Lessons from a Forest

Had to write a fairy tale about trust for my Spiritual Doodles & Mental Leapfrogs book I’m reading. Thought I’d share:

Lessons From a Forest

Once upon a time there was a dark forest in which a little girl was lost. She didn’t have any food to eat or water to drink and she didn’t know the way home. She didn’t even know why she was in the forest! She had gone to bed as usual, but instead of waking with her head on the pillow, she woke in this strange place.

Puzzled and a little afraid, she called out “Hello?” but no one answered save the sounds of the forest. Not knowing what to do with herself, she stood and brushed a few twigs off her nightie. She wandered around, sniffing the scents, seeing the sights and quietly watching the few animals she saw.

When she began to feel thirsty, she soon heard the babbling of a brook. Following the sound led her to a clear, beautiful stream where she happily quenched her thirst. She thanked the flowing water and it burbled back amiably. Feeling she had made a friend, the girl followed along the water’s edge, letting it lead her along.

Just as she was starting to feel hungry, the stream led her to a patch of strawberries. Thrilled, the girl ate her fill, thanking both the strawberry patch and the brook when she finished.

Following the stream again, the girl found her way out of the woods to the edge of her village. She thanked the brook for leading her and kissed its cold surface. She turned and thanked the forest for teaching her that all her needs will be provided for her. Then she made her way home to two very surprised parents!

Art

So many things are changing in my mind. I’m letting go of fears I wasn’t even aware I had and the Universe is opening up a whole new world of connections for me. There’s so much I could talk about, but I’m feeling so scattered I’m not sure now is the best time to do so. Instead, I’ll share some of my recent creations:

The Horned Goddes ruless over changes. She sees deep within herself where the totality of the Universe unfurls. She smiles contentedly knowing all things are where they must be. She will lead you through the changes that bring you closer and closer to yourself.

Faerie Twilight. During a recent meditation, I saw this vision… of course, it was better in my head, but this is pretty close.

Flower chakras. The piece I’ve been wanting to draw forever finally came out. It’s not how I origionally imagined it, but I love it. This picture doesn’t really show the detail at the top, but otherwise it’s good.

You can see more of my art here.

Honoring All Gods

Monday night I was chanting “I honor the divine within” and I reached down to touch my animal familiar, Frederick who was sitting all happy wearing his happycat Buddha face, and he gave me a vision. He was sitting in a silk kitty kimono and hat in a Buddhist-like temple full of worshippers chanting and prayer and offering him delicious treats in golden and jade bowls or incense and bells and songs. He was in his full might and purring mightly and I bowed down three times before him.

The vision gave me a deep sense of respect for him and for all animals and I realized that I’d still been identifying too much with my monkey mind that thought itself so superior from all the other “poor dumb animals” instead of realizing we are all expressions of god and equally amazing. I felt ashamed by my pretension and glad that I was shown the error of my ways. I felt much more in touch with the divinity in all of us, and I wrote this poem:

The Gods’ Masked Ball

The gods are among us
every day, walking with us,
laughing, crying, smiling, dancing and we
refuse to see them
as if the masks of meat and fur, shell or bone we wear could hide
the glory of divinity. It pours out of all of us
in codes we all could read should we take a moment to cipher
them. Study the spirals weaving a dance of
joy in your heart. Read them with
a mind that seeks patterns out of nonsense
and you will create new forms as you
create your own reality, finally
at one with the god behind your eyes and fingers.

If you’re interested in reading more of my poetry, you can find it at my deviantArt page.

Meeting My Nature Spirit Guide

Lesson two of Ronni’s fabulous Fairies 101 class included a guided meditation for meeting one’s nature spirit guide. Turns out mine’s a fairy!  She had me write down some of the details of the vision, which I’d like to share with you.

Here’s what I saw during my meditation:
My present my friend gave me was a balm or elixir for healing from my
ex. His betrayal was the worst and it’s the biggest thing in my past I
need to heal from to move on right now.

