Check out this great post from Michael Drake’s Shamanic Drumming blog.
“Some of the top reasons people take a shamanic journey include . . .
1. To reconnect with your inner or spirit self
2. To gain insight into an issue that you want to know more about
3. To clarify life purpose
4. To access a higher power
5. To access personal help and healing Continue reading
The most recent lesson in my Druidry course spurred the inspiration for today’s blog — Stepping into the darkness.
The ancient Druids were said to use sensory deprivation as a means of entering an altered states of consciousness and accessing Awen (inspiration). They entered a dark room and placed a stone on their chest to keep their mind from wandering. Eventually they would enter altered state seeking their vision or inspiration. Continue reading
The full moon brought a new visitor to Shaman’s Grove this month. At 3:45am Thursday morning, I was quickly roused from my sleep by the sound of a coyote yipping outside my bedroom window. I bounced out of bed, quickly reviewing the location of our pets as I dashed to the front deck. Yup, I did close up the chickens after dark, and the cat was on the bed. I flung open the front door, purposefully making lots of noise to encourage our visitor to move on . . . Just needed to be sure he wasn’t in the chicken pen. All my feathered goddesses were safe and the interloper moved quickly past my garden and down through the woods. After double counting noses, I returned to dream time.
So, it was time to see what message, if any, coyote might have for me. Continue reading
“Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the
earth befalls all the sons of the earth.
This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man
belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”Attributed to Chief Seattle – 1854
(Actually written by Ted Perry for Home – an environmental move in 1972.)
Earth Day rolls around again. I know this is a few days early, but wanted to give you a head start in case you want to plan some activities.
There’s so much hype – both positive and negative – about the creation of another “remembrance day”. We have Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Flag Day, Labor Day . . . Why not an Earth Day? Continue reading
Last week I had the opportunity to help a friend with her spring cleaning. No, not the dust rag and mop kind (and I DON’T do windows), but giving her house a good smudge after her roommates moved out.
Spring is a great time for smudging your home to remove any negative energy that has accumulated over the winter. It’s the time when the air is fresh from the spring rains and we can pop the windows open and feel the warmth of Father Sun flow in. Continue reading
This Wednesday is the first New Moon of spring. In spiritual circles, a lot of focus is placed on the full moon as part of our meditation, healing and growth cycles. But, the new moon is also a powerful time for achieving our goals.
As humans we have been emulating nature and following the cycles of the moon for thousands of years. We know that moonlight has a great impact on plant, animal and human life. Among many other things, the moon affects our heart rate, blood pressure, brain waves, controls women’s menstruation and ovulation, along with controlling oceanic tides and signaling the start and end of animal hibernation.
According to the Almanac, it’s widely believed that activities will be more fruitful or lead to improved results depending on the moon phase. The period between the new and full moon (first and second quarters) is considered as the best time to perform tasks that require strength, fertility and growth. The period between the full and new moon (third and fourth quarters) is best for harvesting, retarding growth, etc. Many gardeners swear by planting in these cycles. And I have been known to cut my hair by the phases of the moon with great results.
When the moon is waxing (moving from new to full), it is believed to help with all “forward movement” intentions Continue reading
Well, Spring sprung at 4:03 this morning heralded with a healthy dose of rain. Believe me, I didn’t “spring” to see it. I was still wound tightly in my blankets, enjoying the warmth and dryness of my bed.
So, 4:03 PDT was the spring equinox. The time when the daylight and dark are once again equal and everything is in balance (or at least the natural world.) I’ve been told that at the exact time of the equinox, if you stand an egg on end, it will balance. Continue reading
My most recent blog on Shaman’s Blog was about forgiveness as an act of self-love. So, for today’s Nature blog, Rose Quartz, seemed a logical choice for discussion. It’s also a stone I find myself using often in journeys with clients who are working with issues of self-love, self-esteem and lack of nurturing.
Rose quartz is often called the “Love Stone” or “Heart Stone.” It is a stone of unconditional love. Its high energy opens the heart chakra and enhances love in virtually any situation, family, platonic, romantic, and most importantly, self-love. (Why is self-love most important? Because without loving ourselves, we can not fully love another.)
courtesy of http://skywalker.cochise.edu
Rose quartz deposits have been found in Madagascar, India, Japan and Brazil, as well as in South Africa and South Dakota in the USA. It’s color ranges from very pale translucent pink to deep pink. Since Rose Quartz doesn’t occur naturally in many quartz formation, it’s less often found as crystals, than in a large formation.
For you astorology buffs out there, rose quartz is linked to the star sign of Taurus,to Libra as a secondary stone and to both the sun and the moon. Numerologically, it resonates to the number 7. Rose quartz is a receptive stone and tied to both the elements of fire and water.
Of course, rose quartz is known as a heart chakra stone, but it is also linked to all the upper chakras, the thymus, throat, brow or third eye and the crown. Rose quartz brings the vibrations of the upper chakras into alignment with the heart chakra so you can begin living from your heart. Continue reading
“Forgiveness is no longer an option but a necessity for healing.”
~ Caroline Myss ~
Forgiveness is a concept that many of us struggle with. We are told from early childhood that we are supposed to forgive others when they hurt us, physically or emotionally, or “turn the other cheek”. The idea here is that we say it’s okay and “let them off the hook”. And we go through our lives letting everyone off the hook on the surface, while we nurture many of these wounds as fear, anger and resentment throughout our lives. From a shamanic perspective, we are giving away our power to those who harmed us.
I stumbled upon the concept of forgiveness that really helped me as I was going through my own healing crisis about twenty years ago. I was working on some old childhood wounding that had been so deeply buried that when it came up, it hit me in the face like a beach ball that had been pushed under water and then suddenly let go. Continue reading
I spotted an owl the other day on our property and made me think the Owl would be a good blog topic. Oh, I can’t pass up the pun… “spotted” owl (groan). And yes, we do live in spotted owl territory, but I only got a quick glance, so I’m not sure what kind it was.
Much mystery seems to surround the owl. Maybe because Owl is a night creature and we humans are intrigued and/or fearful of “things that go bump in the night”. Symbolism for the owl ranges from the symbol of fertility, higher wisdom, insight and protection to an intense fear of the owl as a symbol of bringer of bad news, evil and death. In fact, I found a couple of wonderful articles on the internet that I would highly recommend–Owls in Lore and Culture by B. G. Marcot, D. H. Johnson, & M. Cocker on The Owl Pages and Owl Mythology and Folklore that covers the different cultural symbologies of the owl.
So, where does owl get its title “The Wise Old Owl”? It is mainly comes from the nursery rhyme…
A wise old owl lived in an oak
The more he saw the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard.
Why can’t we all be like that wise old bird?
So, we extrapolate from this that the ability of the owl to see in the dark, detect subtlies and its keen hearing and patience (oh, that “p” word…) is what makes this old bird wise. Owl is associated with wisdom because it can see what others cannot. It can see into the shadows and show us secrets that appear only when the Sun is gone. Continue reading