I have no regrets whatsoever that I am not owrking within the framework of a single tradition.
In our conference call, I mentioned suggesting to a client that she use salt to help detoxify a room with negative vibrations. It was a technique suggested to me years ago by a QiGong teacher from Korea. I also suggested smudging the room in a native American tradition. Neither of these traditions are ones in which I am fluent, but tyhey were in my "toolbox" and popped out when I asked Spirit for help. My client agreed with these suggestions and will try them.
I would contrast this with an experience I had two years ago when a much loved teacher of mine came in clearly inhabited by another entity. At that time, I could deal with this situation, but I needed my extraction crystal which I did not have that night. I simply had no idea what to do, and a colleague who was willing to act "as if" did the work. Now, I would ask, is the crystal a tool or a hindrance? Clearly it is a tool when I use it, but if I dont think I can do the work without it, I've got a problem.
I'm thinking of tradition in the same way - very rich very useful, very full and comfortable IF you can address all your needs within it and IF you do not have to distort your situation, your request to Spirit or your answer to fit within the tradition. Certainly it helps to have a core of belief for stability and for ongoing work with and contact with Spirit, and it certainly helps not to have your work or your belief system become a grab bag where you pull something out and hope it fits, but too tight a system distorts perception and limits possibilities, and the ability to address the novel situation (and we will certainly be seeing more that is novel in the future).
It is also frequently the case that as traditions age, they become more rigid, formal, and structured. The Tibetan Bon tradtion was originally (and still is) Shamanic, but it is overlaid with Buddhbist iconography and belief to an extent to which it is barely recognizable (same Deities, same properties, different names, etc.) Increasingly we will need to be flexible and able to accomodate rapid change. Shamanic work and teachings that are not tied to a single way of doing things, and consequently a single way of seeing things, would not seem to be a disadvantage here.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
About Olga Kharitidi
As I finished Olga’s book “Entering the circle”, I did a quick search on internet because I was curious of what she was doing these days. I thought that others in the group would be interested in knowing what she has become.
She now lives and works in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She published another book “The Master of Lucid Dreams”, about her experiences in Samarkand, ancient capital of Uzbekistan (apparently in the same vein as “Entering the circle”).
Here name is now Olga Yahontova and she has just created Cliffhouse Publications; there is not much on the website yet, including on her blog “Breaking the Walls”, created on 06/09/2008. So all of this is fairly new. She posted two articles since then, one on practicing magic today, the other one on addiction. Still to see what will come. For some reason, I have felt sad and uneasy reading what she is now writing and looking at her picture on the website, as if something had happened to her in the meantime. In one of her posts, she writes “After years of extreme experiences and searching, I have found nothing. No concepts, no recipes, no solutions, no mysteries solved. I have arrived at this point in my life with more confusion, bewilderment, and amazement for life and its riddles than I ever had before. And I like it. Because all of those things - concepts, solutions, and resolutions are truly just the building blocks of more walls inside the mind…” Maybe it is just the way it should be.
For those interested in having a look at her blog:
http://www.cliffhousepublications.com/index.php/cliff_main/olgas_thoughts/
She now lives and works in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She published another book “The Master of Lucid Dreams”, about her experiences in Samarkand, ancient capital of Uzbekistan (apparently in the same vein as “Entering the circle”).
Here name is now Olga Yahontova and she has just created Cliffhouse Publications; there is not much on the website yet, including on her blog “Breaking the Walls”, created on 06/09/2008. So all of this is fairly new. She posted two articles since then, one on practicing magic today, the other one on addiction. Still to see what will come. For some reason, I have felt sad and uneasy reading what she is now writing and looking at her picture on the website, as if something had happened to her in the meantime. In one of her posts, she writes “After years of extreme experiences and searching, I have found nothing. No concepts, no recipes, no solutions, no mysteries solved. I have arrived at this point in my life with more confusion, bewilderment, and amazement for life and its riddles than I ever had before. And I like it. Because all of those things - concepts, solutions, and resolutions are truly just the building blocks of more walls inside the mind…” Maybe it is just the way it should be.
For those interested in having a look at her blog:
http://www.cliffhousepublications.com/index.php/cliff_main/olgas_thoughts/
Friday, June 20, 2008
Summer Solstice
Here's an interesting article regarding Summer Solstice--thought I'd share it:
http://www.carolbarbeau.com/2008_summer_solstice.html
Happy Weeding !
http://www.carolbarbeau.com/2008_summer_solstice.html
Happy Weeding !
Monday, June 16, 2008
The Chant
Chanting is described as a part of the shaman's toolbox, although we haven't gone into it much. The Kam in our reading uses the chant to take a hold of Dr. Kharitidi's consciousness. The healer I met in the rainforest relied on chant as a central part of his ceremonies. Chanting a mantra seems like a natural complement to the drum and creates a point of focus for the mind.
Major religions and many mystical traditions use some form of chant in their rituals. On a secular level, many modern day music group singers have gained icon status based on the quality of their voice and the power of their songs. I believe there are shamanic elements at work here that can explain this.
Sometimes the content of the message being conveyed creates meaning for the listener, but oftentimes I can enjoy and be carried away by a beautiful vocal pattern without having to know the words. When my mind is clear, I can tap into what feelings are being expressed indirectly by grabbing onto and riding different pieces of the melody--chant, like all music, is there both as a reinforcing agent and transformational one. It is a powerful arrow through the heart of the hearing sense; its tip can pierce all the way to the feeling sense.
Here are excerpts from two articles about chanting--one by a Hindu, the other by a Pagan:
The Power of Chanting By Swami Vasudevananda
The sages who gave us the ancient Vedic mantras and hymns were evolved beings who had either attained or come very close to a state of pure consciousness. In their meditations they heard perfect words and sounds - sublime mantras, sacred wisdom arising from within. They passed this sacred wisdom on to their disciples by singing it.
Chanting also has significant effect on our bodies and minds. Like everything in this universe, our body is made up of vibrating energy. Even though our body appears to be dense, every cell of the human body has its own frequency. All the different parts of the body, all its cells, want to move in unison, the way a shoal of fish or a flock of birds does, always moving but never bumping into each other. When this natural rhythm and harmony is disrupted in the body, that's when disease and disorders arise. However, when the vibrations of the chant sound within our bodies, the cells themselves respond; they resonate with the pure vibration of the mantras so that harmony can be restored.
Gurumayi says, ''When you chant the Name, it actually moves through your whole being - purifying you, bestowing grace, and making you sacred''. As chanting bathes us in its purifying sounds, it opens our hearts; it opens us to receive the outpouring of grace from the guru. Baba Muktananda, Gurumayi 's guru said, ''Chanting is a magnet that draws God's power''. http://www.gurumayi.com.au/power_chanting.html
The Power of Chants
Date: 2004-04-12 By: Christopher Penczak
Here are some tips in using music in your own circles:
* Find traditional chants and more recently composed ones that you can use. Metaphysical stores often have a section of pagan music, song and chants.
* If you visit larger pagan festivals, you may be taught some of the traditional chants if you don’t know them and can’t find a recording. Many are passed along through the oral tradition of pagan gatherings. Take notes and write down lyrics so you won’t forget.
* Use simple melodies with a limited vocal range so everybody can sing them without straining their voices.
* Try setting pagan poetry to familiar melodies, such as well-known holiday songs. Sometimes they sound silly, but they can be a great way to focus everybody on a melody they already know sung with different words.
* Use simple beats and rhythms to keep the group focused – or use a drum to help induce an altered state. Beats that fall on even numbers (based on groups of two or four beats) are more direct and dynamic. Some consider them more masculine. Beats based in 3, like the familiar waltz pattern, are considered more feminine and have a connection to the triple goddess.
* Feel the music as you perform it. Let the vibration fill your body, heart, and mind. Let it move you. When you are open to sound, you can make the experience very healing or energizing.
* Don’t be afraid to be loud or to make a mistake. Sing with feeling and worry about the technicalities later. If everyone is into the chant, that’s more important than sounding perfect. Don’t make anyone feel bad if they don’t have a perfect voice. Remember the circle is about Perfect Love, Perfect Trust, and celebration.Keep the spirit alive when you chant and when you pass the cakes. Each is an opportunity for love, compassion, and transformation. Many blessings on your magical path and I hope music lightens your step and opens your heart.
http://www.llewellynjournal.com/article/579
Major religions and many mystical traditions use some form of chant in their rituals. On a secular level, many modern day music group singers have gained icon status based on the quality of their voice and the power of their songs. I believe there are shamanic elements at work here that can explain this.
Sometimes the content of the message being conveyed creates meaning for the listener, but oftentimes I can enjoy and be carried away by a beautiful vocal pattern without having to know the words. When my mind is clear, I can tap into what feelings are being expressed indirectly by grabbing onto and riding different pieces of the melody--chant, like all music, is there both as a reinforcing agent and transformational one. It is a powerful arrow through the heart of the hearing sense; its tip can pierce all the way to the feeling sense.
Here are excerpts from two articles about chanting--one by a Hindu, the other by a Pagan:
The Power of Chanting By Swami Vasudevananda
The sages who gave us the ancient Vedic mantras and hymns were evolved beings who had either attained or come very close to a state of pure consciousness. In their meditations they heard perfect words and sounds - sublime mantras, sacred wisdom arising from within. They passed this sacred wisdom on to their disciples by singing it.
Chanting also has significant effect on our bodies and minds. Like everything in this universe, our body is made up of vibrating energy. Even though our body appears to be dense, every cell of the human body has its own frequency. All the different parts of the body, all its cells, want to move in unison, the way a shoal of fish or a flock of birds does, always moving but never bumping into each other. When this natural rhythm and harmony is disrupted in the body, that's when disease and disorders arise. However, when the vibrations of the chant sound within our bodies, the cells themselves respond; they resonate with the pure vibration of the mantras so that harmony can be restored.
Gurumayi says, ''When you chant the Name, it actually moves through your whole being - purifying you, bestowing grace, and making you sacred''. As chanting bathes us in its purifying sounds, it opens our hearts; it opens us to receive the outpouring of grace from the guru. Baba Muktananda, Gurumayi 's guru said, ''Chanting is a magnet that draws God's power''. http://www.gurumayi.com.au
The Power of Chants
Date: 2004-04-12 By: Christopher Penczak
Here are some tips in using music in your own circles:
* Find traditional chants and more recently composed ones that you can use. Metaphysical stores often have a section of pagan music, song and chants.
* If you visit larger pagan festivals, you may be taught some of the traditional chants if you don’t know them and can’t find a recording. Many are passed along through the oral tradition of pagan gatherings. Take notes and write down lyrics so you won’t forget.
* Use simple melodies with a limited vocal range so everybody can sing them without straining their voices.
* Try setting pagan poetry to familiar melodies, such as well-known holiday songs. Sometimes they sound silly, but they can be a great way to focus everybody on a melody they already know sung with different words.
* Use simple beats and rhythms to keep the group focused – or use a drum to help induce an altered state. Beats that fall on even numbers (based on groups of two or four beats) are more direct and dynamic. Some consider them more masculine. Beats based in 3, like the familiar waltz pattern, are considered more feminine and have a connection to the triple goddess.
* Feel the music as you perform it. Let the vibration fill your body, heart, and mind. Let it move you. When you are open to sound, you can make the experience very healing or energizing.