The flowers in the fields were orange, pink, purple and white.

My friend looked like an elfen fairie. Willowy, reed-like,
effervescent, silly, blond. Wearing a gown of many thin layers of
blue, purple and pink and a halo. She’s a wind/rain spirit with
see-through, glittery wings and huge blue eyes.

Messages from my friend were: Love well. Seek joy. Be peace. Be love.
Give always. Fall like rain on the hearts of others; nourish their
chakra flowers. Be open to accept grace.

In response to my question “How can I be like you?” she said: Grow
lighter! Cast off your burdens and dance in the rain. Open as a flower
to the sun. Use zinnia.

The next meeting with my friend will be tomorrow! That kind of
surprised me, but she’s insistent that I meet her again and soon!

It was very joyful and exciting! Now I need to get good enough to draw her…

Rainbow Light, Flower Chakras

"Watering the Heart's Garden"

At what I hope will be the beginning of a weekly meditation session, two friends and we meditated together using Joey Klein’s (of the Institute of Transformational Studies) Mental Body guided meditation.

It was incredible because it was raining and the storm transformed itself along with our meditation session. The storm got heavier as we gathered energy and two different times when we pulled down energy the storm accompanied us with lightening and thunder!

At one point, we were told to imagine energy like water pouring down into our crown chakras. The image that immediately popped into my mind was of my drawing (above) and I saw my guardian angel pouring light into my crown chakra out of a pitcher and could feel it flowing like water around the fluttering petals of my chakra (more about that in a moment).

The other amazing image I was gifted was when we were being guided to work with our guardian angels. I saw mine as hosting a banquet for me, and he was feeding me fruit that was glowing with different colors of light, relating to the chakras. I felt so nourished and refreshed afterwards! My energetic body has been showing itself as a rainbow embracing me lately and these two images greatly encouraged that.

Later that weekend I was sketching and was given an image in which flowers relate to each chakra. The way in which I see it (and this is greatly influenced by my personal relationships with these flowers), the root chakra is an aster, the sacral is a tiger lily, the solar plexus is a gerbera daisy, the heart chakra is a lotus, the throat and third eye are roses and the crown is also a lotus. I have plans for a big art project involving this and it will probably inform a lot more of my stuff besides.

Anyway, all of that is to tell you about the lovely little meditation I had this morning. I was pulling energy into each chakra, imagining the color associated with it as well as the flower. After I reached my crown chakra, I once again pulled down energy from the sky and experienced it as water flowing over the petals of each flower/chakra and it was amazing how comforting and soothing and refreshing it felt.

I feel the Universe loving on me big time lately. It’s exciting to pass on to others.

Plus I’m just super excited about my flower chakras! woo!

Blood & Stone

Something different for you…. a short story I wrote that is kinda morality tale about respecting the Earth… Hope you enjoy!

When Gaia was young, her spirit longed to stretch itself. So plants appeared, birds, insects and animals, fairies, sprites and humans flew or walked across and within her mighty body. Gaia was happy flitting around herself with new eyes and new powers and all the creatures she carried lived in balance and harmony.

But one day a man called Stone became convinced that he had no true connection to the people and things he saw around him or the earth beneath his feet. He began telling the other men they should take from the earth enough in one blow to never need again and so live out their years in ease and pleasure. Together they began widening the cavern from which the people took their precious metal for the sacred rituals of birth, initiation, the change of the seasons, union and death.

They lay Gaia bare and harbored what should have been the wealth of generations for themselves. They stopped tilling, hunting, creating and gathering in favor of buying what they wanted, making the sacred profane and common.

Soon others heard of this state of affairs and they too wanted to have the riches of generations for their own.  They dug up what was precious until it became hard to find and some forced their children into dangerous underground passages to seek out ever more gold to sate their greed, even turning to taking from one another.

The women, who now were doing all the work of being human and caring for the community, became concerned as violence between men and tribes increased. Under the guise of harvest they gathered together in a great field, filling it with laughter and dancing until a wise woman named Blood stood atop a hillock and raised her arms, requesting silence.

