The Spring Equinox is this week on March 19th at 10:14 p.m. here on the west coast. We'll be celebrating Ivy Tallulah's third birthday. Our little vernal queen has chosen to go to Disneyland, which is not exactly my idea of heralding Spring in a ritual way, but this is what we're doing. The year she turned one was my favorite, as celebrations go.
Needless to say, I am putting invisibility spells on all of the princess gift shops as a pre-emptive tactic to spare my daughter the models of flimsy feminine archetypes. I haven't got much time before it finds her somehow! A mama can try.
I'll be creating some ceremony the following weekend, and likely all the way through the Beltane, the fiery time of mid-Spring when the earth is wild and fully alive. For ideas about celebrating Spring Equinox, slip over here and have a listen to some pre-Lodge audio. This season is packed more than any other with animal teachers, meaningful handcrafts, and spirited creative guidance to keep you inspired all season. Registration closes this Friday, so if you're feeling the call, sister, get on over.
In other news, there is a BOGO sale going on in my shop all week on fine art prints. When you purchase a print, tell me in the notes to seller which additional print you would like me to send you.
Yay! Spring! I'm going outside to play with my family now. Look what they've discovered while I was creating this post!
I'm getting really excited for the end of the month, when I'll be holding the first live Lodge circle of the year at Teahouse Studios. There are nine spots left, so if setting the tone for your year of *spiritual creativity* in person is high on your list, then jump on in. We'll be using shamanic journey technique (Yes, I'll be drumming) to go inward for the inner council of animal totems, guides, ancestral healers, and helpers who will see us through 2012.
In the audio below, Stefanie Renee, partner at Teahouse Studio and mamaphotographer extraordinaire and I share a casual call to talk about about what the space is like and what we can expect when we circle together in Berkeley on the 28th of January... and in which I am unusually giddy and celebratory :) (Or maybe not so unusually)
This is a one-day workshop, which takes place on Saturday. A group of us from the workshop will be going out to Point Reyes for a picnic on Sunday in the hopes of spotting some Tule Elk, so send me an email if you'd like to know more about how to get in on that after our day together. I hope to see you there in the divinely feminine room of cozy eastern sunlight...
Searcher, there is no road. We make the road by walking. --Antonio Machado
The light is making it's way back and the post-release hangover wore off in no time. It's been so energizing to read all of the posts that came in, to know that energy was being raised, consciousness committed to, and women and families in circle around the fire were gathering everywhere. Mission accomplished! When I birthed the idea many months ago, I had no idea how the video would be made, much less received. It was loaded over 25,000 times, which exceeded my dream to be amazed, by far. Thank you to all of you who embraced this ritual, some of you for the very first time.
It takes so much courage to create the road by walking.
Snuggling in with my babies for Christmas, I was reminded of just how little it takes for a young mind to be amazed. It's not even their dream to be amazed, and yet, it's so simple for them. For Miles and Ivy- being together, making platters of food, seeing Santa's cookie with a big bite taken out of it, being in awe at the lights and the laughter, pecking out Silent Night on the keyboard, having everyone in their tribe circled around them...I could see the wonder of celebration all over their faces-excitement for life seeping out of their skin.
Marking special occasions ceremoniously has a tremendous impact on the young and young-at-heart. Tribes of all cultures have been burning fires, even Solstice fires, for millennia. As I've taken the work of SouLodge narrower and deeper, into what it really means to connect to the Earth and the seasons, it becomes evermore clear that we are all connected by a distinct thread. This very tribe of rebellious moms, creative spirits and wild women burns so brightly that the thread is unmistakable, and oh-so-powerful.
The Four Season Pass has sold out of it's limited quantity-but there are still seats open for Winter SouLodge. I hope you'll take your commitment to connect and circle to new den-like depths and nesty heights with the howling pack, where we'll be focusing on deep restoration and care of Self and Earth during the quiet time of year, before bursting into bloom in the meadows of Spring.
This is the week of all weeks. I'm pleasantly stunned by all that is being released around here and in the ripples that surround me.
This Friday, December 16th, is the day I'll be sharing the beautiful video made by twelve women and I to share with you as an offering for the Winter Solstice. The Mother of All Releasings Ceremony feels so big. There are so many women, tribes, and families who are stepping forward, lighting a fire and tossing in the un-needed, most of which is hinged on FEAR. This week I'll be baring my soul, making my request of the Universe, asking all women to open up and LET GO. If you are hosting a Solstice party or gathering this weekend, the video will put some swirl in your skirt and bring some sacred to your space in preparation.
I will also be giving away two passes to Winter SouLodge on Friday. You heard me right. Class begins January 16th. Tee hee.
This Thursday, I'll be attending the official launch party, with an enormous collection of my friends and community, to celebrate the release of Christine Mason Miller's book Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the World. THE WORLD. Putting our creativity to work and living our vision has the power to CHANGE THE WORLD. Yes, it does. I'm so proud to have shared writings and a project in this book.
Christine and I have been friends for eleven or more years, when she was manufacturing a greeting card line (Swirly) and I was manufacturing sleepwear (Napcake). We collaborated on pajama designs then and I knew I would want to work with her for as long as she'd have me on her team. At the time, my mission was to create a beautiful permission to rest and Christine totally got it-we were taking big leaps of creative faith at the same time. Jennifer Louden, another super-shero from back in the day, has interviewed Christine at her blog, and reading it reminded me how far it's possible to come in such a short time. From artist to visionary doesn't take long when you line your head up with your heart.
Also on Thursday, the new Squam Art Workshops website is going live. Oh, yes. That is all I can say.
I've created a foundation course for SouLodge, which will be available as a PDF e-Lodge this weekend. Wheeeee and awrooooooo! I've been feeling called to do this since the Summer session ended, and because we covered so many wondrous basics, that I thought it would be really helpful to those just coming in, and answer many questions that come up around what's helpful to know while waiting for a session to begin, or to work the lessons in solitary before coming into the community fully present and accountable. For all of you who have asked for this, thank you. You push me to keep my muzzle to the grindstone, and birth what is ready to be received.
I'm also taking a really huge leap of faith. I will tell you about it when the time is right, but please hold a light for me as I release something I didn't think I was going to, and embrace something I thought I was going to let go of. I am clearing the way for something I once thought impossible. Crazy risky. But crazy good.
I have so much passion for this community, this sacred women's circle. I have a vision in my mind each time I come to this space: I see women with babies on their backs, bread being kneaded, water being carried, the sun drawn down, poetry sang to the rising moon, the fire in the center of it all, skirts swirling, women trusting, letting fly with the spiral dance...this vision comes to me every time I come to write here, and I feel flooded with gratitude every.single.time.
Who: YOU, and if you wish, your circle, tribe, family, or village.
What: A fire ceremony, to release the old year and shift up into the new.
Where: In your backyard firepit, on a bonfire beach, around your fireplace, (even in your kitchen sink if you can make it scout-safe with a fireproof container).
When: Winter Solstice, December 22nd, 2011.
