindu faith. It honors Shiva, one of the major Hindu deities. One popular legend says this is the date that Shiva and Parvati married. Because of this, it’s an auspicious day for single women to pray for finding a husband; and for married women to pray for the well-being of their husbands. Fasting, worship and devotional songs are part of this festival, where sincere followers of Shiva believe the Lord can release a person of his sins and liberate him from the cycle of birth and death.
In honor of this holiday, all of our Hindu statues will be 20% off this day.
FEBRUARY 22nd
LOSAR This is the name of the Tibetan New Year (the word literally means “new year.”) It is a three day festival both spiritual and secular. It’s filled with prayers, ceremonies, hanging prayer flags, sacred and folk dancing and partying. Yep. Exactly like our New Years.
To ring in Losar, all of our Prayer Flags will be 20% off that day.
HAVE A HEART
(CHAKRA)
Valentine’s Day is the 14th. There will be lots of cupids, those little heart-shaped candies with words on them, and chocolate in red heart-shaped boxes. There’ll be homemade cards from your kindergartener, the package of 30 or so little heart-filled valentines that you pass out to everyone in your 5th grade class; and maybe dinner out and a fancy lacey-heart card for your beloved. But I don’t want to talk about all of those kinds of hearts. I want to talk about the Heart Chakra. This won’t be an academic discourse, because I am so not an expert and it’s too complicated a subject to be carried in a Newsletter article.
First. Chakra means wheel in Sanskrit. The chakras of humans are wheels of energy. Life force energy flows in and out of us through the chakras. Each chakra has an area of life that its energy particularly affects. If a chakra is closed down or out of balance, the life energies in that area will be affected. Open, strong and balanced chakras make all areas of our life energies better and promote health and healing.
The Heart Chakra is the 4th chakra and is located . . . wait for it . . . near the heart. Physically, it is believed that the main areas it rules are the heart, circulatory and respiratory systems. In non-physical terms, it rules Love, Emotion, Unconditional Love, Compassion, Forgiveness and Generosity. I read that the Heart Chakra’s mission statement is: “I give, I care, I love.”
And that is what suddenly made me want to write about it in the month we celebrate love and kindness. There are all sorts of metaphysically technical ways to work/unblock/align/etc. your Heart Chakra. You can look that up on your own. What struck me is that there must be practical, everyday things you can do to nurture and blossom your Heart Chakra. Things like pet a dog, hold a child, eat an ice cream cone, release your tears, forgive, be blown away by a sunset, dance, laugh at yourself, smile at a stranger, sing in the shower, let someone pull in front of you in traffic, put yourself in someone else’s shoes, read a good book, let a friend help you. Well, you get the point. Every single minute of every single day is an opportunity to nurture your Heart Chakra and, therefore yourself and the life you are in. And remember: this love thing and random acts of kindness aren’t just things you do for others; practice them on yourself, too. “I give, I care, I love.”
SAGE
I know I mentioned in last month’s Newsletter that there would be an article about sage in this month’s Newsletter, but here’s the deal: I got sidetracked writing the Heart Chakra article and felt like this Newsletter was starting to get pretty long. So the Sage article will be in next month’s Newsletter. Honest.
SPECIAL SALE FOR OUR NEWSLETTER FANS
For those of you new to Bodhi News, every month you have a chance to save
money just by reading our Newsletter and following the instructions. All through February, come into Bodhi, grab neat stuff, come up to the counter and say this month’s secret word(s) and you’ll get 10% off your purchase. This month the secret word(s) is anyone or anything you love.[Sorry, this discount can’t be used with other offers or on consignment items, unless specifically noted.]
ROCK BOTTOM
AMETHYST
According to Greek myth, Dionysius, god of intoxication, became angered by the insults of a mortal. He swore he would take revenge on the very next mortal he saw and he created fierce tigers to carry out his plan. The beautiful maiden Amethyst was on her way to pay homage to the goddess Diana and, unsuspecting, approached Dionysius. To save her, Diana turned Amethyst into a statue of pure crystalline quartz to protect her from the tigers. When Dionysius saw the radiant statue, he wept tears and those tears stained the quartz purple, creating the gem we know today.
As you know, Amethyst is February’s stone. Its purple color (in many different shades) delights the eye with its beauty. Besides its use in lovely jewelry, amethyst has many attributes, which gives it a holistic feel. If you are just getting into stones, amethyst is certainly gentle enough for the beginner (it was my first stone purchase many many moons ago), yet expansive enough for your entire life’s journey.
Amethyst is a true stone of spirituality and contentment. It has been called "the soul stone," as its energies go all the way to that level. It increases and enhances intuition and helps you get in touch with your inner feelings. It aids in meditation, balances mental, physical and emotional energies, clears the aura, brings strength, stability, invigoration and peace - the peace we all knew before we landed in the midst of the challenging earth vibrations.
Amethyst can instill wisdom and deeper understanding, which makes it useful for those grieving the loss of a loved one. Placed under your pillow, it can inspire sweet dreams. This calming, yet sturdy stone, can protect from psychic attacks. It can help you make decisions, while being fair and flexible. New ideas often manifest with the use of this stone.
It is a good stone to help combat substance abuse and to get free of addictive personalities, in general (yourself or another). It can be used for overworked, overstressed or overwhelmed mental states.
If you are drawn to amethyst, you are likely very spiritual and thoughtful. Higher values are more important to you than practical things. There is a certain regal aura about you. Your love of amethyst probably means you are intuitive, sensitive and spiritual. You may be very good at helping people get in touch with their faith. You could seem a bit set in your ways, because it’s sometimes hard to tell you what to do. But what’s a Royal Purple Person to do when you already know what you want? (Try combining agates with your amethyst; they will help bring you down to earth.)
If you want to know more about Amethyst, come on by and check out The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall or any of our other Crystal books.
Until next time, Blessings from the Bodhi family to yours.
Om shanti shanti shanti Om
Bodhi Imports
1645 S. 17th St.
Lincoln, NE 68502
Monday - Thursday: 11:00 - 6:00
Friday & Saturday: 10:30 - 6:00
Sunday: Noon - 5:00