When no more sound ran through them than the playful wind, she spoke: “My sisters, we have all seen the shameful changes brought about by lust for owning what is not ours to have. Our children are not protected and our work has doubled while tribes weaken and die. Our precious rituals have been tainted and our sacred source polluted. Gaia is calling out for balance. Blood has been shed and gold stolen. Blood and gold must be returned for her to rest in peace once more.” The council of women agreed it was so.

With their path clear, they returned home, some in silence, others in song or with clapping hands and drum, but all were somber thinking on what must be done. When they returned to the village, they gathered all the gold they could find and placed it in the mouth of their once-sacred cave out of which they could hear the sounds of mining.

When the moon came up, all the women in all the villages joined hands and began to hum a secret tone that caused Gaia to tremble and the stars to halt their endless journey and take note. Upon this, another tone was taken up, then another, until they formed a powerful chord. The women raised their joined hands and wished for deliverance.

Low rumbling sounded beneath them, growing into a roar loud as a sudden tsunami crashing against the shore. The women watched as Gaia reclaimed her sacred caverns. They sank deep into the ground, taking the men with them and leaving large depressions in the ground.

The women bowed down and tanked Gaia, touching their faces to hers as rain began to fall. They let it bathe them together and it filled all the empty spaces left from the sinking cavers with lakes of pure water.

They returned home to find them men who hadn’t been mining terrified, but the women welcomed them as brothers and led them back to the lakes to be purified. But some would not, choosing the wild instead of life with the tribe.

When the earthquakes come now, the women say Gaia is laughing at those who thought to use her as they would. And every spring when the first rains have renewed the lakes, the tribes bathe together in remembrance of what was lost and what was saved.

Urban Shaman

Lately my connection with nature and nature-as-teacher have become increasingly more necessary in my life. I’ve been spending more time outside and the change it makes in my emotional and mental well-being is dramatic! I’m loving my path right now and how it’s  changing me, making me stronger and better and more capable of helping others.

My guides have been letting me know I’m on the right track through a book my little brother lent me called Secrets of Shamanism: Tapping the Spirit Power Within You by Joes and Lena Stevens. Three of my favorite bits so far:

“When you practice shamanism you become a change agent in the drama of evolution. More than that, you release yourself from the illusion of isolation and step into the reality of the interrelationship of all life. Finally the practics of shamanism leads you to eventually align yourself with the healing forces of nature. You find balance and integration. You know who you are and where you are going. [this is something I've been dramatically experiencing of late]

“Shamans…emphasize the importance of being able to ’see’ the result before actualizing it physically. [this is what I meant last post about my partner being able to imagine the future with me] And yet they are also aware that people can only achieve as much as they can truly imagine for themselves. Thus a shaman will work at heightening a person’s level or ability to have, do and be. The ability to imagine raises our ability to have. Like a muscle that needs to be worked, strengthened, and stretched, imagination requires exercise. Shamanism is in part a strategy for expanding and empowering imagination.”

“The shaman knows that each [element of nature] is vital to basic survival, and a personal relationship with them is critical to living a successful life. Furthermore, the most compentent shamans know that these powers are all representatives of the greater spirit that unifies the cosmos and is the true source of life itself. By communicating to the sun or the moon and thanking them for their warmth and light, the shaman through humility, grows powerful because [s]he speaks directly with the source of life itself.”

I am loving this book because it’s like my guides patting me on the back the whole time, saying “see! look how on track you are! now pick up things you’re needing from this and let’s do more!!” It’s so exciting And since my partner and I changed our relationship status, it’s been so easy to share my spirituality with him. I love it! All the other people I’ve been with were intimidated or upset by this side of me so having someone celebrate it with me is pure joy.