Why: We release what no longer serves us on the Winter Solstice, because it is the darkest day of the year. We let go so that we can step freely into what is waiting for us, as the light begins to grow brighter with each day. We're doing it as an extended community to raise the energy level of letting go, together!
How:Make a releasing bundle. Gather friends and family around a hearth (or do this in sacred solitary), set the bundle safely aflame, and let the alchemical element of fire transform the old, as it knows how to do so well. Feast on Solstice treats and celebrate the return of the light. Tune in here after December 16th to see the video created around my tribe's ceremony.
2012 is a powerful year to let the old ways go and step fully into creative self-expression and abundant support for our dreams from All That Is. It is a time for visionaries to create reality.
Thank you, sisters. I'm so grateful that you and your energy is rippling out into the world!
I'm all goosebumpy writing this. It's with all of the energy I have that I ask the women (and maybe one or two men with heart?) who gather here to honor the Winter Solstice this year by creating a ritual at home or in circle with others in order to release what is of the dated, outmoded ways. Winter Solstice is the shortest, darkest day of the year, which holds the promise of the Light just on the other side of it. On this end, I'm calling it The Mother of All Releasings Ceremony.
If you'd like to make a releasing bundle, as I did for this season's SouLodge participants' kits, here's what you'll need:
A 5x5" square of cotton or hemp fabric
An offering of loose tobacco (I used a very small pinch of tobacco and also some white sage and lavender buds-such small amounts-a little goes a long way.)
Many tiny slips of paper to write your releasing wishes on
A natural fiber cord or string to tie it up with
1. Assemble your plant material on your square of fabric (I chose tattered black linen to represent the imperfect beings we are and also the shadow aspects)
2. Add the slips of paper that you've written what you'll be burning up and away, and roll them up nice and tiny before you add them to the pile.
3. Gather the corners up and tie tightly with hemp twine. It will look like a little ball with pointy tips, or a little black ghost if you turn it upside down.
4. When Solstice arrives on December 22nd, set aside some time and build a fire. If you do not have access to an outdoor firepit, or barbecue, you can burn it outside, in an open space, in an earthenware bowl or abalone shell. The flames will rise, so DO BE CAREFUL and take expert girl scout precautions.
Know that your sisters all around the globe are collectively releasing alongside you, and that we are a tapestry of Women who are paving the way for ourselves to move clearly and confidently from our intentions with this ceremony. Yes, please share what you feel called to at your blog and in your public spaces! I believe that the Earth is ready and willing to take on our emotional dreck and compost it up for us for new and wonderful things to be born from it. Consider making an offering to the Earth of a tiny stone or crystal to thank her for all that she carries for us.
I think it's possible to make this ceremony a biggie. One of the reasons I believe this is because I've been conversing and working with the women of Autumn SouLodge to name (privately and publicly) all that they want to let go of in order to greet 2012 and a shift into greater consciousness with clarity.
I've put my personal circle of women together and we'll be making an AWESOME video to share here to inspire women everywhere to throw the tattered aspects of being into the fire. We're all very keyed up over this and I'll be nailbiting from now until share day. My intention is to raise energy all over the world on December 22nd and make it a celebration of release. I'm seriously laughing as I write this because I feel so strongly about what we are capable of when we can alchemically transform:
Fear into Courage
Not Enoughness into Plenty
Old patterns of behavior into fresh responses and vulnerability
Anger into Cleansing Breath
Sorrow into Hope
Grief into Rebirth
Loneliness into Circle and Support
Disempowerment into Confident Action
Creative Dormancy into Full Expression
Superficiality into True Being
Masks into Love of What Really Is
Shortsightedness into Eagle's Vision
Limitations into Possibility
Projections into Conscious Ownership
Stuckness into Movement
Depression into Light
Bondage into Freedom
Control into a Loose, Flexible Grasp
Obsession into Letting It Be
Anxiety into Flow
Fragmentations into Wholeness
Duality into Oneness
Shame into Acceptance of the Processes of Life
Mistrust into Trust
Judgment into Allowing
You know, the little things that keep us sitting in our own dungeons, stagnant and hungry. There's so much more to name. We've been engaging in a lot of processing around healing, voicing the truth, allowing support/asking for help/asking to be held in silence, and declaring freedoms in the Lodge, and it's been a honor to witness and hold space for the women who are tucked inside, talking, creating and working, and shaking it out. While none of us is walking around living these negative forces all of the time, when it comes time to take action, or when we stumble a bit, these shadowy aspects come rearing up like a viper to keep us inactive. Or maybe shimmying up like old, icky skeletal remains to convince us that we are powerless over that which holds us back.
Imagine if we felt held enough by the Universe, by All That Is, and could shed the old skins to allow a rebirth when the light returns...imagine if we could hold our visions for ourselves as visions for the world and see how what we do as visionary women ripples out and is in alignment with the new consciousness trying to awaken everywhere.
I'm looking forward to carrying the wood to the fire and freeing the stuck bits within myself!
Please tell me if you'll be doing this ritual or your own version of it. I'd like to carry the vision of all of us as we draw toward letting our burdens down. Continuing in the legacy of my teacher and pipe-carrier, Bear Who Dances With the Sky, I'm thrilled to honor the medicine teachings and share them with you here. So much gratitude.
Good Monday morning, sweet readers. I'm so grateful for this space. I know I say this ad infinitum, but it's so true. It's really hard not to bow to the screen every time I come here, because I truly am living my dream of creating and connecting in exactly the way I know I'm meant to.
I'm working hard behind the scenes to create a beautiful ceremony for the Winter Solstice that I want to invite all of you to be a part of. (Yes, I'll do a button and all of that yummy stuff for you who are so deliciously button-hungry :)
It's called The Mother of All Releasings Ceremonies, and I will perform the ceremony live and share the video here on December 21st, the day before the Solstice, the darkest day of the year. You and hopefully thousands of others can do the same on the 22nd and raise energy and consciousness around this, if you feel called to, which I hope you do!
The reason I feel so strongly about this day and this ceremony, is because I've discovered in my own work, as well as in observance of the women in my classes, that we women are carrying and holding onto and holding *in* SO MUCH. I want to grant permission to do what we are designed to do, which is to gather and empty, gather and empty. It seems that this is on my mind all of the time now. I notice that when I am stepping into my visionary shoes, I cannot afford to drag a dead horse behind me. Women are communing and taking amazing leaps all around me, and none of us need to be stalked by the stagnant and outmoded. I hope you'll join me when the day comes. Envision a fire, and see yourself tossing your old worries and fears in there. The elements love to compost. Let's give them the best of our garbage. The most choice, decaying, bits.
I'll be putting up a recipe here at the end of the month so that you can create your very own releasing bundle, (the same that I created for my Lodge Women), filled with the energy and words that you are ready to let go of in order to greet the new year with open arms, a bright light and no dead anything clinging on and loitering up your beautiful space!