* Don’t be afraid to be loud or to make a mistake. Sing with feeling and worry about the technicalities later. If everyone is into the chant, that’s more important than sounding perfect. Don’t make anyone feel bad if they don’t have a perfect voice. Remember the circle is about Perfect Love, Perfect Trust, and celebration.Keep the spirit alive when you chant and when you pass the cakes. Each is an opportunity for love, compassion, and transformation. Many blessings on your magical path and I hope music lightens your step and opens your heart.
http://www.llewellynjournal
More on Rituals (from The Atlantis Blueprint by Colin Wilson and Rand Flem-Ath
An excerpt from The Atlantis Blueprint: It was in the immense Temple of Horus at Edfu, midway between Luxor and Aswan, that my attention was drawn to the importance of sound. An Egyptian historian, Emil Shaker, showed me some hieroglyphics on the wall close to the sanctuary, pointing out how they specified the number of times the temple ritual had to be performed. In this case, it was three. He explained: "It is no use performing the ritual two or four times. It will not work. If it says three times, it means three times.' This ritual, like all religious rituals, involves chanting a hymn to the sun and presenting the god with offerings."
The author indicated that the ritual "activates the temple." "Exactly like switching on a light." This notion is fascinating--a ritual involving chanting could 'activate' a temple.
The book also notes that the King's Chamber suggest that the pyramid was constructed with a sonic purpose. Danley identifies four resident frequencies, or notes, that are enhanced by the structure of the pyramid and by the materials used in its construction. The notes from an F sharp chord---according to ancient Egyptian texts were the harmonic of the planet.
Tests show these are the frequencies in the King's chamber even when no sounds are being produced. According to Danley, these vibrations are caused by the wind blowing across the ends of the so-called shafts in the same way as sounds are created when on blows across the neck of the bottle.
Also, many of the Native American sacred flutes, created to 'serenade' Mother Earth, are tuned to the key of F sharp.
Sound analysis has confirmed recordings of the King's chamber showed it was designed as a resonance chamber. Christopher Dunn's own conviction was that the important clue was the fact that the Great Pyramid's proportions are the same as those of the earth, suggesting that the 'sounding box' was intended to vibrate to the earth. Or, as he puts it in his book, The Giza Power Plant, the pyramid acts as a receiver of energy from within the earth itself.
My own experience with rituals--is that I often see things in threes or feel that I need to perform things in threes. For instance, in Kundalini Yoga, we begin our practice by chanting three times. (anything less or more, just doesn't feel right)
The very idea of 'activating the temple' by chanting three times, feels so right to me.
The author indicated that the ritual "activates the temple." "Exactly like switching on a light." This notion is fascinating--a ritual involving chanting could 'activate' a temple.
The book also notes that the King's Chamber suggest that the pyramid was constructed with a sonic purpose. Danley identifies four resident frequencies, or notes, that are enhanced by the structure of the pyramid and by the materials used in its construction. The notes from an F sharp chord---according to ancient Egyptian texts were the harmonic of the planet.
Tests show these are the frequencies in the King's chamber even when no sounds are being produced. According to Danley, these vibrations are caused by the wind blowing across the ends of the so-called shafts in the same way as sounds are created when on blows across the neck of the bottle.
Also, many of the Native American sacred flutes, created to 'serenade' Mother Earth, are tuned to the key of F sharp.
Sound analysis has confirmed recordings of the King's chamber showed it was designed as a resonance chamber. Christopher Dunn's own conviction was that the important clue was the fact that the Great Pyramid's proportions are the same as those of the earth, suggesting that the 'sounding box' was intended to vibrate to the earth. Or, as he puts it in his book, The Giza Power Plant, the pyramid acts as a receiver of energy from within the earth itself.
My own experience with rituals--is that I often see things in threes or feel that I need to perform things in threes. For instance, in Kundalini Yoga, we begin our practice by chanting three times. (anything less or more, just doesn't feel right)
The very idea of 'activating the temple' by chanting three times, feels so right to me.
A Lesson from Our Feathered Friends
Last week I was visited by a family of Blue Jays. I had run into them earlier in the morning on my way to work and then later on in the evening when I returned from work they resurfaced again. That evening, they were outside my door all perched on a white chair and the parents were pushing each fledgling off the chair in hopes of teaching them how to fly. It was such a delightful sight to see! I walked away for a while and later on returned to find the entire family gone with the exception of one small fledgling (the one shown in the photo). The fledgling was sitting out there looking up toward the sky. I walked outside to see if I could locate the remainder of the family but they were no where to be found. The bird did not know to be threatened by me and made no attempts to leave or distance itself from me. It just looked up at me trustingly.
I had determined that the parents and remainder of the tribe would soon be back to retrieve the baby and I got out of the way. Hours passed and the baby fledgling was still sitting on my door step peering up at me each time I peered outside. I checked throughout the night and it was still out there in the corner and still no family. I, of course, was battling with my thoughts that the baby must be scared and abandoned. It also occured to me that the bird could be killed by the neighborhood cat. My instinct was to want to rescue it. However, I knew if I did so it would greatly reduce the bird’s chances of being reunited with its family. I journeyed to the mother Blue Jay and I got the message that this was the fledgling’s initiation. It was learning to survive out in the world alone. She assured me that she was watching close by and that all was well.
I checked throughout the night and into the morning and the baby bird was still there. Despite my desire to rescue what I assumed was truly an abandoned bird at that point, I trusted the message I recieved in my journey and walked away without intervening. This was difficult for me! I walked upstairs to the kitchen and my landlord/roommate came in and told me that throughout the night there was a blue jay that kept coming up to his window sill and peering down. I realized that although I did not see her, the mother Blue Jay true to her word, was watching over the fledgling. At that point I peered outside and the mother emerged looking down over the baby.
The birds had provided me with a great teaching. I was dealing with some internal challenges regarding fear of the void at that moment. This experience taught me that despite the fact that we may feel alone on our journey, even while having to walk through some dark times, spirit is always there watching over us, urging us to strengthen our wings, grow our abilities, and find peace in solace even if we do not realize that spirit is there.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Summer Solstice Rituals
I just love the Universe's sense of timing and synchronicity. Right at a time we are all working on improving our relationship with Spirit, a friend came to me and asked if I could help her put together a ceremony or some sort of ritual for a summer solstice party that she is having next weekend. I'm going to look into some of the Wiccan rituals. My friend is Danish and she's got some rituals from her culture she wants to incorporate as well.
I was thinking that we should be bringing in an aspect of all of the elements, but more importantly, the element of fire. I was thinking it would be a great exercise if we did the flower wreath, like we had done at our retreat at the ocean. The solstice is a time of shifting energy, of movement of nature and time, I'd like the focus of the ceremony to be about having the participants bring something they'd like to shift in their lives. As we all know, it's more about making the effort to change more than the ceremony or ritual items used themselves, but I'd love to hear what anyone else has to suggest!
I was thinking that we should be bringing in an aspect of all of the elements, but more importantly, the element of fire. I was thinking it would be a great exercise if we did the flower wreath, like we had done at our retreat at the ocean. The solstice is a time of shifting energy, of movement of nature and time, I'd like the focus of the ceremony to be about having the participants bring something they'd like to shift in their lives. As we all know, it's more about making the effort to change more than the ceremony or ritual items used themselves, but I'd love to hear what anyone else has to suggest!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
TRICKSTERS
Lately, I've been running into tricksters in my journeys. Robin has given us some good indications of somehing not quire Kosher going on - a Fox wearing boots - etc., but in addition I'm learning that when a guide meets me at my back door when a journey begins, that I'm getting more of a trip than I bargained for. My last journey was really distressing because the beings that I met looked like my guides and were at the place where I usually meet my guides, but they did not act like a guide would. At Robin's sugestion, I've asked a tribe member to journey for me to my guides to ask about this journey, and I will do some work myself when I have assimilated things more, but I would like to know if anyone else is having Trickster activity, and if so, how they are handling it.
Enter Sandman
I’ve been having a difficult time lately integrating my shamanic self and ordinary reality self. Sometimes it feels like I am not really walking in either world. I am stuck in between dreams. After reading so much about Mendel’s dreaming body and recognizing that the dreamstate is what defines our vision as a shaman, I feel like I am missing out on a huge part of my shamanic identity and my connection to non-ordinary reality. I often feel like there is work being done in another realm, but I still don’t feel attached to my dreams, and often have a hard time remembering them. I do keep a dream journal, however if I don’t write in it immediately after waking, I quickly disconnect from the dreamstate.
I’ve recently journeyed and meditated on how I can be honoring Spirit more and connecting more with my shamanic self. The answer I received was that I should be doing more with ceremony. When we honor Spirit, we also engage Spirit to work with us, and through us, as an ally. I needed to seek out shamanic tools; items that I would need to make sacred, and have a contract with in the spirit world.
In my journeys, I get a lot of images of water, goblets, and drinking. I definitely relate to the element of water more than any other element. Drinking water is often symbolic of consuming some sort of energy/power or in engaging some sort of transformation. I meditated on how I can engage myself more in the dreamstate. I wanted to be lucid while I am dreaming and be able to remember my dreams in my conscious mind, which usually has great recall ability. The images of water, goblets, and drinking once again came through in a journey. I also got that I should be incorporating all of the elements. While I was looking for a goblet to make my sacred vessel to the dream world, I found a bunch of small wine glass charms, all with suitable representations of the 4 elements.
By leaving the goblet on my altar, and also honoring it during ceremony where I thank all of my allies and tools, it becomes sacred. At bed time, I fill the goblet with water, hold my hands over the goblet and ask the water to be my ally in remembering my dreams and being lucid in the dreamstate. I drink half of the water and leave the other half for the morning when I wake up, as a symbol of drinking the energy from my dreams.
I’ve only recently begun to do this and have not always remembered to perform the ceremony every night. From the few times I have, I should note that there were lucid moments in a few dreams and I was able to recall parts of other dreams too. I think it will take more time and actual commitment to connecting to the Spirit realm before there is more clarity for me. This will be another step in becoming more integrated in both worlds.
I’ve recently journeyed and meditated on how I can be honoring Spirit more and connecting more with my shamanic self. The answer I received was that I should be doing more with ceremony. When we honor Spirit, we also engage Spirit to work with us, and through us, as an ally. I needed to seek out shamanic tools; items that I would need to make sacred, and have a contract with in the spirit world.
In my journeys, I get a lot of images of water, goblets, and drinking. I definitely relate to the element of water more than any other element. Drinking water is often symbolic of consuming some sort of energy/power or in engaging some sort of transformation. I meditated on how I can engage myself more in the dreamstate. I wanted to be lucid while I am dreaming and be able to remember my dreams in my conscious mind, which usually has great recall ability. The images of water, goblets, and drinking once again came through in a journey. I also got that I should be incorporating all of the elements. While I was looking for a goblet to make my sacred vessel to the dream world, I found a bunch of small wine glass charms, all with suitable representations of the 4 elements.
By leaving the goblet on my altar, and also honoring it during ceremony where I thank all of my allies and tools, it becomes sacred. At bed time, I fill the goblet with water, hold my hands over the goblet and ask the water to be my ally in remembering my dreams and being lucid in the dreamstate. I drink half of the water and leave the other half for the morning when I wake up, as a symbol of drinking the energy from my dreams.