Power Stones and Spirit Bells

Yesterday, for instance, the Universe guided me to pick up 3 stones on a walk, which I then decorated as I have been doing recently with symbols (above). These rocks seemed more powerful than the others I’ve made and the symbols are very strong ones for me. They kept calling to me all day and I knew they were a special gift for me to use. The rock pictured on the left is the Raido rune, the reverse is a book (my guides like to communicate through what I read). The center rock is a heart, the reverse is a bear with teeth bared. The rock on the right is a knife blade and the reverse is the incisor of a wild cat.

I’ve pulled out my spirit bells (pictured on either side of the rocks) and went outside to shake them and wait for the Guides to talk to me. I discovered by holding on to the bells themselves, I have rattles! This was really fun to discover because I’ve been wishing for rattles and here I already had some!! I shook my bells/rattles, swayed side to side with my eyes on the rocks and their symbols, and mentally chanted “love, healing” over and over until the sound and the spirit came on me and I thanked the Earth below me and the Sky above me, my guides and the energetic beings around me and they told me that I should always remember that I can change perspective when I need to and find my calm and that they are always there for me.

I felt full of energy and hope and light and joy and my head felt particularly cleansed and airy (I’m guessing as part of the result of doing a mental body guided meditation with some friends on Friday where we pulled down energy into our minds) and was able to go inside and was able to simply say to my partner what the messages I’d received were and know he’d be joyful with me. Then I was blessed with a 20 minute power nap! I went inside and was so sleepy I fell asleep and let the energy wash through me, invigorating me when I woke up. I tend to lack the ability to nap so this was a very special gift indeed!

I’m so grateful for the energies that support and love me. I love living a miraculous life.

Rainbow Dancer

Zuni Rainbow Dancer design

This morning as I was preparing to meditate, I was thanking my guides and asking them to show me what I needed to see to have greater resonance with the Universe and the world around me.  As I then began meditating, they showed me an image of myself as a figure wrapped in all the colors of the rainbow, dancing across the world with the radiant glow of the sun bursting around everything.  The words “rainbow dancer” entered my head and I knew my guides were giving me another title to call myself, as well as a challenge to become whatever this rainbow dancer should be.

I felt joyous and loving and as if I was completely open the the beautiful possiblities in the world.  As this rainbow figure, I could become any shape needed to express an idea, I could rain down blessings on others and I felt invincible, powerful and purposeful.

After a bit of Googling, I learned that the rainbow dance is a traditional Native American dance of the southwest and is”connected with agriculture and functions as a prayer offering for rain.” (Source)  This blows me away because I have been meditating each morning to the thoughts of rain falling on my open palms and sunlight falling on my body.  Because, for me, dancing in the rain is a powerful experience I’ve loved and treasured since I was a child.  Rain is my favorite source of interaction with water and I feel it brings new possiblities and new growth with it that don’t exist otherwise.  And, of course, after reading about how amazing water is, it means all the more to me now.

I am astounded, humbled and blessed to have been given a new title and it only furthers my determination that I will start doing the qabalistic meditations I learned about last year to strengthen the colors of my rainbow (chakras) – because each level of the tree of life is associated with a color and a power and I have had a teasing in the back of my mind to pull out my notes and really dedicate myself to the mental, aural, scented and color cues associated with the angels and levels of the qabala.

This rainbow dancer that I can become needs to be the vibrant being of energy I was given a vision for and I feel so confident and safe seeing how my higher self, my guides and the Universe have been setting this up for me for many months.  It feels good to know I’m being taken care of.

Hidden Messages In Water

I recently picked up Masaru Emoto’s book The Hidden Messages in Water and it is blowing my mind.  Emoto experimented with exposing frozen water to different words and music and discovered that water crystals form in response to whatever the water was exposed to.  He goes on to discuss how water influences our evolution, how it is part of the vibrational resonance of everything and more.  It’s leading me to believe that our collective un/conscious is located in water.  I really highly recommend picking this up.  (All the images in this post are from the book.)