Registration has opened for Winter SouLodge and there are also four-season passes available for all full-length sessions being held in 2012. I'm so excited to be doing this work and sharing my tools and resources with awakened women. It's become a safe and lively container, and I've learned so very much inside the shelter about the true nature of Woman. It keeps my fire burning. :)
This season. Oh, this season. You are sneaking away from me so quickly like a sly little red fox. In addition to eating the children's Halloween candy...I am trying to soak up as much of the Autumn air as I can. This is the season which always feels like New Year's to me. I don't want it to slip past me. Staying in the present moment has been at times, really easy. Such as when I whipped up a little minky black tail, a kitty cape and pointy ears on an old headband for Ivy's cat costume in under two hours, two days before All Hallow's Eve. Oh, and gaining an hour on the clock last night. That was especially easy to be present for.
But most times I am feeling surrendered to the chaos that is looking at houses many times per week, driving back and forth to Ojai, falling in love with it, transporting back here, grieving this place and loving how we're able to spread out here on this land. There is much talk of releasing coming out of my mouth these days and releasing what was, in order to embrace what would very much like to be, is required. I have not designed that ceremony yet.
I did take some time this week to create Releasing Kits for the wild women of Autumn SouLodge, however. And that was great fun for me.I have to balance the work in my head with work for my hands. Fun! I mean, fun for my hands. It's late. To the photo journal.
Ceremony starts with smudge.
It all began rather innocently.
Tribbles! I mean, er...Releasing Kits!
Rainy days make for good indoor ceremony, and tired mama Lodge leaders with naps in the agenda.
The Moon is in her full splendor tonight as I write this. I am filled with so many feelings surrounding your releasing comments. We all have so much fear, not-enoughness, anxiety, doubt, control, anger, grief...the old baggage, as someone called it. This connection with each of you, over what we are holding onto...well, you know I consider it my life's work to Let Go. To release again and again whatever stands between me and peace. Me and love of one and all, my foolish self included. So this has touched me so deeply, and come at the perfect time.
Misty mentioned that she wanted to "shake it" and I remembered these words when I sampled (and pre-ordered) Florence's new record today, Ceremonials. A beautiful sign! It popped into my field of vision at iTunes just as these thoughts were percolating in the cauldron of my consciousness, meditating on just how heavy the loads are that we carry. We sometimes forget that in order to keep our baskets full of what nourishes us, we must move on from the old.
I drove around a little bit tonight, shaking it off, and thinking about what a powerful ritual it would be if we all gathered collectively, on the same day around the world, to Shake It Off. Let it go. And as Florence says, "I'm always dragging that horse around... tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground..."
I danced in the driver's seat. I threw the devil off my back.
And that's when it hit me like a blast of light.
WE NEED A CEREMONY FOR LETTING GO.
I've created them many times, but never for a large group. And so there came a vision.
Here is how the full moon evening unfolded in my nest from there:
I sat in my studio and put together a Letting Go Kit, which I decided to mail out to each of my Autumn SouLodge sisters the week we begin class on October 31st. It will include the simple ingredients we will need to create a charged-up little container to hold all that we want to release.
The session will end on December 4th, and we will have once again circled around the Medicine Wheel and worked with the elements that have come up for us, looking at where our resistance is, flushing out what wants to come into the light and be expressed and embraced, come face to face with our guides and creature totems, working with them to overcome the obstacles that give us access to Source in a way that is meaningful to each of us. We will have discovered what no longer serves and how we want to proceed. We will declare it.
THEN, when Winter Solstice arrives on December 22nd, we can all take our little packages stuffed with fear, grief, not-enoughness, doubt, rage, disappointment...ALL OF IT to the fire. We will take it to the fire: be it at a roaring bonfire, a fireplace, a chiminea on a deck, or a firesafe bowl in our kitchen sinks, and we will burn those babies up. ALL ON THE SAME DAY, creating an agreement with our sisters around the world to Let It Go. To dance around the sacred fire of our awesomeness and watch our bundles go up in flames! Can you imagine?!
And all just in time for the New Year, which is by no accident, 2012, the year the Mayan calendar beckons us to move into the next dimension of consciousness. The one in which fear, doubt, self-loathing, and not-enoughness, are not needed. They have tried to serve us well as protective forces, however, their time is up. The darkest day of the year is the perfect time to create energy around this letting go. How can we go wrong if we collect all of our desires to release, and do it in sacred, feminine ceremony in the company of hundreds of other women on the cusp of the return of the Light?
Time and again, the image of dancing around a fire comes up for us in journeywork in the Lodge. It is time to make this real!
I was guided to call this The Mother Of All Releasings Ceremony.
I'll make a huge deal out of this on my blog, as well as in my public spaces, I'll provide you with buttons to share at your home sites if you wish, discover a way for those of you who cannot attend Lodge to participate, and share all of the details of how to take advantage of this potential for transformation and make it real. I'll share a video from around a fire to connect us all in this rite of passage on the day of Winter Solstice.
There will be flames. And there will be dancing! And there will be releasing.
This is an exercise in letting go and of binding the medicine. Of owning your power as an intuitive woman, which you do not have to try to be- it is your birthright.
Judgment, guilt, negativity, unkindness to our bodies, shame, stuckness -Mama Earth is always ready to take it from us, and together with the alchemy of fire, make something useful out of it- leaving us free to TRUST that we are so much more than what we needlessly carry around.
We get to take the first steps as a community, TOGETHER, to shake it off, in the Mother Of All Releasings Ceremony, on the upcoming Solstice.
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Thank you to Lauren of VisionWise, for sharing her work so generously with us here. She is offering a 15% discount at her shop using the Coupon Code: INTENTION.
Erica Wilson won the giveaway for the pouch, and she said, "Blessed be this season of release and balance! I wish to let go my belief that I do not deserve the beauty and blessings of my life. I deserve to be loved and can let it all in. I would like to cultivate the belief that I have valuable and beautiful and powerful things to share with the world. Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful. Blessed be our Journey."
I couldn't agree more. Blessed be our journey as women in love with our lives and living our visions.
At long last, and thank you for your patience! Now that I have the kinks worked out, we can start talking e-course. Yipppeeeee! Awrooooooooooooooooooo!
The crystals featured in the video are a selenite wand, a chunk of raw rose quartz, and an amethyst formation from inside of a geode.
The Owl wing is from a Barn Owl, which I use in intuitive work because of Owl's ability to cross easily from one realm to the other, and because she brings magic and femininity to all that she touches.
Thank you all so very much for your comments and enthusiasm about circling together virtually. I've given it much thought over the weekend and I think I have a plan. The few bits that were confounding me seem to have resolved themselves. So stay tuned for the launch of something very special, and please keep the feedback coming about what it is you need and want to experience. It goes without saying that video and audio will be a big part of what I have to offer, and I'm testing some other media to see what will work best to create ways to connect. I'm still doing a little bit of troubleshooting, but I'm very excited about doing what I do in a more expanded way and with many of you that I would like to witness more closely.