I’ve only recently begun to do this and have not always remembered to perform the ceremony every night. From the few times I have, I should note that there were lucid moments in a few dreams and I was able to recall parts of other dreams too. I think it will take more time and actual commitment to connecting to the Spirit realm before there is more clarity for me. This will be another step in becoming more integrated in both worlds.
Additions to your tool bag
I found this article on the internet http://www.wicca.com/celtic/wyldkat/shmnthng.htm
I feel it provides a few additional suggestions that can be added to one's shamanic tool bag.
Time
Most of us are taught to think of time as a linear thing. Minutes, seconds, hours.... These are just words humans have given to a concept that we choose to call time. For shamans this is a very restricted view of time. We all know the sayings, "Time flies" and "the minutes just crawled by." Time flows forward and backward, swiftly and slowly. It is a relative concept. You can ask your guide to teach you how to slow time or speed up time. Slowing time is especially useful before journeying. You can experience hours in the spirit world in what seems like minutes in the physical world. Your guide can also teach you how to travel to the future or retrieve things or change events from the past. This is a good way to get closure with events that have haunted you, even if the change is in the spiritual world instead of the physical.
Songs and Chants:
Each type of shamanism has many traditional songs and chants. There are also personal ones that you are born with or are given by your spirit guides to help raise power or gain protection. Songs and chants allow you to clear you mind and get a different mind set. They are often used for important events or when you feel you need aid.
You can meditate to learn your songs or ask your guide to teach you if it is time for you to learn or you can drum till one comes to you. Once you learn a song practice it until you will not forget it. The songs can be long or short, but are most often set to a strong beat. One of mine is actually set to the cadence of my walk. DonÕt worry if you feel that you are just making it up, your guides will lead you to the right words. Shamanism can often feel like make believe, but it is not.
Dancing:
Shamans often dance to help them get closer to the spirit world, to help raise energy and to open and clear the way for them to access their power. Dancing helps make a visualization become reality. Dancing can help tell the story of a journey. Practice dancing and moving rhythmically to a strong beat for at least five minutes at a time to build up your stamina. Half jogging in place is a good way to start. Try dancing one of your journeys. Show what you do with your motions. Don't worry about what you look like, just let yourself move, even if it is as simple as walking and gesturing.
Talismans:
Talismans, like amulets or pouches containing symbolic items, crystals and/or herbs, can help protect you on your journeys and in real life. For example I have a small leather pouch filled with certain sayings, crystals, and symbols. I feel that it helps keep my connection with my spirit guides strong and I rarely go far from home without it. It is the trust in the energy that gives the protection not the talisman itself. The talisman is only a physical symbol of the energy. You can have talismans that exist only in the spirit world and the power and protection will be the same as long as your belief is the same. Gifts that you receive on your journeys are powerful talismans, even if you cannot see them with open eyes. Talismans serve as one of many reminders that the spirit world is out there and available for help if we remember to ask.
Crystals:
Shamans have a very close connection to the earth and therefore to rocks and crystals. Shamans use crystals to amplify energy and to help heal. Since crystals are used as tools they are often prepared and then kept until needed, not worn or displayed publicly. The clearer and more even the crystal the better it can exchange energy. Remember to cleanse crystals, especially bought crystals, before you work with them. There are many ways to cleanse crystals, rinsing in ocean water, burying in salt, placing in running water, running through incense or sage smoke, or freezing. For example, I run crystals through running water to energize them, let them air dry, in the sun if possible, and then run them through incense smoke while tuning them to myself. Cleanse crystals whenever you feel they need it.
Although I feel that just handling a cleansed crystal tunes it to you, you may wish to tune them to you by greeting the crystal, and then projecting your name into it three times. You should also ask it if it has any special properties. If you wish to use it for anything specific now is the time to set that idea into the crystal and ask its permission.
To draw energy to a certain place, like your work area, studio, or ritual space, you can set up six (or four if you prefer) clear quartz crystals four in a circle around the area, one in each of the four directions, and two in the center, one pointing up for the sky and one pointing down for the earth. Try to stay out of this area if you are feeling negative or sick since the crystals will magnify you feelings.
I feel it provides a few additional suggestions that can be added to one's shamanic tool bag.
Time
Most of us are taught to think of time as a linear thing. Minutes, seconds, hours.... These are just words humans have given to a concept that we choose to call time. For shamans this is a very restricted view of time. We all know the sayings, "Time flies" and "the minutes just crawled by." Time flows forward and backward, swiftly and slowly. It is a relative concept. You can ask your guide to teach you how to slow time or speed up time. Slowing time is especially useful before journeying. You can experience hours in the spirit world in what seems like minutes in the physical world. Your guide can also teach you how to travel to the future or retrieve things or change events from the past. This is a good way to get closure with events that have haunted you, even if the change is in the spiritual world instead of the physical.
Songs and Chants:
Each type of shamanism has many traditional songs and chants. There are also personal ones that you are born with or are given by your spirit guides to help raise power or gain protection. Songs and chants allow you to clear you mind and get a different mind set. They are often used for important events or when you feel you need aid.
You can meditate to learn your songs or ask your guide to teach you if it is time for you to learn or you can drum till one comes to you. Once you learn a song practice it until you will not forget it. The songs can be long or short, but are most often set to a strong beat. One of mine is actually set to the cadence of my walk. DonÕt worry if you feel that you are just making it up, your guides will lead you to the right words. Shamanism can often feel like make believe, but it is not.
Dancing:
Shamans often dance to help them get closer to the spirit world, to help raise energy and to open and clear the way for them to access their power. Dancing helps make a visualization become reality. Dancing can help tell the story of a journey. Practice dancing and moving rhythmically to a strong beat for at least five minutes at a time to build up your stamina. Half jogging in place is a good way to start. Try dancing one of your journeys. Show what you do with your motions. Don't worry about what you look like, just let yourself move, even if it is as simple as walking and gesturing.
Talismans:
Talismans, like amulets or pouches containing symbolic items, crystals and/or herbs, can help protect you on your journeys and in real life. For example I have a small leather pouch filled with certain sayings, crystals, and symbols. I feel that it helps keep my connection with my spirit guides strong and I rarely go far from home without it. It is the trust in the energy that gives the protection not the talisman itself. The talisman is only a physical symbol of the energy. You can have talismans that exist only in the spirit world and the power and protection will be the same as long as your belief is the same. Gifts that you receive on your journeys are powerful talismans, even if you cannot see them with open eyes. Talismans serve as one of many reminders that the spirit world is out there and available for help if we remember to ask.
Crystals:
Shamans have a very close connection to the earth and therefore to rocks and crystals. Shamans use crystals to amplify energy and to help heal. Since crystals are used as tools they are often prepared and then kept until needed, not worn or displayed publicly. The clearer and more even the crystal the better it can exchange energy. Remember to cleanse crystals, especially bought crystals, before you work with them. There are many ways to cleanse crystals, rinsing in ocean water, burying in salt, placing in running water, running through incense or sage smoke, or freezing. For example, I run crystals through running water to energize them, let them air dry, in the sun if possible, and then run them through incense smoke while tuning them to myself. Cleanse crystals whenever you feel they need it.
Although I feel that just handling a cleansed crystal tunes it to you, you may wish to tune them to you by greeting the crystal, and then projecting your name into it three times. You should also ask it if it has any special properties. If you wish to use it for anything specific now is the time to set that idea into the crystal and ask its permission.
To draw energy to a certain place, like your work area, studio, or ritual space, you can set up six (or four if you prefer) clear quartz crystals four in a circle around the area, one in each of the four directions, and two in the center, one pointing up for the sky and one pointing down for the earth. Try to stay out of this area if you are feeling negative or sick since the crystals will magnify you feelings.
For the alchemists
http://www.hermetics.org/pdf/alchemy/The_Great_Art.pdf
A TREATISE
ON
The Great Art
A SYSTEM OF PHYSICS ACCORDING TO HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY
AND THEORY AND PRACTICE OF THE
MAGISTERIUM.
BY
Dom ANTOINE-JOSEPH PERNETY,
Benedictine Monk of the Congregation of Saint-Maur, Abbot of Burgel in
Thuringe,
Librarian of Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, etc.
EDITED BY
EDOUARD BLITZ, M. D.,
Doctor In Kabbalah, Doctor in Hermetic Sciences, Member of the “ASSOCIATION
ALCHIMIQUE DE FRANCE”: President of the Grand Council
of the MARTINIST ORDER, etc.
AGNZ
...
NEVADA, MISSOURI, March 3, 1898.
A TREATISE
ON
The Great Art
A SYSTEM OF PHYSICS ACCORDING TO HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY
AND THEORY AND PRACTICE OF THE
MAGISTERIUM.
BY
Dom ANTOINE-JOSEPH PERNETY,
Benedictine Monk of the Congregation of Saint-Maur, Abbot of Burgel in
Thuringe,
Librarian of Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, etc.
EDITED BY
EDOUARD BLITZ, M. D.,
Doctor In Kabbalah, Doctor in Hermetic Sciences, Member of the “ASSOCIATION
ALCHIMIQUE DE FRANCE”: President of the Grand Council
of the MARTINIST ORDER, etc.
AGNZ
...
NEVADA, MISSOURI, March 3, 1898.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Spirit Expression
When you work you are a flute through whose
heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.
. . . And what is it to work with love? It is to
weave the cloth with threads drawn from your
heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that
cloth . . .
- - - Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.
. . . And what is it to work with love? It is to
weave the cloth with threads drawn from your
heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that
cloth . . .
- - - Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
Sunday, June 8, 2008
To be content
"Be content with what you have
Rejoice in the way things are
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you"
Lao-Tzu
I came across this quote the other night and it made me think of all that we have been discussing with regard to integration and being present. Just wanted to share it.
Rejoice in the way things are
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you"
Lao-Tzu
I came across this quote the other night and it made me think of all that we have been discussing with regard to integration and being present. Just wanted to share it.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Preparing and Using Dreaming Stones
I found an article on Shamans Cave about Dreaming Stones and how they can be used. If interested, the link is below:
http://www.shamanscave.com/featured_articles/featured_tool/preparing_and_using_dreaming_stones
http://www.shamanscave.com/featured_articles/featured_tool/preparing_and_using_dreaming_stones
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Seduction
When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown,
The dream is gone.
And I have become comfortably numb
pink floyd
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown,
The dream is gone.
And I have become comfortably numb
pink floyd
Monday, June 2, 2008
Conflicts, Pride, and Dreaming Together
Below is an edited version of my response to an email blast criticizing the bigotry that can result from extreme nationalist and ethnic pride. I have attached it because it is filled with ideas I draw from the Shaman's Body. I didn't think it would happen, but the book is beginning to seep into my subconscious.
In chapter 12, Mindell suggests that it is the personal phantoms that possess people and can be played out through violence between communities. Dealing with hidden conflict through "constructive" dialog or expression is one way of allowing the sufferer and the forgotten spirit she carries to "accept pain and change its source."
The specter of radical nationalist or ethnic pride, exaggerates the differences between real people, and is a "destructive" way of expressing the hidden conflict. It is a means of reducing each individual's complex story to a false notion of one collective good against another collective evil. Victims may gain comfort from substituting this type of collective story with their personal dreaming body's stories, using pain as power. This is one way to move together in trances, in my view. And what a dangerous and deadly mode of travel it is.