Here’s an excerpt to get you interested:

“When water freezes, the particles of water link together to form the crystal nucleus, and when the nucleus grows in a stable way into a hexagonal shape, a visible water crystal appears; but when information in conflict with nature is present, an incomplete crystal will be formed.

“The words ‘gratitude’ and ‘love’ form the fundamental principles of the laws of nature and the phenomenon of life.  Therefore, water in its natural form is required to create the hexagonal form.  By contrast, words such as “You fool” do not exist in nature and are instead unnatural elements created by people. Words that revile, harm and ridicule are the result of the culture created by humans.

“It’s likely that only vibrations of love and gratitude appear in nature, and observation of nature shows this to be true. The trees and plants show respect for each other by the way they live in harmony.  This also applies to the animal kingdom. Even lions only kill when hungry, and never at random. The plants in the shadows of the trees do not complain, and the animals do not try to take more food than they require.

“In an article in the March-April 1989 issue of the American scientific journal 21st Century Science and Technology, Warren J. Hamerman wrote that the organic matter that forms human beings generates a requency that can be represented by a sound at approximately fourty-two octaves above middle C (the note near the center of the piano keyboard). The modern standard for Middle C is approximately 262 Hz (Hertz) so this means that the sound reaches roughly 570 trillion HZ. Since Hz means vibrations per second, this indicates that human beings vibrate 570 trillion times a second, a number that exceeds the imagination and indicates incredible and wonderful hidden potential.

“It’s difficult to conceive 42 octaves, but just realize that the frequency of the human being is immensely diverse and unparalleled.  The human being holds a universe within, filled with overlapping frequencies, and the result is a symphony of cosmic proportions.

“When I talk to people about vibration and fequency, I use what I like to call the “do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti theory.” This simple theory just means that the frequency of everything in the cosmos can be summarized in seven parts – do, re, mi, fa, so, la, and ti.

“The universe consists of an uncountable number of things ranging from the lowest to the highest frequency.  It might help to imagine keys aligned in order on a piano keyboard, starting from the lowest sound.  If you press down on the white keys, you will hit do, re, mi, fa, so, la and ti.  When you move up the keyboard one octave, from one do to the next, the frequency doubles.  In other words, the doubling frequencies divided into seven parts is do, re, mi, fa, so, la, and ti.  Therefore the repeating of these seven sounds expresses all sound from the lowest to the highest.

“But what enlightenment can be obtrained by seeing frequency as sound?

“The most important revelation is that of resonance.  Sounds of the same requency resonate. This can be understood by making use of a turning fork, a Y-shaped instrument used to tune the pitch of an instrument or voice.

“When a turning fork is hit with a rubber hammer, creating a la sound, and a singer responds with a la, the tuning fork and the voice create a single frequency sound wave. This is called resonance. When one side creates a fequency and the other responds with the same sound, they resonate. It’s said that likes attract and so it would appear that vibrations attract and interact with each other.

“With some careful obsevation, you’ll see that this same phenomenon is going on al laround you.  A dog walking along the street may not respond to another animals it passes but it will be very responsive to a dog on the other side of the street. Dogs will  often howl when they hear the sound of a siren and this could also be a type of resonance.

“And we see this in human relationships: people who generate similar frequencies are attracted to each other, resulting in friendship. Certain people remain uninterested in each other, no matter how physically close they may be.  However, if someone you don’t like approaches you and you react, this also means that you are resonating in some way with that person.

“The greatest secret of Japanese martial arts is referred to as ‘winning without fighting.’ This essentially means avoiding resonating with the enemy. To fight and win results in resonance with the enemy and so the level of the relationship is very low.

“When frequencies are fundamentally incompatable, they cannot resonate.  We cannot accept what is fundamentally different from us.

“Howver, an interesting fact is that resonance can result even when frequencies are not identical.  This happens, for instance, when the frequency is doubled.  Playing the la key on the piano at 440 Hz and the la key at an octave lower at 220 Hz creates quite a pleasant resonating sound, and responding to a tuning fork with a sound one octave lower also creates nice resonance.