Something very special is shifting, and I find the evidence every place I turn, including the conversations I'm having with women in my face-to-face and phone tribes. There is a freedom and a soft-focusing occurring, a lifting and a deeper level of trust coming. There is a fortifying of ego strengths, a surrendering to the feminine process, and a great power radiating from that place. I can't wait to gather you and discuss with you how to connect more deeply with yourselves, how to retrieve the information you are seeking, how to build your inventory of tools, your wise furry/feathered/scaled inner council, and of course, how to trust your intuitive guidance.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve-it's my blessing to do this work with each and every one of you!
Summer finds me less at my computer, outside more. Less at the stove, more at the fruit stand. Less in my mind, more in my heart, my feet. This is the first week since coming home from Squam that I feel grounded. Teaching brings me such a high that I found myself floating and unable to let go of my experiences there and come seamlessly back to work here.
I asked myself before I came to writing a) what it is that I am processing, and b) who is helping me. If I know what I need, then I can ask for what I want, right?
It has been a very long time that I have felt like I do my inner work alone, probably ever since I took my first journey and aligned with my first totem animal, who would lead me into the Under World to sift among the messages my unconscious landscape had to show me. My first totem was Spider, black widow, to be exact. And she spun her silky thread around my wrist and took me through a portal that I recognized as a place I played at as a child, a grassy hill full of squirrel holes and treasures such as the first owl pellet I would pick apart and find tiny mouse bones and bits of fluff in.
The creatures have always been here for me, teaching me, guiding me, sharing their secrets of the natural world, blessing me with a quick glance at them as they cross the road in front of me, calling me inward to lead me to the places I needed to go to find peace. So, perhaps they've been helping me since long before that first journey in.
One thing that we are all connected by is that we live on Earth, here with her creatures-communing and sharing space in a way that we can all relate, regardless of where we come from, or what our spiritual beliefs are. Some animals ground us on the planet, while others take us up into the Upper World to seek messages from the heavens and energies outside of us. They have so much to show and teach us, simply by how they have adapted, survived and thrive here.
What I want to share of myself most is this process I have come to love, trust, and also hardwire within me. I have yet to suss out all of the details of an effective way to do this in my virtual community, but I'm working steadily on it. The effect of sitting in a circle in person is difficult to re-create online. I want to connect with my circle's processes, in the way that I have when I've worked on custom medicine bundles and artwork, to bring the healing and the words in a way that shares tools, points you toward your own unique tools and totems, to assign creative projects in which you use your intuition to guide you (as I do in my workshops), and give you the support you need to discover the insights you seek, to share rituals, ceremony, and ways to care for your tools.
I want to get an idea about the interest in this, as I go about discovering the best way to create the circle. Will you share with me if you'd like to do something such as this? To answer my first questions, this is what I'm processing, and it is your help I need to get to where I'm going.
Tonight I'm sitting up in bed and setting out to do some writing on a project that is very dear to my heart and a long time comin'. I washed my feet and pampered them with lavender sugar scrub (jarred up by a writerly friend) to ground myself. I smudged with white sage. I gathered my companions, an old journal, a new one, and a notebook from a most inspiring friend. I called out for Hawk, who has shown up to guide me through this process- taking a necessary dose of my own medicine. I brushed my teeth and put in earplugs. I kissed my babies goodnight and now here I am...
In the silence with my heartbeat. Facing the blank canvas. Soft paws ready to do some trekking into unknown territory. I'm beyond feeling trepidation about these sorts of things. My concerns tonight are with the distillation process, will I have access to the place of intuitive wisdom? I've enjoyed helping others to access it for themselves, as I experienced at SAW, but now it's my turn to head down into the hazy, sparkling goldmines. I'm excited.
Light a candle for me down there if you're walking this extraordinary path, too. I'll do the same for you.
Deep breath. Tea and snack at my side. Many thoughts surfacing about how I can communicate the essence of my experience with you. I'm going to go slowly, okay? I really want to tell you so much...
Attending any retreat is risky. It asks us to stretch ourselves a little, gently, and it also brings up anxiety around our expectations. How will we be perceived? Will we be able to do what we set out to? What in the wild world will blindside us on our journeys there, such as flat tires, car rental snafus, getting lost, forgetting important items, separation anxiety? Just the beginning. How will we grow in our strength and confidence as we take these risks? How will we disappoint ourselves or let ourselves off the hook?
I've attended Squam Art Workshops two times before, once offsite with my family, and in 2009 onsite with my family. Both times, it was as a student. This was my first time alone, and...I was teaching. The week prior I was riddled with anxiety, but as soon as I pulled up through the "tunnel of trees", (as Miles referred to it when he was just about to be three), I felt the cramp and then the release that comes with initiation. I cried as I drove and it was cleansing. By the time I arrived on the land, that sacred land (!) I was fresh and ready to share my gifts, the very best of what I had to share right then.
I presented the idea that our Muse dwells deep within us and that we have to clear the way to access her reserves that eagerly await us, especially so if we don't already have a practice of doing this. One of my students emailed to say this:
I so enjoyed your mask class, that I was wishing I'd taken your medicine shawl class on the last morning. I was intrigued to hear just a little bit about your Native American beliefs and culture, I'd like to learn more, such a different way of thinking and regarding our earth, our souls, our journey. The best part of the class for me was the beginning time when we were sitting by the fire, you were "talking us out of our left brains", and into our right brains, talking about our animals, our energy centers - a real mental transformation, especially for someone like me who doesn't typically "color outside the lines"! I think a little bit of magic was happening! -Karen
I felt an immediate sense of the women who blessed me with their trust as they showed up so open and ready to dig into their creativity in a way that they hadn't yet before. I don't quite know how to tell you what it was like to be in a rustic room, fire roaring, wind howling through the cracks of our workshop doors, and be surrounded by such divine willingness to risk comfort and limits in order to push into that fertile den of our spirits. While I want to be accountable for the space I held and the content I created, I want to assure you that something else was at work. It's my belief that something else always is at work.
Beverly followed her Muse into our kitchen where she wet felted watery, elemental colors of wool roving using a piece of found plastic netting and dishsoap.
The work with the mask was not about creating an alternate persona to hide behind, but a way to give "face" to the parts of us that reside in our spirits. I discovered somewhere along this road that our souls have work to do, lessons to learn, ancient history to overcome. I have come to love this messy, human soul-work. Souls are full of purpose and drive, sometimes with a blend of fear or courage. But our spirits are where we know from.
The best way I can think to describe it is to tell you about a vision I had while I was flying back home: If it's true that we are born in the very beginning as pure light, from the chaos of creative energy, then it makes perfect sense that our life's work, our soul work will begin to unfold the moment we interact with the world and the egos that surround us, including our own. But then, events occur that bring us back in touch with the light.
As the second half of my own life begins, I find that I want more access to that light. I found that the women in my classes had been through a lot. They shared. Some of us even wept. No matter what their ages, I heard again and again that they wanted access to, and were returning to that light for fuel, for confidence, for sanctuary, for messages about how to proceed. I imagine it like a well, and as we get older, we realize that it's always been there for us, from the very beginning, only now, we can get to it and draw up nourishment and luminous expression from it.