Night Sings
"I am so grateful for your email--it illustrates the utter prejudice and subhumanization spawned from outrageous nationalist and ethnic zealotry. Indeed, it is nationalist and ethnic extremism that is responsible for the world's most recent devastating wars. I would also add ideological zealotry to this list since for several decades the world was victimized by a bipolar political order that pitted communism against capitalism... It is, then, important to remember that abuse and false deification of any constructed identity can enslave the human race and lead to the scapegoating of one group. The response from that group has been bonding, political mobilization, sometimes military mobilization (even what you and I would refer to as terrorism) as a means of empowerment to battle back against the perceived collective injustice--hence, in power relations, it is the most victimized and threatened groups that tend to resort to ethnic hatred--and the cycle continues.
I am not opposed to respect for a person's cultural or religious distinctiveness but we must acknowledge the injustices of the past, honor the pain, get over the tyrant-victim relationship and let go of our "personal histories" once in a while to set free the ghosts that haunt our efforts to move forward. What about celebrating our collective experiences and shared humanity? A common race fractured by the trauma of the past cannot get beyond the petty, short-sightedness of the current order. As our true mother and only real cultural home we know, Earth, is showing us today through global warming and the international food crisis, "if one community fails, we all fail."
In chapter 12, Mindell suggests that it is the personal phantoms that possess people and can be played out through violence between communities. Dealing with hidden conflict through "constructive" dialog or expression is one way of allowing the sufferer and the forgotten spirit she carries to "accept pain and change its source."
The specter of radical nationalist or ethnic pride, exaggerates the differences between real people, and is a "destructive" way of expressing the hidden conflict. It is a means of reducing each individual's complex story to a false notion of one collective good against another collective evil. Victims may gain comfort from substituting this type of collective story with their personal dreaming body's stories, using pain as power. This is one way to move together in trances, in my view. And what a dangerous and deadly mode of travel it is.
Night Sings
"I am so grateful for your email--it illustrates the utter prejudice and subhumanization spawned from outrageous nationalist and ethnic zealotry. Indeed, it is nationalist and ethnic extremism that is responsible for the world's most recent devastating wars. I would also add ideological zealotry to this list since for several decades the world was victimized by a bipolar political order that pitted communism against capitalism... It is, then, important to remember that abuse and false deification of any constructed identity can enslave the human race and lead to the scapegoating of one group. The response from that group has been bonding, political mobilization, sometimes military mobilization (even what you and I would refer to as terrorism) as a means of empowerment to battle back against the perceived collective injustice--hence, in power relations, it is the most victimized and threatened groups that tend to resort to ethnic hatred--and the cycle continues.
I am not opposed to respect for a person's cultural or religious distinctiveness but we must acknowledge the injustices of the past, honor the pain, get over the tyrant-victim relationship and let go of our "personal histories" once in a while to set free the ghosts that haunt our efforts to move forward. What about celebrating our collective experiences and shared humanity? A common race fractured by the trauma of the past cannot get beyond the petty, short-sightedness of the current order. As our true mother and only real cultural home we know, Earth, is showing us today through global warming and the international food crisis, "if one community fails, we all fail."
The Journey
... then, i am soaring everywhere
seeing, beholding all of Life
active, moving, colorful
creating threads, being threads
interwoven
yet, loosely held
a swaying, pulsing, dynamic design
i am told ...
Weave the tapestry of Life.
seeing, beholding all of Life
active, moving, colorful
creating threads, being threads
interwoven
yet, loosely held
a swaying, pulsing, dynamic design
i am told ...
Weave the tapestry of Life.
Friday, May 30, 2008
The Face of the Shaman
I came across this article/recorded story. It is about three Shamans among the nomadic reindeer herders of northern Mongolia. Certain parts of the article that jumped out at me convey the importance of recieving an offering when work is done for a client. Also, the experience provided by these shamans that if one is called to be a shaman he cannot refuse those who come to him/her for help. If they do the spirits will get weaker. It provides insight as to thier sense of committment to the community. The link to the story provides different information and is very interesting. It provides audio of the conversations with the shaman and the shaman during ritual. It also provides alot of detail about shamanism in mongolia and the reindeer herders. If interested in reading the article or listening to the story, the link is provided below:
http://homelands.org/worlds/shaman.html
http://homelands.org/worlds/shaman.html
Thursday, May 29, 2008
When Land and Water Merge
This is from Night Sings... I keep getting the post in my email, but it does not show up on the blog that I can find, and Night Sings gets an error message. Sorry this thing doesn't always work right! Hugs, Robin
Walks in Two Worlds noted the coming together of two different worlds at the beach (when the wind is present, it can make three). Recall that Heart of the Mother also gave a beautiful description of the ocean story as that of the earth's heart, which stayed with me. The piece below is a reflection from a couple of years ago (recently updated) that I wanted to share with you directly at the retreat but forgot to bring. To me, the beach is amongst the most healing and most powerful spots because it is a place of intersection and reflects so much about the human body and humanity. The different conditions of different paths on the earth, and the dance of her different elements: they weave the songs of struggle and harmony we live every day, and vice versa. This is what wise people mean when they underscore how much a seeker can learn from being in and understanding the ways of nature, in my view. It is a fertile place for the shaman to decode nature's stories.
Ocean and sand merge with great force and motion
Yet two opposites could not inspire
A more serene diversion to human ears
Than theirs
They are like two lovers
Separated cruelly
The wind their secret messenger
I catch their song of longing
A lullaby of hope,
Threads from their whispers
Form a rope
To my own grand conversion
For land, illusion is a rock
It supports the water's touch
Absorbing the caress of rolling waves as they rush to comfort
The shore's coast of open arms
Water seizes land's attention
With stinging raids of liquid leaps
That tease and please the land escapes its senses
Little golden shards release from these earth-water shattering embraces
When these two races meet
And catch a taste of some new way to be
To see and free another place and fall in love... and break
Oh yes, they'll break and part
For duality discontinuity dictates
At times, they'll clash, and thrash and
In an irreverent, uncompromising and impossibly offensive manner...smash each other's hearts
Day and night
The ocean, insisting on the certainty of the uncertain deep
Engulfs, envelops, floats ideas, and raises tides to prove it's point
The stubborn land sits squarely on its seat
It will be damned before it flinches or moves one inch from its solid
And unwavering beliefs
And so these worlds will part and turn away
So intertwined and yet so strange
In places where they've learned how to receive
Find calm and tenderness in their betweens
In the roughest parts where treatment has been harsh
They are restless, toiling and tempestuous
Their dance
Craves unmet unconditional surrender and acceptance
The Sun and Moon and Sky
Look on and laugh
At these two halves of the same whole
But they explain the human struggle between
Body, Soul, and Song
They are what goes on inside and in between
Amidst the eyes and all
Throughout the world of the unseen
They are what goes on
But they still belong
They still belong
Walks in Two Worlds noted the coming together of two different worlds at the beach (when the wind is present, it can make three). Recall that Heart of the Mother also gave a beautiful description of the ocean story as that of the earth's heart, which stayed with me. The piece below is a reflection from a couple of years ago (recently updated) that I wanted to share with you directly at the retreat but forgot to bring. To me, the beach is amongst the most healing and most powerful spots because it is a place of intersection and reflects so much about the human body and humanity. The different conditions of different paths on the earth, and the dance of her different elements: they weave the songs of struggle and harmony we live every day, and vice versa. This is what wise people mean when they underscore how much a seeker can learn from being in and understanding the ways of nature, in my view. It is a fertile place for the shaman to decode nature's stories.
Ocean and sand merge with great force and motion
Yet two opposites could not inspire
A more serene diversion to human ears
Than theirs
They are like two lovers
Separated cruelly
The wind their secret messenger
I catch their song of longing
A lullaby of hope,
Threads from their whispers
Form a rope
To my own grand conversion
For land, illusion is a rock
It supports the water's touch
Absorbing the caress of rolling waves as they rush to comfort
The shore's coast of open arms
Water seizes land's attention
With stinging raids of liquid leaps
That tease and please the land escapes its senses
Little golden shards release from these earth-water shattering embraces
When these two races meet
And catch a taste of some new way to be
To see and free another place and fall in love... and break
Oh yes, they'll break and part
For duality discontinuity dictates
At times, they'll clash, and thrash and
In an irreverent, uncompromising and impossibly offensive manner...smash each other's hearts
Day and night
The ocean, insisting on the certainty of the uncertain deep
Engulfs, envelops, floats ideas, and raises tides to prove it's point
The stubborn land sits squarely on its seat
It will be damned before it flinches or moves one inch from its solid
And unwavering beliefs
And so these worlds will part and turn away
So intertwined and yet so strange
In places where they've learned how to receive
Find calm and tenderness in their betweens
In the roughest parts where treatment has been harsh
They are restless, toiling and tempestuous
Their dance
Craves unmet unconditional surrender and acceptance
The Sun and Moon and Sky
Look on and laugh
At these two halves of the same whole
But they explain the human struggle between
Body, Soul, and Song
They are what goes on inside and in between
Amidst the eyes and all
Throughout the world of the unseen
They are what goes on
But they still belong
They still belong
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Sacred Fire
After our last gathering, Walks in two worlds and I burned the sacred fire to release the prayers you tied into the incredibly beautiful and powerful wreath of flowers.
Also, though not specifically shamanic, this link has simple ways to be good to our mother. http://www.dec.ny.gov/public/337.html
Also, though not specifically shamanic, this link has simple ways to be good to our mother. http://www.dec.ny.gov/public/337.html
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Untitled poem
I'm sharing one of my favorite poems. I don't know if it has a title.
I dedicate it the all those on the path of Heart.
And the day came,
when the risk
to remain tight
in a bud
was more painful
than the risk
it took
to Blossom.
-Anais Nin
I dedicate it the all those on the path of Heart.
And the day came,
when the risk
to remain tight
in a bud
was more painful
than the risk
it took
to Blossom.
-Anais Nin
Monday, May 26, 2008
Shift Happens!
While going through the process of shamanic initiation, we apprentices have done a good deal of work with journeys, soul retrievals and hands-on healings. We act as both the shaman and the recipient. I find that this is a very powerful learning tool, not only to develop and practice our own shamanic skills but also in experiencing what it is like for someone who is going through the process of healing and transformation.
I’ve noticed that after every workshop, or after I’ve had powerful transformational work done on me, I’ve been experiencing some negative side-effects. I feel, to some degree, there is a retrograde effect. There is a very strong need for “down-time” and recuperation in the week that follows. On a few occasions, I’ve also been physically ill as it feels like I was working something out of my system to accommodate the shift in energy that was about to occur. I physically and emotionally reach a very low point. I throw myself back into my Muggle world, repress any shamanic inklings, and sleep as much as the demands on my Ordinary Reality will allow. And then just when it feels like all the work and healing that were done were for naught, a shift occurs, and I pull out of it. I find I have the energy and zeal to do dive into the shamanic realm, connect with Spirit, and get my work done. Transformation comes not only through having a healing done on you, but in holding up your end of your contract with Spirit to do the work.