“When the frequency difference is twofold, fourfold, eightfold and so on – or one-half, one-quarter, and so on – the result is resonance. The principle of this relationships extends to infinity. No matter how distant the frequencies, resonance will result if one of the two numbers is a multiple of the other. We can also say that for every sound on each level there is a resonating sound on every other level.

…

“Most of the objects found in nature emit stable frequencies. Each sparrow sounds basically the same (though sparrows themselves might recognize slight differences), and the sounds made by dogs or cats do not havce a great deal of variation. By contrast, the human being is able to make full use of the do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti scale to create beautiful meoldies.  Wouldn’t you agree that this is indeed a marvelous ability?

“Humans are the only creatures that have the capacity to resonate with all other creatues and objects found in nature. We can speak with all that exists in the universe. We can give out energy and also receive energy in return. However, this iability is a two-edged sword. When people act out only on their own greed, they emit an energy that serves to destroy the harmony within nature.

“The defiling of our earth is the result of an unrelenting hunger for convenience and the fulfillment of greed, initiated by the industrial revolution. This has led to lifestyles of mass consumption that seriously threaten the global environment.

“We have embarked on a new century, a time in history when we must make srious changes in the way that we think. Only the human can resonate with the rest of the world and this is why it is so essential that we change our thinking, so we can live in harmony with nature and not go on destroying the earth. What vibration we give to the earth and what kind of planet we create depends on each one of us as individuals.

“How will you choose to live your life?

“If you fill your heart with love and gratitude, you will find yourself surrounded by so much that you can love and that yo ucan feel grateful for, and you can even get closer to enjoying the life of health and happiness that you seek. But what will happen if you emit signals of hate, dissatisfaction and sadness? Then you will probably find yourself in a situation that makes you hateful, dissatisfied and sad.

“The life you life and the world you live in are up to you.”

Animals as Teachers

Animal mimicry and the role it plays in my life is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, but didn’t have the words to blog about it. It’s from DailyOM a website (you have to register) that shares wisdom and grace, every time I read one of their daily emails, I feel my priorities shift back into place and I often have a tear in my eye. So, it’s good stuff. You should check it out. The most recent one, Wild Wisdom in include your perusal:

Wild Wisdom
Animals As Teachers

Since prehistoric times, animals have acted as companions to humans on their journey toward enlightenment. Animals as disparate in character as house pets, birds, sea creatures, and insects have been our mentors, teachers, and guides. There is much we can learn from animals, as they offer us the unique opportunity to transcend the human perspective. Unlike human teachers, animals can only impart their wisdom by example, and we learn from them by observation. An animal teacher can be a beloved pet or an animal in the wild. You may even find yourself noticing the animals in your backyard. Even robins and bumblebees have lessons to share with you.

Animals teach us in a variety of ways about behavior, habit, and instinct. House pets embody an unconditional love that remains unchanged in the face of our shape, size, age, race, or gender. They care little for the differences between us and them and simply enjoy loving and being loved. Our pets encourage us to let our guards down, have fun, and take advantage of every opportunity to enjoy life. You can also learn lessons from the animals you encounter in the wild if you take the time to observe their habits. Cold-blooded animals show us adaptability and sensitivity to one’s environment. Mammals serve as examples of nurturing and playfulness. Animals that live in oceans, lakes, and rivers demonstrate the value of movement and grace. It is even possible to learn from insects that live in highly structured communities that everyone plays a vital role.

Animals teach us about life, death, survival, sacrifice, and responsibility. If you find yourself drawn to a particular animal, ask yourself which of its traits you find most intriguing and think about how you might mimic those traits. Think of what you might learn from observing the little bird on your windowsill or the mosquito buzzing around a picnic table. Animals express themselves with abandon, freedom, and integrity. It’s natural to be drawn to the wisdom offered by our animal teachers, and in doing so, discover what is natural and true within you. (Source)