Tifanie topstitches and embroiders by the fire.
I'm still integrating many of the gifts that presented at this workshop. (One of which was a hearty donation of sewing machines from Singer, which made it possible for us to have an abundance of tools onhand to create with.)
I still have much more to share. This is a bit of a show and tell of what came up for me as I was entering this new realm of imparting what I know. It's a start.
I'm still getting grounded from the experience, but I feel safe here saying that it was very powerful. Sometimes, at large retreats I can sense a hiding out, and a protection among participants, but this was not my experience at all. And I heard similar murmurings all over camp during my time there.
The vastness of the heart-openings I witnessed infused me with a mysterious and profound trust in the feminine process, something I'd imagined could not expand any more. As I watched the hands of these wild women shapeshift into the hands of their grandmothers and ancestors, fueled by something greater than we could have foreseen, I became filled with a kind of security in our abilities to grow and expand in ceremony, in circle, and in creativity...together.
Did I mention that when I go to Squam next week, I get to room with Maya? I'm um....SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS. Er, I've had a girl crush on her for a couple of years (she and her barn) and so this is kind of like a dream come true for me. I'm taking wine and Fearless Chocolate because our cabin (which is called Shelter, by the way) is going to exude fearlessness. And because I want to impress her with my knowledge of such things.
I've been thinking a lot about my own creative offerings here lately. It's important to me that I try as hard as I can to keep my work as original as possible. It means I have to glance into a reference book when I'm making a medicine bundle, but that I slam it shut after a few minutes so that I can try to create something that is really about my experience in communication with these elements and not about what has already been written about them. It can be very tough, especially if I'm worn out and busy-headed. My creative process is something I intend to sit down to with sacredness in mind-I want to honor the time and the process and not regurgitate what the experts already know best.
Today Ivy jabbed a bobby pin in her ear about twenty minutes after I sat down, stones and herbs in hand, and so I basically threw everything into the air and ran to beat her Dad into the bathroom. This is only one of the kind of distractions I face many times per day. Every mama I know has the same story, so, no pity please.
My question is how do we keep our visions and projects really authentic?
I was working on a Whale bundle tonight and I read in Animal Speak that “Creativity for creativity's sake is not what Whale teaches. It awakens great depths of inspiration...”
Right away what struck me is that I don't do very much playing/playing around when I sit down to get creative. I like to make a mess, but I'm very focused, even when I paint. If I'm not in somewhat of a trance state, I don't feel like I'm pulling up those reserves, which are so full of ancient information and archetypal goodness. Yet, it's very easy with an ocean of distractions surrounding me to get stuck and sit here creatively constipated and stalling, while I try to get back on track.
When I'm witching it up in the kitchen, it's a whole different ballgame. I can chew up a spiky root and spit it into a glass of vodka like a Yankee pitcher- it's intensely fun and I can integrate play with it. But there is something about painting and making bundles that makes me all serious-like. I think my chin scrunches up even. I can't multitask very well during those times.
I don't have a spelled-out answer for how to keep your work truly authentic, serving your deepest human intent. I don't know if I could ever name that intuitive process that you likely have felt, too, the ones where you feel your soul infusing the piece of art, music, food, etc. These often become our "favorite" pieces, right?
Nevermind that I'm going to teach this very thing at Squam next week. How to tap the intuition, how to get to the bottom of the ocean where the Oracle Muse lives to share her stories with you so you can bring them to life. I trust that as a class, we will find our wild way together... and alone.
Whale is about going deeeeeeeeeeeeeep. I can hear her sounds bouncing off of the ocean floor as she communicates those sacred messages up. I hope you enjoy her- I felt really honored to be working with her. She is so lovingly intolerant of fear and stuckness! Flowing big and bold with the currents...
This bundle is about allowing your true colors to come forth and be expressed. It promotes vitality, longevity, and fruition of creative vision. It is about tuning into YOUR authentic offerings that are unique to YOU, and trusting that deepest voice that speaks only truth. It is about discovering the courage to share that song with the world.
Colorful Bornite is an iridescent mineral that captivates attention with it's reflective magentas and chromatic blues. Stone expert Melody says, “This mineral can bring freshness and newness to one's life. It stimulates the inner spirit to seek further heights and substantiates ones ability to enjoy happiness in the moment". It is a very positive and supportive stone which is experienced energetically as a loop that circles around transforming negativity into what she calls “pure beneficial energy”. When I read this, I immediately thought of the sonic waves whales send out, and how that mimicks the ripple effect we experience traveling outward when we're doing the work that serves our divine human intent. This stone speaks of heart and harmony, which is akin to the contract we make when we commit to our creativity and the soul-nourishment it provides. It is also known to stimulate adrenaline, which is a rush often felt when on the right path. Bornite provides energy to move towards vitality in life.
Kelp is included for it's protective qualities on the immune system and it's ancient healing properties. Kelp contains iodine, necessary to good health, but often forgotten from the diet. Kelp feeds many species of undersea and seaside communities, providing essential nutrients to the body and protection from free radicals, including those caused by nuclear radiation. When our creativity is under attack from the doing and thinking-too-much mentality so common in patriarchal societies, it is not unlike fallout. Reaching our full potential can feel impossible. Kelp is a swaying reminder, deep in the waters of the Earth's womb that growth is not only possible, it can also be all the nourishment we need.
Pansy is here to bring cheerfulness, love and beauty to the magic of this bundle. It is commonly associated with “loving thoughts”, required when embracing the potential that lies ahead. It is ever important not to turn on the Self when discouraged, and Pansy is here as a heartsease, (one of it's common botanical names), to offer comfort and protection when facing obstacles. Pansies re-seed themselves, thus they are prolific. They seldom have problems with disease and insects, which tells us that they are hardy and tolerant, despite their delicate appearances. Beautiful Pansy is used medicinally to treat afflictions of the skin, and as soon as I read this I thought about how sometimes we're “itching” to share ourselves and feel fully expressed, yet we lack the trust in our own voice to speak it out and take those risks. Pansy is also used to induce labor, which, when used as a tonic, strengthens those notions already within us.
Whale is the Mother within the Great Mother. She is a magnificent and feminine songstress of the sea, using her ultimate gift of sensitivity to sound to communicate and “sing” to, and with, her tribal pod. She does not hold back, breaching out of the water and showing her shiny skin to the Sun, rejoicing in the vibrancy of life by sharing that which she has discovered down in the deep blue. Whale does not re-enact what others are doing. She is brave in tapping her own vast intuitive resources for inspiration. Whale is a creature of great depth, reflecting that we each have the power to swim down into the unconscious for strength and life-enriching nutrients that are seasoned with what is most true for the individual. She teaches us how to TRUST our own voice and not look to others for too much direction. Whales communicate with sonar, and can perceive themselves and those around them authentically and without projection. Whale does not get caught up in that which does not serve her deepest intent. She has perfected the art of knowing what her gifts are and is unafraid to breathe them up into life for the Earth and Sky to receive.