Much of the work we are doing in our shamanic apprenticeship is to help us establish find our purpose and greater Life’s Work. I often feel at our group gatherings, and in time as I’ve grown in this process, I have a better sense of what my purpose is. After receiving so many healings to aide me in that transformation, I find there are definite side-effects and a need for my body and life to catch up to the changes occurring. Once the shift begins to occur, the upswing is as swift, and I find that my sense of purpose is not only something realized, it is also felt.
At our last gathering at the beach, after checking in with some of my fellow apprentices, it occurred to me that we are all having very similar experiences, shamanically as well as in our personal lives. So I’d love to know if anyone else in the tribe or anyone in the community at large has experienced the side-effects of performing and receiving shamanic work.
I’ve noticed that after every workshop, or after I’ve had powerful transformational work done on me, I’ve been experiencing some negative side-effects. I feel, to some degree, there is a retrograde effect. There is a very strong need for “down-time” and recuperation in the week that follows. On a few occasions, I’ve also been physically ill as it feels like I was working something out of my system to accommodate the shift in energy that was about to occur. I physically and emotionally reach a very low point. I throw myself back into my Muggle world, repress any shamanic inklings, and sleep as much as the demands on my Ordinary Reality will allow. And then just when it feels like all the work and healing that were done were for naught, a shift occurs, and I pull out of it. I find I have the energy and zeal to do dive into the shamanic realm, connect with Spirit, and get my work done. Transformation comes not only through having a healing done on you, but in holding up your end of your contract with Spirit to do the work.
Much of the work we are doing in our shamanic apprenticeship is to help us establish find our purpose and greater Life’s Work. I often feel at our group gatherings, and in time as I’ve grown in this process, I have a better sense of what my purpose is. After receiving so many healings to aide me in that transformation, I find there are definite side-effects and a need for my body and life to catch up to the changes occurring. Once the shift begins to occur, the upswing is as swift, and I find that my sense of purpose is not only something realized, it is also felt.
At our last gathering at the beach, after checking in with some of my fellow apprentices, it occurred to me that we are all having very similar experiences, shamanically as well as in our personal lives. So I’d love to know if anyone else in the tribe or anyone in the community at large has experienced the side-effects of performing and receiving shamanic work.
"The Woman In The Shaman's Body"
I was researching something and stumbled upon this book called "The Woman In The Shaman's Body: Reclaiming The Feminine In Religion And Medicine." by Barbara Tedlock Phd.
Archeologist's had found during an excavation a particular burial-where a spearhead had been placed near the head of the deceased and the body of a fox was placed in the hand. The body had been painted red over sixty thousand years ago. There was no doubt due to the clues the body was of a shaman, but the skeletal analysis revealed it was a woman. It is interesting to note that the oldest skeletal remains of a shaman belong to a woman.
I do not have this book but I am interested in it being a woman myself to see the shaman through the feminine. To learn about the moon cycle, and midwifery.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
When You Grow Up Spiritually
I've always said you only need to heal until you realize you were fine all along. Until then, your need for healing is real. With shamanism, we serve those who are still in this place. Even if we, ourselves, begin to feel beyond it. Paradox, eh? Below speaks to one version of being fine all along... Hugs, Robin
A book excerpt from The Ascension Primer:
"Below is a list of new ways of being that usually arrive when we begin to reside in a new and higher vibrating reality. Many of these greatly surprised me as they were so much simpler and better than I could have ever imagined. The old rules and ways we were told of the higher realms were derived from an
ego-based consciousness that existed behind the veil, and were some of them ever wrong! And the majority, but not all, of any channelings only derive from the individual who is channeling the information. Anyone can tap into any energy pocket they choose that is vibrating as they are and get about
any kind of information that matches their belief system. Who knows about the accuracy. Through the ascension process, we go there. In this way, it is quite different indeed.
1. You reach a certain level through your ascension process where you no longer desire or resonate with any kind of healing. And like a reformed smoker, you can get frustrated when the New Age arena continues to focus much of their energy on healing. As we begin to vibrate higher, we no longer need healing. Healing serves to basically introduce us to a lower vibrating energy that is no longer any kind of
a match to us. It can take us "back" where we no longer are. And it can really bring in a lower vibrating
energy that we need not ever focus on again. Where we place our energy and focus greatly becomes our
surrounding reality more than ever in the higher realms. Why would one want to continually focus on lower vibrating energy? This energy can feel like something from another world where you are no longer residing. And receiving a healing after you have "gotten here" can also short circuit your system.
2. You no longer have the same connection with your physical family. We chose to be born into
a physical environment in order to support the development of necessary traits that we chose to
embody in order to support our soul purpose. In addition, most of us agreed to uplift the planetary
vibration through transmuting the darker and denser energies. After our prior incarnation is complete and
we are done and have arrived in a higher realm, our purposes with our families are now obsolete. The cords are basically severed. We are no longer connected through issues. We are done with this experience. Therefore, our family members can suddenly disappear from our lives for no apparent reason as there is no longer a connection to them. But if we continue to simply love them and have that as our connection, we can continue to maintain a relationship based on joy and choice. And after we arrive in a higher state of clarity, we are also able to clearly see who they really are and how they operate, which has absolutely nothing to do with us.
3. Your lifetime friends suddenly leave your life. Same as above. And sometimes we re-unite with
friends we haven't seen for eons. And this energetic pattern is also true for geographical areas on the planet as well. When we are done with a particular purpose, we are done. In the higher realms it is all about joy, fun, experiencing, and creating with no attachments. This is why we may also get to go back to old friends and geographical homes as we are now uniting for a different purpose.
4. You suddenly see what it is all about and always has been and it has nothing to do with "karma", "contracts", "life lessons", or "Earth as a school". These are things that someone made up and many of us bought into. We needed a story to explain why we were so uncomfortable and we needed it to be spiritual and purposeful so that our suffering would not be in vain. When the fog finally lifts and we rise above it, we are no longer seeing through limited thinking of a lower vibrating consciousness. It is all about energy and using it to have an experience. We wanted to play games. We made up stories. At times we came to he planet to try and alter it through our higher consciousness that we placed in form (our bodies). We were bored at times. The purpose of Earth and of existence is to create through form. We were
never trying to get anywhere, continually trying to go back home. We wanted to play, have fun and
experience. And we weren't serious all the time! Spirituality is about joy, fun, creating, and playing. It is
absolutely not rigid, full of rules, or judgmental. It is about freedom, love, and laughter.
5. You are no longer interested in spiritual gatherings, group meditations, or the New Age arena in general. You have come to realize that intentional spirituality is not really real and does not
stick. The truth of the matter is, we are spiritual 24/7 no matter what we are doing. Forced spirituality
removes us from the world and places us in artificial situations where we are not really being, but "trying" to be. In the higher realms, we are simply living our lives and experiencing. We are not continually wanting something else and trying to place ourselves in situations that we think may bring us closer to Source because they seem to be more spiritual. It is far better to have the presence of your being here in the world rather than in a pocket of distanced and artificial "trying".
6. You get rid of all your spiritual and self-help books and no longer desire to learn anything new. Congratulations! You have arrived in the state of being. You are also done learning as you
are readying to provide your energy through your special gifts and talents by simply being in a space
where you greatly enjoying being. Being in the moment relates to this as well. And expanding and
growing always comes from experience, not from book learning or mental awareness. We can now get any additional information we need through connecting directly to Source. In addition, if you are no longer
craving any new information, you are most likely done in this universe and preparing to go to the next level.
7. You crave simplicity and can barely tolerate anything complicated. We have released so much that we are much more in a state of simplicity. In the higher realms, one does not need to make anything happen or to do one thing in order to have an outcome. There are no hoops to jump through or complicated processes. When we are being a vibration, we simply and naturally draw it to us. And remember,
in the higher realms we are simply being, creating, and experiencing. No planning, agendas, opinions, or
having to prove something or do something in order to receive something.
8. Negativity feels downright awful. In the higher realms, there is no contrast or negativity. When we reach a higher state, we know intuitively that life is about joy, passion, and creativity and we never have a
thing to complain about. Negativity comes from powerlessness and this state does not exist in the
higher realms. And continually talking about anything in a negative way brings it to life and makes negativity a real experience and reality. It gives it fuel and allows it to exist.
9. Drama is a thing of the past. When we reach the higher states, we can clearly see that we had
been most certainly existing in a "play". As we are now living and viewing things from a higher level, we no longer need dramas and stories to unfold around us due to unintentional and unconscious creating. We no longer desire this emotional state of powerlessness as it no longer fits where we are. And we are much too tired and apathetic, as a perfect by-product of the ascension process, to have the energy for this kind of thing!"
A book excerpt from The Ascension Primer:
"Below is a list of new ways of being that usually arrive when we begin to reside in a new and higher vibrating reality. Many of these greatly surprised me as they were so much simpler and better than I could have ever imagined. The old rules and ways we were told of the higher realms were derived from an
ego-based consciousness that existed behind the veil, and were some of them ever wrong! And the majority, but not all, of any channelings only derive from the individual who is channeling the information. Anyone can tap into any energy pocket they choose that is vibrating as they are and get about
any kind of information that matches their belief system. Who knows about the accuracy. Through the ascension process, we go there. In this way, it is quite different indeed.
1. You reach a certain level through your ascension process where you no longer desire or resonate with any kind of healing. And like a reformed smoker, you can get frustrated when the New Age arena continues to focus much of their energy on healing. As we begin to vibrate higher, we no longer need healing. Healing serves to basically introduce us to a lower vibrating energy that is no longer any kind of
a match to us. It can take us "back" where we no longer are. And it can really bring in a lower vibrating
energy that we need not ever focus on again. Where we place our energy and focus greatly becomes our
surrounding reality more than ever in the higher realms. Why would one want to continually focus on lower vibrating energy? This energy can feel like something from another world where you are no longer residing. And receiving a healing after you have "gotten here" can also short circuit your system.
2. You no longer have the same connection with your physical family. We chose to be born into
a physical environment in order to support the development of necessary traits that we chose to
embody in order to support our soul purpose. In addition, most of us agreed to uplift the planetary
vibration through transmuting the darker and denser energies. After our prior incarnation is complete and
we are done and have arrived in a higher realm, our purposes with our families are now obsolete. The cords are basically severed. We are no longer connected through issues. We are done with this experience. Therefore, our family members can suddenly disappear from our lives for no apparent reason as there is no longer a connection to them. But if we continue to simply love them and have that as our connection, we can continue to maintain a relationship based on joy and choice. And after we arrive in a higher state of clarity, we are also able to clearly see who they really are and how they operate, which has absolutely nothing to do with us.
3. Your lifetime friends suddenly leave your life. Same as above. And sometimes we re-unite with
friends we haven't seen for eons. And this energetic pattern is also true for geographical areas on the planet as well. When we are done with a particular purpose, we are done. In the higher realms it is all about joy, fun, experiencing, and creating with no attachments. This is why we may also get to go back to old friends and geographical homes as we are now uniting for a different purpose.
4. You suddenly see what it is all about and always has been and it has nothing to do with "karma", "contracts", "life lessons", or "Earth as a school". These are things that someone made up and many of us bought into. We needed a story to explain why we were so uncomfortable and we needed it to be spiritual and purposeful so that our suffering would not be in vain. When the fog finally lifts and we rise above it, we are no longer seeing through limited thinking of a lower vibrating consciousness. It is all about energy and using it to have an experience. We wanted to play games. We made up stories. At times we came to he planet to try and alter it through our higher consciousness that we placed in form (our bodies). We were bored at times. The purpose of Earth and of existence is to create through form. We were
never trying to get anywhere, continually trying to go back home. We wanted to play, have fun and
experience. And we weren't serious all the time! Spirituality is about joy, fun, creating, and playing. It is
absolutely not rigid, full of rules, or judgmental. It is about freedom, love, and laughter.
