Category Archives: Nature Wise

Rose Quartz – The Heart Stone

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 →

The Wise Old Owl

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 →

5,000-year-old shaman stones

Sorry we’ve been out of touch for a while. An unusual winter here has left us scrambling and adjusting to life in the forest again. If you’re interested in the story, there’s more at Shaman’s Blog. But we now have communications again and internet, so it’s been some time of catch up and clean up.

Gary found this interesting article and I thought it was perfect for this blog.

What messages did these stones hold for the shaman?

Archaeologists have unearthed nearly 5,000-year-old shaman’s stones in a rock shelter in Panama. The stone collection may be the earliest evidence of shamanic rituals in that region of Central America, researchers say.

The 12 stones were found in the Casita de Piedra rock shelter, in the Isthmus of Panama. The rocks, which carbon-dating of surrounding material showed >>more

5,000-year-old shaman stones found – Technology & science – Science – LiveScience | NBC News.

Until next time-
Mitakuye Oyasin (A Lakota prayer reminding us we are all related),

Debbie

Mistletoe Magic

“Oh, the mistletoe hung where you can see… Somebody waits for you, kiss her once for me” sings Burl Ives in the background. Ah, the holidays, cookies and mistletoe. We all know that mistletoe was a good excuse to sneak kisses during the holidays. So, where did that tradition come from and why is mistletoe so revered for its mystical and medicinal qualities?

There are many myths about kissing under the mistletoe from signs of good will to marriage proposals. According to my research, “This tradition is decidedly pagan in origin and dates back to Scandinavian mythology when Baldur, god of peace was slain by Loki, god of destruction with an arrow made from mistletoe. Outraged by the injustice of Baldur’s death the other gods and goddesses demanded his life be restored. As a token of thanks, Baldur’s mother, Frigga, hung mistletoe and promised to kiss all who passed beneath it, thus establishing the symbolism of love, peace and forgiveness that is now associated with mistletoe.” So, in Scandinavia, mistletoe was considered a plant of peace, under which enemies could declare a truce or quarreling spouses kiss and make-up. Continue reading →

The Honorable Turkey

It’s been a while since our last post. A lot has happened since then. If you follow us on Shaman’s Blog, you know that Gary had a small heart attack (if you can call them small) at the end of September. It’s been somewhat crazy since then. He is doing well and is back to his feisty self again. So, we have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

But, since it’s Thanksgiving, it seemed right to pay some homage to the honorable bird who will grace many of our tables on Thursday. So, with this blog, we honor Turkey.

According to Animal-Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small the keynotes for Turkey are shared blessings and harvest. No wonder the turkey has become the symbol of Thanksgiving. Continue reading →

A Samhain Poem

I have been studying Celtic Shamanism for quite a while and am about half way through my Bardic training. Eventually I will complete the Druidry course, but it is a ways out.

Bards are storytellers, poets and musicians. Since Celtic society was an oral tradition, they were also the keepers of tradition, of the memory of the tribe.

One of the areas I struggle with is poetry. It has become a standing joke within my circle that when we come to poetry, I go blank. So, maybe I’m beginning to “get it” because as I was going to sleep last night, I was creating a Samhain poem. Continue reading →

A Trip Through The Petrified Forest

As I was thinking about this week’s blog, I was trying to decide what stone to feature, as the Stone People were asking to speak. As I was thinking about quartz, petrified wood pushed its way into my thoughts. It immediately reminded me of our trip to the Petrified Forest in Holbrook, AZ many years ago.

Petrified wood, Blue Mesa, Petrified Forest National Park

According to their website, over 200 million years ago, during the Triassic Period, the logs washed into the river and were buried quick enough and deep enough by massive amounts of sediment and debris, that oxygen was cut off and decay slowed. Minerals, including silica dissolved from volcanic ash, absorbed into the porous wood over hundreds and thousands of years and crystallized within the cellular structure, replacing the organic material. The wood structure was maintained, but the wood fibers slowly changed into stone. Sometimes the crushing or decay left cracks in the logs. Here large jewel-like crystals of clear quartz, purple amethyst, yellow citrine, and smoky quartz formed. Continue reading →

Squirrels – Mother Nature’s Boy Scouts

I have been out of sync with my blogging lately. Our son came from Arizona and paid us a visit for a week and so we got out and enjoyed our time together playing on the river and visiting the coast. He was so glad to be “home”, he found a job and arrives next week with his moving truck!

For the past month, I have been busy getting the winter stores put up. We live in a wonderful area for growing and have luscious fruit and veggie harvests during the late summer and fall. I have always canned food during the summer. I remember it as a child, helping Mom and Grandma, and the taste of the yummy sweet fruit mid winter. So, I have been canning up a storm.

As I sit at my computer every day, looking out into the forest, I can’t help noticing the squirrels gathering acorns and other seeds, putting away their winter stores. And as many of us begin to prepare for winter and the slowing of our energies, I thought squirrel would be a good topic for today’s blog.

Squirrel medicine comes in a couple of different forms. Continue reading →

The Majestic Oak – Wisdom, Strength and Endurance

Here in the forest at Shaman’s Grove, we are surrounded by a variety of Standing Ones. We have Pacific Redwoods that reach high into the sky, Fir, Pine and Spruce, beautiful red Madrone and the Majestic Oak. I was going to write about the Redwood today, but Oak called out to be heard today.

Ted Andrews starts out his description of the Oak in Nature-Speak by saying “The majesty of a mature oak always gives pause for reflection. They radiate an aura of calm strength.” I can say from my own experience that this holds true. There is something about the twists and curls and knots up the trunk, and the wide canopy of leaves that automatically brings me to my center. It was interesting to read that the Oak’s roots mirror its branches and stretch as far below ground as the branches do above. Continue reading →

August Full Moon – The Red Moon

Welcome to the August Full Moon (August 1, 2012 11:27pm EDT/8:27 pm PDT) and the beginning of the harvest season.

The moon has always been important and fascinating to the people. Since the beginning of time, our ancestors used the movement of the moon to keep track of the passing year and set schedules for hunting, planting, and harvesting. They linked the 28 day lunar month to a given season and gave names to the months that described important events that were happening in nature at that time, such as the behavior of the plants, animals, or weather during that month.

To some Native American tribes of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain area, August’s full moon was known as The Sturgeon Moon. Continue reading →