I've spent the vast part of this weekend packing boxes and trying to get organized to teach at Squam Art Workshops next week. It's hard not to be really excited-I haven't been in those woods since Fall of 2009...those magical woods of birch, white pine and maple. And I've never been in June! A completely different season to explore the Northeast awaits.
I'm teaching a mask-making class the first two days, and then on Saturday, I'm leading a half day workshop in beginning journeywork and aligning with animal totems in Medicine Shawl. What excites me about this is that some of my close and trusted allies get to come with me.
Coyote is always by my side in some form or another, and since I'm having to travel as light as possible, I'm bringing a bag that was gifted to me by my dad years ago at a powwow. Leaving my medicine behind seldom happens anymore. I find a way to justify bringing a myriad of *help* wherever I travel. In a very large box, on top of all of my classroom supplies, sits a few of my favorite things, ready for their journey cross-country.
I'm celebrating being packed and ready to go a week ahead of time by having a sale in my shop! Use coupon code 15COYOTE at the Etsy checkout to receive 15% off of your total order.
This coupon applies to everything in my store, including the Deck of 30 Postcards that keeps blowing out. I've just listed some more, thank you so much for insisting I do this-it really does feel nice to see them packaged this way. As I was assembling sets of them to take to Squam, it occured to me that if you use them as a divining deck, there is plenty of room to make notes on the backs of them, and add to their meanings as you integrate them into YOUR intuitive process.
i'm too tired to capitalize, i'm sorry, friends. my beltane weekend away brought so so much teaching, movement and unexpected growth. best moments were cackling it up under the stars around a fire with some amazing women who traveled a long way to play with me and my local wild women. most surprising was coming home a day early to tend to my own homefire.
here is a photo journal of some of my favorite moments...
the day began with picking up my cohorts and going out for the absolute BEST veggie burgers and fries ever in the world at r&d, on montana ave. in santa monica. if you're in the neighborhood, do not pass them up. the food is magical. i wish i'd snapped the mascarpone and berries for you to drool over.
beach shenanigans, which involved wine drinking and cheerleading jumps in the ocean.
terri, kirsten and julie.
photo by terri
altar building
talking stickin'
tarot card readin'
it was a weekend of laughter and merriment, but also one of deep emotional processing and exhaustion. it is said that beltane is all about fertility, may day, as it were. i would say we covered some pretty fertile territory, unearthed some deep roots, shifted our perspectives and learned a lot about what we have to let go. what i tried to bear in mind on this adventure was to know what i needed and ask for what i want. isn't that sometimes the hardest thing to do? to claim what's already yours-and to stand in the confidence of that decision?
i plan to go camping (or glamping as one husband had referred to it, as his wife journeyed toward) each beltane and for every natural holiday that i possibly can. i love that there is purpose in these days that mark mid-spring and solstices, that there is a history there to add to the toolkit for growing and learning. sometimes the lesson is to sit still and stop growing! and i embrace those teachings, too, as i tend to get easily obsessed with movement. however, this time movement swept me up and away without warning, and through the eye of a very small needle.
i hope that your holy day of fires on the mountain found you releasing the old and making way for the new, in one way or another, dramatically or softly.
There is such bounty everywhere. I am blessed to have gifts coming and going each day, coming more than going, it seems! I wanted to share a few of them that I was quick enough to snap photos of before they got tucked away into their loved and useful spaces, or little hands carted them off. Think of it as a random sampling of lovin'...it reminds me to keep sending out mail love, something I enjoy tremendously, because it feels soooo good to receive surprises. Don't you agree?
This is homemade healing salve from a herby desert mama friend.
She also sent a bagful of Datura, a deadly nightshade that I must find a magical use for...
Yummy sugar scrub from another mama friend.
A piece of honey calcite which has hardly left me since I opened it. This came from a very faraway friend, so it is extra special, having made such a long journey! I keep wanting to call it Honeyed Calcite. The note that came with it says that it is a powerful amplifier and cleanser of energies and that it helps to speed up development and growth.
Rainwater collected by yet another beautiful sister from a salmon stream near her home in the Pacific Northwest. Of course, I opened it right up and took a giant swig, and I swear, it is the freshest water I've ever tasted. It has a very clean feeling about it. Makes me want to head north.
Bobcat fur remnants from a taxidermy job, from an amazing Native American man who sells me deerskin from time to time. He just tucked this little handful of scraps into my last package, knowing that I would scream and meow and be delighted.
On that note, another friend who is local, brought over two giant trashbags filled with scraps of mule deer, elk, black bear, and some sort of mountain goat hides today from his friend, a taxidermist, who was going to throw it all in the garbage. I get asked a LOT where I obtain claws, fur bits, feathers. Now you know how some of it finds it's way to me. Black Bear is not legal to buy or sell in California because it is our state animal, in fact, each state has it's own specific laws about which animals are legal to possess parts of, and it varies widely. But it is nice to be gifted a bit of this and that to have onhand for special purposes. Especially if it was headed for a trash bin! Native peoples and those practicing native ways have a lovely way of sharing medicine with each other. Remember my coyote leg that my friend's dog dragged out of the forest that is one of my treasures? Sharing is caring.
Surprise chocolate! Which is always a good thing. This is that yummy chocolate that helps one to RELAX, which I'm very much in need of assistance with. Wei of Chocolate (pronounced Way of Chocolate) are very good peeps. RELAXED and JOYFUL are my favorites. The flower-infused flavors are otherworldly.
Bunnies for babes, from one of the kids' most important aunties.
And that concludes this synopsis of lovemail for now. Blessings on all. xoxo
This magic has taken me to places I've never been as a healer. I wanted to call it Kicking Cancer's Ass, but decided against it. But you know from where I'm coming...
TURKEY VULTURE and COYOTE
The medicine of this bundle is about transmuting disease and balancing the body during a health crisis. It employs Turkey Vulture's willingness to work deeply in the trenches to rid the environment of disease, toxins and waste. It calls upon Coyote for vitality, adaptability and humor during the long process of treatment and healing.
It contains:
A pinch of organic tobacco, a traditional offering to the Spirits.
A pinch of cornmeal to create a sacred container for the elements to reside in.
Black tourmaline is protection from negative energy, particularly that of radiation, electromagnetism, and environmental toxins. It grounds, while increasing physical vitality. It encourages a positive attitude, no matter the circumstances and defends against disease. It strengthens the immune system, provides pain relief and stimulates creativity. I've called upon it in this application to create healthy cell growth and as a powerful protector against cancer treatments and drug side effects.
Black kyanite is tied to the top of this bundle and I was struck by it's wing shape after I was directed to ask Turkey Vulture to work this medicine. Kyanite is a spiritual mineral which connects an individual to their higher selves during a time of transition. Kyanite dispels blockages, anger, stress, fear, and encourages truthful self-expression. It heals infection and restores Qi to the physical body and organs.