5. You are no longer interested in spiritual gatherings, group meditations, or the New Age arena in general. You have come to realize that intentional spirituality is not really real and does not
stick. The truth of the matter is, we are spiritual 24/7 no matter what we are doing. Forced spirituality
removes us from the world and places us in artificial situations where we are not really being, but "trying" to be. In the higher realms, we are simply living our lives and experiencing. We are not continually wanting something else and trying to place ourselves in situations that we think may bring us closer to Source because they seem to be more spiritual. It is far better to have the presence of your being here in the world rather than in a pocket of distanced and artificial "trying".
6. You get rid of all your spiritual and self-help books and no longer desire to learn anything new. Congratulations! You have arrived in the state of being. You are also done learning as you
are readying to provide your energy through your special gifts and talents by simply being in a space
where you greatly enjoying being. Being in the moment relates to this as well. And expanding and
growing always comes from experience, not from book learning or mental awareness. We can now get any additional information we need through connecting directly to Source. In addition, if you are no longer
craving any new information, you are most likely done in this universe and preparing to go to the next level.
7. You crave simplicity and can barely tolerate anything complicated. We have released so much that we are much more in a state of simplicity. In the higher realms, one does not need to make anything happen or to do one thing in order to have an outcome. There are no hoops to jump through or complicated processes. When we are being a vibration, we simply and naturally draw it to us. And remember,
in the higher realms we are simply being, creating, and experiencing. No planning, agendas, opinions, or
having to prove something or do something in order to receive something.
8. Negativity feels downright awful. In the higher realms, there is no contrast or negativity. When we reach a higher state, we know intuitively that life is about joy, passion, and creativity and we never have a
thing to complain about. Negativity comes from powerlessness and this state does not exist in the
higher realms. And continually talking about anything in a negative way brings it to life and makes negativity a real experience and reality. It gives it fuel and allows it to exist.
9. Drama is a thing of the past. When we reach the higher states, we can clearly see that we had
been most certainly existing in a "play". As we are now living and viewing things from a higher level, we no longer need dramas and stories to unfold around us due to unintentional and unconscious creating. We no longer desire this emotional state of powerlessness as it no longer fits where we are. And we are much too tired and apathetic, as a perfect by-product of the ascension process, to have the energy for this kind of thing!"
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Waiting
Thank you Nightsingsinhisheart for the gift of poetry. I would like to share a poem from this book. Although the language crafted is from a time gone by, the message intended for the heart and soul is timeless.
Waiting
Serene, I fold my hands and wait,
Nor care for wind nor tide nor sea;
I rave no more 'gainst time or fate,
For lo! my own shall come to me.
I stay my haste, I make delays---
For what avails this eager pace?
I stand amid the eternal ways
And what is mine shall know my face.
Asleep, awake, by night or day,
The friends I seek are seeking me,
No wind can drive my bark astray
Nor change the tide of destiny.
What matter if I stand alone?
I wait with joy the coming years;
My heart shall leap where it has sown,
And garner up its fruit of tears.
The waters know their own, and draw
The brook that springs in yonder height;
So flows the good with equal law
Unto the soul of pure delight.
The stars come nightly to the sky;
The tidal wave unto the sea;
Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,
Can keep my own away from me.
John Borroughs (1837-1921)
Waiting
Serene, I fold my hands and wait,
Nor care for wind nor tide nor sea;
I rave no more 'gainst time or fate,
For lo! my own shall come to me.
I stay my haste, I make delays---
For what avails this eager pace?
I stand amid the eternal ways
And what is mine shall know my face.
Asleep, awake, by night or day,
The friends I seek are seeking me,
No wind can drive my bark astray
Nor change the tide of destiny.
What matter if I stand alone?
I wait with joy the coming years;
My heart shall leap where it has sown,
And garner up its fruit of tears.
The waters know their own, and draw
The brook that springs in yonder height;
So flows the good with equal law
Unto the soul of pure delight.
The stars come nightly to the sky;
The tidal wave unto the sea;
Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,
Can keep my own away from me.
John Borroughs (1837-1921)
Monday, May 19, 2008
Freedom in the Binding
My teacher told me to write about Illusion and the Truth.
I wrote Illusions on the left side of my journal
and Truth responded on the right.
Until it became obvious
they were opposing each other.
Ha!
“Where exactly do you meet?” I wrote.
And discovered, then, the binding,
A slit so narrow, there aren’t any words there.
I will write you a book of Truth and Illusion,
but where I rest is
in the binding.
The place where consciousness is born and breathes,
writing out the pages of a story
that holds together only by what binds it.
— Lorraine
I wrote Illusions on the left side of my journal
and Truth responded on the right.
Until it became obvious
they were opposing each other.
Ha!
“Where exactly do you meet?” I wrote.
And discovered, then, the binding,
A slit so narrow, there aren’t any words there.
I will write you a book of Truth and Illusion,
but where I rest is
in the binding.
The place where consciousness is born and breathes,
writing out the pages of a story
that holds together only by what binds it.
— Lorraine
Bring Me Only This
Life packs each vessel with song
until it overflows
then scoops it out like a melon,
spoon by sharp spoon
loss by loss
until just the rind is left
translucent,
to shape the aching hollow
through which sunlight pours.
But the hunger of absence
is wrapped around a seed
that cannot be destroyed.
When loss leaves you empty
sing into the void;
let the soft, moist breath of your moan
caress the seed. Water it
with attention until it reveals itself.
What you find there
at the heart of emptiness
born of loss
cup it tenderly.
Bring it to me.
Bring me only this.
John Mizelle
until it overflows
then scoops it out like a melon,
spoon by sharp spoon
loss by loss
until just the rind is left
translucent,
to shape the aching hollow
through which sunlight pours.
But the hunger of absence
is wrapped around a seed
that cannot be destroyed.
When loss leaves you empty
sing into the void;
let the soft, moist breath of your moan
caress the seed. Water it
with attention until it reveals itself.
What you find there
at the heart of emptiness
born of loss
cup it tenderly.
Bring it to me.
Bring me only this.
John Mizelle
This weekend our group came together and Robin played a song that Josh Groban sings called "Let me Fall". Those words will become a balm for me when it comes time for me to fall. Spirit will guide you if you listen and when it is time to let go there is no drama, it just is.
"Let Me Fall" Josh Groban Lyrics
let me fall
let me climb
there's a moment when fear
and dreams must collide
someone i am
is waiting for courage
the one i want
the one i will become
will catch me
so let me fall
if i must fall
i won't heed your warnings
i won't hear them
let me fall
if i fall
though the phoenix may
or may not rise
i will dance so freely
holding on to no one
you can hold me only
if you too will fall
away from all these
useless fears and chains
someone i am
is waiting for my courage
the one i want
the one i will become
will catch me
so let me fall
if i must fall
i won't heed your warnings
i won't hear
let me fall
if i fall
there's no reason
to miss this one chance
this perfect moment
just let me fall
Friday, May 16, 2008
Proverb
(disclaimer – I have been here, done that, guilty, guilty, guilty) life reminds me that I am coasting from time to time.
“The Teacher should never work harder than the Student”
“The Teacher should never work harder than the Student”
Thursday, May 15, 2008
HOW MUCH IS IT WORTH TO ME?
Last night's conference call was a wake-up/ kick in the butt for me. I have read most of the Mindell book, but completly missed the connection between the risks of seduction and Devil's weed. I had read that section in too much of a hurry because of time. The year is almost half over, and looking at it, I have people waiting for journeys, assigned books that I'm reading too fast, related books that are sitting there, exercises, practices, and experiences that remain undone, etc. At the same time, I am working more than full time seeing patients, I am substantially behind on paper work and documentation, take home paperwork every night and don't do it. When I consider the path of heart, I see a serious imbalance here. While I do , as often as possible for me, use second attention for my patients' benefit and to hone my own skills, too often I'm trying to return phone calls between people, get forms filled, etc. and I lapse into pure survival mode. This is a space too many of us in clinics try to avoid and know too well. It serves no one.
This is one precious year and I will not waste it. I sat down with my husband at breakfast today (should have waited until after we had our coffee) and worked out the following:
I am droppping one day a week at work, and cutting an equal amount of money from what I (we) spend. I've cut out cleaning help, my gym membership, Dr. Weil's site, etc. (I won't enumerate further , or you'll see how superficial I really am). this does not equate to following a teacher around the jungle for fourteen years, but it is a beginning to understanding the cost of the path. I will not miss the opportunity that this year is. it does not benefit my patients, it does not clarity my path. This is one step to clarifying and affirming what this calling means to me.
This is one precious year and I will not waste it. I sat down with my husband at breakfast today (should have waited until after we had our coffee) and worked out the following:
I am droppping one day a week at work, and cutting an equal amount of money from what I (we) spend. I've cut out cleaning help, my gym membership, Dr. Weil's site, etc. (I won't enumerate further , or you'll see how superficial I really am). this does not equate to following a teacher around the jungle for fourteen years, but it is a beginning to understanding the cost of the path. I will not miss the opportunity that this year is. it does not benefit my patients, it does not clarity my path. This is one step to clarifying and affirming what this calling means to me.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
"Be The Change You Want To See In The World" Mahatma Gandhi
Depending on your perception of where you are in your world it would appear that people are on the verge of snapping. As I walked my dog Max this morning who is constantly being stopped for being "sooo cute", we stepped out of the elevator into quite a large lobby. He had his leash on and was walking very close beside me. A woman came in the front door and literally "if looks could kill" sent energetically bolts to me. She took one look of utter disgust to Max and me. I have to say I was taken aback and did feel her poison arrows. I sent her some peace perhaps she was having a bad day.
Moments later as we were walking back tot he apt on a very large sidewalk a woman came up behind Max and me and started yelling "to get out of her way, we were taking up to much sidewalk"!. I looked around and once again Max was walking very close to me and could see there was room to pass on the right or the left side. I think because of the first incident I reacted and yelled at her "have a nice day" sarcastically not with love. As I walked back I thought how could I have handled that better. So spirit worked quickly and reminded me of Ho'oponopono.
Ho'oponopono's meaning is to rectify an error or to make right. The theory is that everything in your life has to do with your thoughts, feelings and personal energy field. There is that saying two people can witness an act but both of their experiences will be different. This is do to their belief systems, and what they have in their energy fields.
This technique is very shamanic, to start visualize any negative experience as an error in your energy field, when you have created a visual image send pink light (love) to the problem. Say, "Please forgive me", or "I'm sorry. I love you." imagine in your mind the solution tot he problem. It does not matter if you do not have a solution the intention is what matters just by sending the pink light (love) to the problem helps.
We are all burdened by the past , our memories are tied to emotion which affect us by subconsciously associating an action or person in the present with something in the past.
The Kahunas from Hawaii see this as a subconscious creation coming from your field. Instead of blaming someone else or walking away from the incident, one would send POSITIVE energy rather than negative.