Sugilite is a wise and loving stone that I like to think of as the gentle existentialist. It protects the soul from shocks, trauma, and disappointment. I brings light and love into the darkest situations. It aids forgiveness, and helps resolve group dynamics difficulties. Sugilite promotes deep understanding, alleviation of emotional turmoil and channels healing energy into the body, mind and spirit. The manganese in sugilite clears discomfort, relieves pain and purifies lymph and blood.
Yarrow is known as nature's bandaid, able to heal the deepest wounds. In this application, and according to Matthew Wood, yarrow "is suited to conditions where the mind is sometimes dim or restless,” or in some cases a bit numb from the lack of connection to what we most value about life. Yarrow will help you find your way back to singing in the garden, reconnecting with the Earth and the Plant People with the sun on your back when healing has taken place.
Nettles break down mucous in the body, cleans the organs of the first through third chakras, relieves joint pain and allows gravel and waste to pass easily through the elimination systems. Matthew Wood describes nettles as a stern Grandmother, using a whip or a broom to hustle things along, keep them moving and commanding action. For some reason I can hear her giving orders in Spanish and keeping everyone in line. Wood explains that nettles' extremely high levels of protein articulates nitrogenous waste products into proteinacious structures. They remove uric acid waste by working with complicated building blocks to build some of the most complicated molecules used by the body. Nettles are the most protein-rich green growing native in the west.
Red clover cleans the blood and detoxifies. It breaks up coagulated blood and relieves lymphatic congestion. It is known as a second chance remedy and is indicated in cancer treatments because of it's abilities to dissolve that which swells the glands, and stores excess calcium.
Vulture is purification, and an unsung hero for keeping environments clean and disease-free. Oft misunderstood, Native Americans see Turkey Vulture as one who restores harmony, limiting infection and bacteria, a tremendous force of balance for the Earth. She uses her energy wisely and gracefully, catching thermals and soaring with ease, rather than expending precious energy flapping. She is a patient matriarch, with highly developed intuition and powerful healing abilities. Her digestive tract contains chemicals that kill violent, infectious bacteria, allowing her to transcend ingested toxins and use only what is necessary to her purpose of survival. Ted Andrews writes that “Vulture is a promise that the suffering of the immediate is temporary and necessary, for a higher purpose is at work, even if not understood at the time. In my own healing journey, Turkey Vulture has always existed as an affirmation of life, and often of the rebirth that follows a major life event or trauma.
A Coyote claw is included in this bundle. Coyote is tricky, funny, and adaptable. He offers you his companionship, his celebratory howl, his wit, and teachings of life as they appear without warning. He is the wise and bumbling fool, on a new journey, sometimes learning things the hard way. What makes Coyote such a spectacular companion on what can sometimes feel like a hayride to hell, is his humor. There is magic in his ways, as he gets lost on side roads, scavenges for nourishment wherever he can find it, and amuses himself along the way. Coyotes are very close with their loved ones, snuggling in the den, and cooperatively hunting and parenting. They are nurturing, playful and spirited. Wild, free and never to be extinct, his lesson is one of endurance, longevity and a fulfilled life of meaningful song and dance. Coyote is, in many ways, invincible.
It has been a full few days. Sunday, I tinctured with Grandmother Nettles well into the night. I'm going to do a seperate post on making the mother tinctures, because it deserves it's own post. I will say that I loved being up late making magic like a kitchen witch on the night of New Moon while all lay quiet in the house.
Monday I had a little minor surgery in the morning and came home all shot out of the gate, and sat in bed with my laptop ordering supplies and returning emails. Not even the pain pills keep me down, and I say this with no pride.
I needed to replenish many stones I'd run out of, plus charms, deerskin, and of course, along the way I fell in love with some new ones. I'm making a custom bundle for someone with Stage 4 Lymphoma and this black kyanite wing appeared and tapped me on the shoulder...this thing is incredible, I can hardly put it down.
Bornite, also called peacock ore, is my new love. It is a supercharged positive mineral associated with pure joy and spinning the chakras to a blissful tune.
The wisteria is in full flower, making our arbor smell heavenly.
Miles discovered the biggest clover we've ever seen...
...and presented me with a sunny day bouquet.
I'm working heavily with the birds again, having begun three paintings tonight-the first since January! I could feel that quiet settle over me...I've missed it so much. Big birds. Hawks. Eagles. Griffin. Phoenix. Turkey Vulture. Raven. They are swooping in and removing, building, hatching, rebirthing...doing the work they're so good at.
I made a record number of bundles for the shop this weekend, because they seem to go so fast, and it requires a lot of set up just to make a few. It was a bit crazy in this studio with so many creatures running wild at once. My hope is that you'll find what you're looking for in and amongst the herd. There are only a couple of them that didn't make it into this batch.
I'm also making lots of custom bundles behind the scenes, and it is keeping me as busy as a springtime Bee. I can't yet explain how fulfilling it is to work with some of you personally. As you entrust me to discover combinations of allies to help bring in the energies and changes you're seeking, I can't help but feel totally overwhelmed with gratitude for what I do.
Sending out a grateful hug to the world today. You are beautiful as you journey this winding road, gathering your tools, opening up to your deeper Self.
I have been inundated with custom work since opening myself up to doing it. It takes so much time, but oh my goddess...it's so fulfilling. Each one is a crash course in doing a reading for someone, and making relationships between allied plants, stones, animals and energies to create a little healing companion, basically-one who manifests movement and change, in addition to acting as salve on the wounds that prevent us from going forward.
I want to share this one with you, because it really has opened my heart.
HUMMINGBIRD
*The medicine of this bundle is about the patient healing of the heart, releasing negative energy, and the art of gentle and focused movement. It teaches how to appreciate the beauty in every moment.
It contains:
A pinch of organic tobacco, a traditional offering to the Spirits.
A chunk of sweetgrass is for purification of negative opinions, sweet positive vibrations, a pleasant relationship with the Self, and as a prayer for healing. Sweetgrass serves as a reminder of the eternal and spiritual beauty within us all.
St. Johns Wort is for chronic conditions of pain, nervous exhaustion, emotional depression, stress, anxiety and fear. In cases of nerve trauma and myalgias, it calms the cycle that creates persistent dis-ease.
Milk Thistle is primal and detoxifying nourishment. It self-seeds with it's light, fluffy seedheads, spreading healing everywhere it goes. Milk thistle is a medicinal food. It breaks down bile, decongests the liver, and clears out obstructions. It is used for melancholy and despondency, targeting emotions of the spleen, which is commonly associated with anger and frustration. It lingers in the 3rd chakra, or power center to help with eliminative functions and processing of toxins. It is a herb which is indicated in serious cases where a patient is seriously ill or facing death. It's claim to fame is curing various types of poisonings.
Raw emerald is for infinite patience and protection. The Crystal Bible says that emerald is the stone of successful love, that it is life-affirming, keeps a partnership in balance, and brings about domestic bliss and loyalty. This could mean with a literal partner or within. It opens the heart chakra, calms the emotions, eliminates negativity, enhances psychic abilities, and opens us to clairvoyance. It is a protective stone which strengthens the character to overcome the misfortunes of life. It is helpful in cases of claustrophobia and enhances the ability to live life to the fullest.
Hummingbird has flown into this bundle to demonstrate his brilliant technique of hovering above a situation to observe the beauty of it. He drinks the nectar of life from every possible flower, never missing an opportunity to experience the sweet beauty of his world. His flight, though rapid in wing movement, is gentle and fairy-like, bringing magic to the bird kingdom with his uniqueness. He comes to remind us in times of hardship that we can always see beauty, we just have to look a bit harder than when we are literally surrounded by it at all times. His movement is energized, focused, and calculated. He promises to be with us when it is most difficult to appreciate the NOW. While forward movement is guaranteed, Hummingbird specializes in the beauty of the present moment.
I've made another video, this time while daytripping at my favorite beach here in California, Rincon Point. It's a local's beach where the surf is good and tide pools abundant with sea life for the kids to poke around in and discover the magic of tide pools.
I'm demonstrating how easy it is to set out into nature with the tiniest of sacred tools, in order to give thanks to the directions, the Ocean and the sacred planet for all that they give and inspire in us. When we go for outings, my kids often like to bring home treasures. It is fitting to leave behind a blessing. My children participated in thanksgiving offscreen today, because they were having too much fun playing to be part of mama's production. The wee pouch didn't take much preparation to fill, nor did it take up too much room among the baskets and bags to schlep down to the sand. Some rites can be brief and compact, while being very effective.
I don't have a photo of my pouch handy, but I wanted to share one with you. This one, called Palomino, was made by Karen Prado. There are all kinds of pouches, bags and beautiful ways to carry the sacred medicine, some of which are more American Indian in appearance and tradition, and some which have obvious Celtic details, and plenty more others still beyond that. Receiving one as a gift or making one with your own hands makes it extra special.
I packed the pouch with:
lavender buds
a rose quartz bear fetish
pieces of blue kyanite
If you hang in until the end of this short vlog, you will see a panicked me bolting off to save my children from a runaway horse, who dumped it's rider and took off down the shoreline toward the area where they were playing with a friend of mine and her baby. Brandon and I laughed MIGHTILY, because it's like watching a Funniest Home Video. Thank goodness no one was hurt! Interesting that even a spooked and stampeding horse can use selective judgment in a crisis, eh?
My first thought was to trim the video just after I said final thanks, but Coyote insisted I leave it in for laugh therapy.
Bless the Ocean & Earth, Japan, frightened horses, and each of us on this global ride. After the events of the week, perhaps a hearty laugh will be a good release for all.
It's very exciting to me that so many of you are asking for more details about smudging and creating sacred space in your environments. If you didn't see the first video, which covered a little bit of information on smudging, check it out here.There are also a few resources for smudge sticks listed in that post.
One question is whether one should smudge her apartment before she moves her things in or after. If it were me, I would like to smudge the empty nest first. I take my shell or bowl, light the smudge stick (I'd definitely use white sage in a new dwelling) until it's burning nicely, then blow out the flame so that the dried herbs are smoking. You can use your hand or a big feather to fan the smoke up into all of the corners of each room, and into the cabinets and closets.
Here are some awfully pretty fans that I found on Etsy by searching for "smudge fan". The legal-use feathers used are painted to resemble eagles and hawks and look nice and big. I also like the looks of these. You could just as easily make your own. Wonderful feathers are sold at pow wows, as well as Etsy, or you may have a local farm that will allow you to collect.
Aside: Be forewarned, if you are planning to purchase a fan from this seller, that she is indeed selling real migratory and predator bird feather fans from Australia, and U.S. Migratory Bird Laws do not allow the sale or purchase of feathers from protected species (almost all birds except some fowl, I believe). Fines for buying, selling or even carrying a migratory bird feather are in the thousands of dollars. Risky business. I don't mean to be a boo-bird while up there flaunting my Hawk wing.
What smudging does is clears the existing energy out, especially in corners and small spaces in which it tends to gather and stagnate. Smudging also acts as a prayer of blessing and intention in a new space where you hope to thrive.
The photo above was snapped by a friend I visited this weekend. After we'd done a fair bit of unloading of our hearts and before we headed out to breakfast and back to our families, we smudged ourselves and her altar. I think of it like a reset button. I joke to friends sometimes that if I get pulled into negative energies online that I have to smudge my computer screen. I actually do it, believe it or not. I can feel negative energy sticking on me like stinky perfume!
Good luck smudging, goddesses. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do.
Here's another informal backyard vlog on using sacred medicine tools. This time I take you on a quick tour through stuffing my pouch to get ready for an overnight trip. Can you tell I'm in a bit of a hurry to get packed and on the road? I still haven't sorted out how to set up the camera for the best view and so I'll try to work the kinks out there before I make the next one.
I also share a bit of the drum for a teaser of what the trance beat is like when one takes a traditional shamanic journey, as promised. The drum sounds a bit flat on the video, but it actually has a nice deep resonance. If you feel called to find a drum for yourself, be sure to play lots of them. There will be a sound and size that feels just perfect for you.
To learn more about shamanic journeywork, try Michael Harner's Way of the Shaman or Sandra Ingerman's Soul Retrieval. Both detail the purpose of taking shamanic journeys, as well as how they are conducted in a sacred manner. If you'll be attending Call of the Wild, my mixed-media workshop at Squam Art Workshops in September, you'll get a little taste of what the journey is like for yourself.
To learn more about animal totems and begin the path toward integrating the wild creatures into your spirit practice, check out Ted Andrews' Animal Speak or Animal Wise. There are a lot of great card decks that explore animal symbolism, as well, and a quick search at Amazon or your local metaphysical shop will produce colorful options for divining animal wisdom. If you have a great resource for animals, please share it in the comments. Sometimes I find old books at the library on a particular species and that gives a nice depth. We can learn so much from creatures just by observing them, as many of you already do.
I don't think you could see the beautiful purple earrings I'm wearing, but I'm wild about them. They were crafted by Celisa Nalls of MySoulCanDance and when I opened the package, I could feel joy leaping out at me. The adornments we wear, or talismans we're drawn to help tap us into our intuitive nature, too. The creations we make with our hands vibrate with the energy that we bring to the worktable, and that creates a ripple of light that never ends. It's such a blessing to have access to so many gifted and inspirited artisans.
The sacred Lakota corn was given to me by Lauren Luquin of Visionwise. One of the best things about meeting others on this path is that we get to share tools and honor one another with gifts to add to the ever-expanding toolkit for healing ourselves and the Earth.
On my travels to the coast this weekend, I might leave behind any one of the items in my pouch as an offering to the earth. It is traditional practice to leave tobacco as an offering or a tiny crystal, such as the amethyst one I tucked in there. The lavender buds or the corn would also be a nice way to thank the Earth and Spirit for the gifts and healing they bring.
Please consider the comments section a forum for questions and sharing of stories. We all benefit from hearing others sing with their authentic voices.
Thank you for honoring the medicine and howling up this beautiful Wolf Moon we're seeing!