Violence begets violence, positive energy tends to neutralize an emotion or an event, creating the possibility of an observer state.
In experiments with quantum physics the observer state shows outcomes changing, or possible outcomes when an observer is present. When we are in observer state we can change ar eminds or reactions.
An example of this is the shaman Dr.Ihaleakala Hew Len who cured a complete ward of criminally insane patients without ever seeing them! He would study the inmates chart and then look within himself to see how he created that persons illness. As he improved himself , the patient improved as well.
Dr. Len did not see the patients physically, but as he worked on himself he noticed that the patients began to heal.
The ward was not a pleasant place to work in, due to the environment there was a high turnover of staff or people were sick or just terrified of being attacked by the patients.
Dr Len noticed after a few months patients that were heavily medicated were off drugs or patients that were shackled were now walking. Eventually the ward closed.
When Dr . Len was asked the question: What were you doing WITHIN yourself that caused those people to change? "I was simply healing the part of me that created them," he said. He further explained that total responsibility for your life means that everything in your life, simply because it is your life, is your responsibility. In a literal sense , the entire world is your creation.
If you take responsibility for your life , then everything you see, hear, touch, all your senses, any way you choose to experience is your responsibility because it is your life. So whatever you experience that you do not like , the economy, your boos or spouse, it is up to you to heal. They do not exist except as projections from inside you. The problem is not with them it is with you, and to change them You have to CHANGE YOU.
I know blame is far easier than total responsibility but if you want to improve your life , you need to heal your life. Ho'oponopono means loving yourself.
What did Dr. Len do when he was studying the files of patients he said " I just kept saying, "Im sorry and "I love you" over and over again.
So today I learned instead of reacting to those women who are not OUT THERE they are IN ME I can say "I'm sorry I love you" I can be the change I want to see in the world.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
The Philosophy of Fear
I was at a business dinner the other night, trying to be as muggle as i could be, and the conversation was very generic and focused on "getting to know each other". The other three people there were older than I.. I think they were all around 60 or so. The owner of this other company was Indian (from India) and a very nice man.. I was drifting in and out of listening to what they were saying and trying to feel them energetically.. (something I find myself doing more and more during these exciting times in my life!!) and I was brought out of my dream world with the comment by the Indian gentleman that we needed to study the Philosophy of Fear. He went on to say that many people have studied many different emotions of people and there are now "scientific" points of view for many things.. there is a psychology of Fear, but not a Philosophy of Fear.
What really struck me as interesting about this is the fact that it didn't fit into the conversation of the evening at all.. After that, I could only think about (and still am) how to arrange another meeting with this guy to just talk about that! We all have fears and I think looking within to find the source of our fears is a driving force for many of us. I would love to get input from you on your thoughts. I contacted the guy and told him i'd like to get together again over lunch.. and said maybe we could come up with a plan to study Fear.. not sure if he thought I was joking or not :-) We'll see.
What really struck me as interesting about this is the fact that it didn't fit into the conversation of the evening at all.. After that, I could only think about (and still am) how to arrange another meeting with this guy to just talk about that! We all have fears and I think looking within to find the source of our fears is a driving force for many of us. I would love to get input from you on your thoughts. I contacted the guy and told him i'd like to get together again over lunch.. and said maybe we could come up with a plan to study Fear.. not sure if he thought I was joking or not :-) We'll see.
A poem by Antonio Machado:
"Last Night While I was Sleeping"
Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt--marvelous error!--
that I had a behive here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my past mistakes.
Except from the book: The Shamanic Way of the Bee
I had then decided to emphasize that our search for the transformative paths should begin at home and that even the humblest of gardens oozed power and dripped magical secrets.
written by Prof. S.R. Harrop
Today, in the woods, much bee activity could be observed. Slowing down and honoring their space (and sting) enabled us to sit amongst the many buzzing mighty mitochondriacs, in peace.
Change, Choices and Decision Making...
As of late, I have found it quite difficult to make decisions and choose that which I feel serves me and expresses my true desires. I find that the more I do the work the more I realize that the term me, myself and I applies on many levels. I find that I cannot always clearly identify my likes and dislikes or identify who I am in a solid sense. Many aspects of who I am seem very polarized. I find that in many ways my likes are not black and white but many shades of grey. The farther along I get in the work the more conflicting, polarized and broad this aspect seems to be and I have to work at finding the middle point. So when life asks that I walk one way or another, my choice is often to want to walk the middle path. Unfortunately the middle path is not always offered up in some cases and this creates frustration on my part when having to make a choice. It is like going into a restaurant and wanting a buffet rather than a main dish. Only a certain combination of a little bit of this and a little bit of that seems to be just what my soul wants for authentic expression. In many ways foods that typically may not even go well together! Wanting the sunny day and the thunder storm all at the same time because that is what creates that perfect expression or seems to truly reflect that which I am longing to experience. I realize that if I choose one or the other, black or white so to speak, there is this deep sense of dissatisfaction and longing.
To make a long story short it comes to a point where I realize that I am neither this nor that but I am all of it. I can no longer stand firmly in one space and say this is me or that is me and the sense of a one dimensional identity is broken down into many many pieces. Having to choose feels like a diservice to myself. Integrating conflicting aspects of the psyche, although powerful and necessary for whole making, can become somewhat confusing when translated into every day decision making in life. Realizing that I am all of it and none of it all at the same time. No true solid sense of identity. It is created moment by moment. Who I am today may not reflect who I am tomorrow and choices shift and change like the ocean tide always leaving room for the desire to create something new. Death and rebirth experienced on a daily basis and life becomes like a Kaleidoscope. Always something to let go of and always a new dream to be born. Wow! What a roller coaster ride this is!
To make a long story short it comes to a point where I realize that I am neither this nor that but I am all of it. I can no longer stand firmly in one space and say this is me or that is me and the sense of a one dimensional identity is broken down into many many pieces. Having to choose feels like a diservice to myself. Integrating conflicting aspects of the psyche, although powerful and necessary for whole making, can become somewhat confusing when translated into every day decision making in life. Realizing that I am all of it and none of it all at the same time. No true solid sense of identity. It is created moment by moment. Who I am today may not reflect who I am tomorrow and choices shift and change like the ocean tide always leaving room for the desire to create something new. Death and rebirth experienced on a daily basis and life becomes like a Kaleidoscope. Always something to let go of and always a new dream to be born. Wow! What a roller coaster ride this is!
Synchronicity
Even though we don't communicate constantly as a tribe, similar events are happening to many of us at the same time. I was in Barnes & Noble Sunday, expoloring the"New Age" (like about 3000 years?) secition when all alone, cover out, was one copy of Nicky Scully Alchemical Healing. I did not know of this book, but it all but jumped at me, I could not have missed it if I tried. I was lost in a lot of our alchemy work reading, hiow could I not give it a second study?
I am also trying to relate better to my cards. They are spot on for me, and when I do a reading, I am beginning to intuit an overall picture, but I have not been diligent in learning my cards as individuals and in their meaning for me and for others. I have planned to research each animal and journey to it for meaning, to make my readings less of the book and the 'booby prize" according to Robin.
More to the point, how many of us are feeling ther same issues in our own ways at the same time? Coincuidence? I think not. I'd love some input.
I am also trying to relate better to my cards. They are spot on for me, and when I do a reading, I am beginning to intuit an overall picture, but I have not been diligent in learning my cards as individuals and in their meaning for me and for others. I have planned to research each animal and journey to it for meaning, to make my readings less of the book and the 'booby prize" according to Robin.
More to the point, how many of us are feeling ther same issues in our own ways at the same time? Coincuidence? I think not. I'd love some input.
Alchemy & Mysticism
I found this book while pursing the local Borders store. The full title is: The Hermetic Museum - Alchemy & Mysticism by Alexander Roob. It's published by Taschen and the ISBN is 978-3-8228-5038-1. This is one of Taschen's 25th anniversary special editions and it is beautiful to behold. It is brimming with artwork and quotations throughout all ages relating to the written subject matter such as Macrocosm (includes sun, moon, cosmic time...), Opus Magnum (genesis, purification...), Microcosm (human form divine, brain & memory...) and ending with Rotation (whirl & magnet, divine geometry...). This book is helping me to go deeper and wider in my understanding of the subject matter from our required reading of The Emerald Tablet by Dennis William Hauck. This will become a "go to reference" for me for understanding the long and varied history of this ancient sacred path of becoming a shaman.
ShapeShifting and Connection with Conscious Intention
It really hit home for me last week why I have been so wiped out after a training trip (as most of you know I cover a 19 state area teaching loggers how to best utilize and recover value from the trees that are selected for harvest). What I realized was that during theses trips, I have been “unconsciously” or “unintentionally” shapshifting back to my consensus reality, industrial persona and holding it for 5 to 6 days. This has been creating a huge drain on my system.
I recognized that the same thing happened when I first started working Co-creatively with Nature. That is, purposely connecting with the Spirit of Nature or a specific plant and asking how to best work with it in a cooperative and balanced partnership. It is important to remember that once you are connected, you stay connected until you intentionally disconnect. Having that open line of connection is like leaving the facet running or the lights on. Energy is constantly being used to sustain the connection and can drain you very quickly.
The answer, is to be conscious and intentional of what/who we are connecting to and to not leave the lights on.
I recognized that the same thing happened when I first started working Co-creatively with Nature. That is, purposely connecting with the Spirit of Nature or a specific plant and asking how to best work with it in a cooperative and balanced partnership. It is important to remember that once you are connected, you stay connected until you intentionally disconnect. Having that open line of connection is like leaving the facet running or the lights on. Energy is constantly being used to sustain the connection and can drain you very quickly.
The answer, is to be conscious and intentional of what/who we are connecting to and to not leave the lights on.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Is it in the cards for you?
I’ve recently begun to re-examine my relationship with one of my divination tools, the Tarot. When we began our shamanic apprenticeship earlier this year, one of our tasks was to learn a card deck or some form of divination. I had looked into runes, I Ching, astrology and numerology among other things. Ultimately, I decided to stick with a card deck, the Universal Waite Tarot, in particular. There were many “flavors” of the Tarot to work with, some based on various cultures, mythologies, shamanic traditions, and nature. I decided that I would stick with the most well-known and widely accepted. I wanted to work with a deck that most people could relate to or least had heard of. My decision came a time in my apprenticeship where I felt like I had to somehow prove to everyone in my sphere of influence (as well as myself) that shamanism and my divination skills were “real.” I felt that if I gave accurate readings from cards that people were familiar with, it would be a win for Team Spirit/Magic/Shaman vs. Team Rational Muggle. I quickly learned that Spirit spoke loudly through the cards, although not always clearly.
Tarot’s rich history and scope across many cultures lent to many interpretations of each card. While the major arcana cards – i.e. Death, The Fool, The Lovers, The Devil – remain unchanged, the lesser arcana containing the suits of cups, pentacles, swords and wands which our modern playing cards are based on often had different artistic and divinatory interpretations. Though it gained popularity in medieval Europe, earliest records of Tarot divination date back to Alexandrian Egypt and Hermes specifically. As we learned from The Emerald Tablet, the Tarot grew out of alchemy. The suits, as well as major arcana, reflect the stages of transfiguration. The major arcana represent archetypal elements and the minor arcana represent their expression in reality. By shuffling the cards, divine elements were dispersed into the physical world, according to William Hauk’s The Emerald Tablet.
It is through alchemy that our cards get their “magic.” I could definitely feel Spirit working through my cards. The cards quickly became an ally for me because whenever I would call on Spirit for guidance, an answer was always delivered in the shuffle of the deck and the flip of a card. Every time I would pull a card for someone, it often reflected their personality or situation they were inquiring about. Though often what felt like an accurate interpretation, it was not always a positive reading. Though proof that the Universe has a sense of humor and is always brutally honest, I was getting frustrated in being Mr. Gloom and Doom. If the person I was reading for was someone who put all of their faith in divination and did not believe they can change their future outcomes, I often found myself discounting my abilities to read the cards, even though we both knew deep down that the cards were right.
Not only were my frustrations in giving negative divinations, but I had a hard time crafting “the Big Picture” I would put together from either the three or four cards that I would pull. I found myself going back to the book that gave divinatory interpretations of each card quite often. The Universal Waite Tarot that I used had several meanings for most cards, and sometimes they were contradictory. Also, when reading the Tarot, if the card is reversed when you pull it, it takes on a different interpretation, sometimes the opposite meaning and sometimes to just a lesser degree. It was quite confusing! I would lose the immediacy of giving my “gut feeling” interpretation of the cards.
Arthur Edward Waite was a respected Hermetic researcher. In 1910 he revised the Tarot and removed outside influences to reinstate their esoteric meanings which established the tarot as the “unbound book” of Hermes. “Waite believed that the original intent of the images was to guide the initiate through alchemical transformation as well as provide a roadmap for the perfected Astral Body,” says Hauk in The Emerald Tablet.
I decided to check out other decks. If the images on the cards are catalysts to the alchemical process, I wanted to look for other decks with richer, more layered images. I also want to find a deck where I have more liberty to give my own interpretations, rather than deciphering which of the multiple divinations in the Waite Tarot best applied to the person I was doing a reading for. I’ve ordered an Egyptian Toth Tarot deck, the Voyager Tarot, and a Shapeshifter Tarot deck. Hopefully they will arrive this week.
Tarot’s rich history and scope across many cultures lent to many interpretations of each card. While the major arcana cards – i.e. Death, The Fool, The Lovers, The Devil – remain unchanged, the lesser arcana containing the suits of cups, pentacles, swords and wands which our modern playing cards are based on often had different artistic and divinatory interpretations. Though it gained popularity in medieval Europe, earliest records of Tarot divination date back to Alexandrian Egypt and Hermes specifically. As we learned from The Emerald Tablet, the Tarot grew out of alchemy. The suits, as well as major arcana, reflect the stages of transfiguration. The major arcana represent archetypal elements and the minor arcana represent their expression in reality. By shuffling the cards, divine elements were dispersed into the physical world, according to William Hauk’s The Emerald Tablet.
It is through alchemy that our cards get their “magic.” I could definitely feel Spirit working through my cards. The cards quickly became an ally for me because whenever I would call on Spirit for guidance, an answer was always delivered in the shuffle of the deck and the flip of a card. Every time I would pull a card for someone, it often reflected their personality or situation they were inquiring about. Though often what felt like an accurate interpretation, it was not always a positive reading. Though proof that the Universe has a sense of humor and is always brutally honest, I was getting frustrated in being Mr. Gloom and Doom. If the person I was reading for was someone who put all of their faith in divination and did not believe they can change their future outcomes, I often found myself discounting my abilities to read the cards, even though we both knew deep down that the cards were right.
Not only were my frustrations in giving negative divinations, but I had a hard time crafting “the Big Picture” I would put together from either the three or four cards that I would pull. I found myself going back to the book that gave divinatory interpretations of each card quite often. The Universal Waite Tarot that I used had several meanings for most cards, and sometimes they were contradictory. Also, when reading the Tarot, if the card is reversed when you pull it, it takes on a different interpretation, sometimes the opposite meaning and sometimes to just a lesser degree. It was quite confusing! I would lose the immediacy of giving my “gut feeling” interpretation of the cards.
Arthur Edward Waite was a respected Hermetic researcher. In 1910 he revised the Tarot and removed outside influences to reinstate their esoteric meanings which established the tarot as the “unbound book” of Hermes. “Waite believed that the original intent of the images was to guide the initiate through alchemical transformation as well as provide a roadmap for the perfected Astral Body,” says Hauk in The Emerald Tablet.
I decided to check out other decks. If the images on the cards are catalysts to the alchemical process, I wanted to look for other decks with richer, more layered images. I also want to find a deck where I have more liberty to give my own interpretations, rather than deciphering which of the multiple divinations in the Waite Tarot best applied to the person I was doing a reading for. I’ve ordered an Egyptian Toth Tarot deck, the Voyager Tarot, and a Shapeshifter Tarot deck. Hopefully they will arrive this week.
Grandmother's Speak, Urgent Wolf Cry
Someone asked me to pass this on...
URGENT MESSAGE
Wolf Cry
Two days ago I was awakened in the early morning hours with this message: "Call your tribe." I am not an indigenous person so the word 'tribe' coming at me like this is a bit startling. However, working with the Great Council of the Grandmothers who have come to return the earth to balance, and working with the teaching and helping spirits of the upper and lower world have taught me to sit loose in the saddle and let myself go where I am being guided.
It was Wolf, the great teacher, who was speaking. "Call your tribe," he said again. "Call them and tell them the time is NOW! They are needed!" he emphasized. " More people are needed to do the work of holding the Net of Light at this time," he said. "Tell them to call on the Net of Light and take their place on it. Ask them to then hold it and cast the Net further and further. Wherever there is suffering on earth and where there are people who long to serve, but don't know how-cast the Net of Light," he said. "Tell everyone you know," he said, "and write an article calling people to the Net of Light." When the spirits speak to me like this, I listen.
The Net of Light is called by different names. Web of Light, Grid of Light, Indra's Net, Net of Life and Net of Light are a few. They all, however, refer to the same thing. The Great Council of the Grandmothers say, "This is the Net of Light that will hold the earth during the times of change that are now upon you." ("A Call to Power: the Grandmothers Speak" by Sharon McErlane)
A few weeks ago the Grandmothers said, "In addition to casting the Net of Light wherever there is suffering on the earth, begin now to also cast to people who are disturbed by the rise of negativity on earth and want to help in some way. Many of them have no spiritual path to follow," they said. " They cannot relate to organized religion and they have not found a way that speaks to their heart. We ask you to cast the Net of Light to them now," they said, "so the Net can take them to their path." When Wolf woke me in the middle of the night he was basically repeating what the Grandmothers had said, except that his message was much more urgent, ("Tell them that the time is NOW!")
It is my experience that the Grandmothers and the helping spirits do not mess around and they ask that now we not mess around either. They are asking for our help. You can think of the Net as a lighted fishnet that covers the earth, holds it from above, from below and at the same time penetrates the body of the planet as well as the body of everything that lives here on earth. The Net is lit by the jewel of the heart of each person who holds it; it is held in selfless service.
The Grandmothers urge us to "Go forward now and take your place on the Net of Light. Somewhere where two strands come together is a place that will feel just right for you. Walk forward now and take your place. Hold this place on the Net and let the Net hold you. You hold and you are held in light," they say.
At this point there are thousands of people working with the Net of Light through the Grandmothers network as well as seventy Grandmothers groups focused on spreading their message in different countries of the world. The Grandmothers say, "From this place on the Net of Light, cast now to those who do not know that they too are held in light. Cast to those who are suffering and also to those who wish to help with this work but who have not had a way to access the healing, love of the Net of Light. We ask you to do this for yourself," they say, "and for everything that lives. And as you work with the Net of Light," they add, "you will become a walking blessing upon the earth.
We bless you.
Both the Grandmothers'
website: www.grandmothersspeak.com , and 'A Call to Power: the Grandmothers Speak' give a more detailed explanation of the Net of Light.
We have been asked to get this message to as many people as possible, so if you have suggestions as to where we might post this (magazines, newsletters, etc.), please get back to me. Also please forward to people who would resonate with this urgent message.
I salute the beauty/power within you,Sharon McErlane
URGENT MESSAGE
Wolf Cry
Two days ago I was awakened in the early morning hours with this message: "Call your tribe." I am not an indigenous person so the word 'tribe' coming at me like this is a bit startling. However, working with the Great Council of the Grandmothers who have come to return the earth to balance, and working with the teaching and helping spirits of the upper and lower world have taught me to sit loose in the saddle and let myself go where I am being guided.
It was Wolf, the great teacher, who was speaking. "Call your tribe," he said again. "Call them and tell them the time is NOW! They are needed!" he emphasized. " More people are needed to do the work of holding the Net of Light at this time," he said. "Tell them to call on the Net of Light and take their place on it. Ask them to then hold it and cast the Net further and further. Wherever there is suffering on earth and where there are people who long to serve, but don't know how-cast the Net of Light," he said. "Tell everyone you know," he said, "and write an article calling people to the Net of Light." When the spirits speak to me like this, I listen.
The Net of Light is called by different names. Web of Light, Grid of Light, Indra's Net, Net of Life and Net of Light are a few. They all, however, refer to the same thing. The Great Council of the Grandmothers say, "This is the Net of Light that will hold the earth during the times of change that are now upon you." ("A Call to Power: the Grandmothers Speak" by Sharon McErlane)
A few weeks ago the Grandmothers said, "In addition to casting the Net of Light wherever there is suffering on the earth, begin now to also cast to people who are disturbed by the rise of negativity on earth and want to help in some way. Many of them have no spiritual path to follow," they said. " They cannot relate to organized religion and they have not found a way that speaks to their heart. We ask you to cast the Net of Light to them now," they said, "so the Net can take them to their path." When Wolf woke me in the middle of the night he was basically repeating what the Grandmothers had said, except that his message was much more urgent, ("Tell them that the time is NOW!")
It is my experience that the Grandmothers and the helping spirits do not mess around and they ask that now we not mess around either. They are asking for our help. You can think of the Net as a lighted fishnet that covers the earth, holds it from above, from below and at the same time penetrates the body of the planet as well as the body of everything that lives here on earth. The Net is lit by the jewel of the heart of each person who holds it; it is held in selfless service.
The Grandmothers urge us to "Go forward now and take your place on the Net of Light. Somewhere where two strands come together is a place that will feel just right for you. Walk forward now and take your place. Hold this place on the Net and let the Net hold you. You hold and you are held in light," they say.
At this point there are thousands of people working with the Net of Light through the Grandmothers network as well as seventy Grandmothers groups focused on spreading their message in different countries of the world. The Grandmothers say, "From this place on the Net of Light, cast now to those who do not know that they too are held in light. Cast to those who are suffering and also to those who wish to help with this work but who have not had a way to access the healing, love of the Net of Light. We ask you to do this for yourself," they say, "and for everything that lives. And as you work with the Net of Light," they add, "you will become a walking blessing upon the earth.
We bless you.
Both the Grandmothers'
website: www.grandmothersspeak.com , and 'A Call to Power: the Grandmothers Speak' give a more detailed explanation of the Net of Light.
We have been asked to get this message to as many people as possible, so if you have suggestions as to where we might post this (magazines, newsletters, etc.), please get back to me. Also please forward to people who would resonate with this urgent message.
I salute the beauty/power within you,Sharon McErlane
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