Shamanic resources including articles, podcasts, free drumming music and more about shamanism.
Why can’t I see anything? I encounter this question and comment very regularly. One of the first things I say is have patience and compassion for yourself. We are immersed in a world which places increasingly high value on NOW. Shamanic journeys can be very challenging. It can be very hard to quiet the endless procession of thoughts, grocery lists & fears. Anytime we enter into a realm we are unfamiliar with we are likely to encounter resistance in one form or another. [Read more…]
Hail and Hello! Thank you for taking time to read my mental meanderings on Grandmother Moon.
The Moon has been a very influential celestial body through human history. My introduction to the Moon began as a teaching tool relating to the life and health of our farm. I remember we would plant certain seeds during different phases of the Moon. We would harvest during certain phases. Depending on when in September the full moon would make its presence known, was usually a sign of frost coming. We liked it when the full moon was at the end of the month, it meant a longer harvest time. We even castrated by the phase of the moon. It has always been a very integral part of my life. So much so, to this day (and I have lived many days) I am still surprised when people are unaware of what phase the moon, directly over their heads, is in.
The children’s rhyme, Jack and Jill, has roots in stories related to the waxing and waning of the moon. I have not, as of yet, discovered why Jill fell down and broke her crown. There is an Old Norse myth that tells us the story of the Moon, Mâni, who stole two children from earth, Hjuki and Bil, as they were collecting water from the well, Byrgir, in their bucket, Sœgr, suspended from their pole, Simul. The Moon as an archetypal kidnapper of children sounds eerily ominous and was perhaps told to keep children from wandering about at night.
There is a further twist to the tale. Hjuki actually comes from the Norse verb Jakka that means to pile up or increase. Bil comes from Bila, which is to fade, dissolve or fall apart. Is it likely that the old tale is actually about the cyclical waxing and waning of the moon? The fetching of water may have been a direct link to the Moon’s influence on the tides.
Each culture I have studied seems to have a creation myth relating to the Moon and its importance. It is no wonder it has such a Central Role in the Medicine Wheel. The gender of the Moon for the Medicine wheel I refer to, is Feminine. The moon, depending on the myth, can be Female or Male. Often the moon is a consort, or sibling to the Sun. I have read interviews with tribal Grandmothers and Grandfathers from the time of the first moon landing. A few of the interviewees had stories of how they had traveled to the moon. Equally fascinating, to me, were the descriptions of the moon’s surface, and how closely it corresponded to what the astronauts had reported.
Through the years of circling, sitting in ceremony and journey work I have had some of the most illuminating insights. Moon has been a patient teacher for me, helping me to sense my way into the physics of my own psyche. Not just the radiating qualities, albedo (reflective power) but also my edges and blends; my moon shadow. To consider the moon in these ways, to see one’s own radiating qualities, to polish those too with the brush of one’s heart.
Journey Suggestion:
Start off in your anchor spot (if you use one) with the intention of traveling to the upper world to meet the moon. As you journey to it, I would recommend you come with a gift. When we meet a presence so old, with deep abounding wisdom, it is respectful to offer a gift in return for its time. I travel with my magic pouches filled with all manner of offerings. Travel with intention. If you have never met before, perhaps you can simply absorb the energy it is sharing with just you. If you have made this journey before, perhaps it is time to begin cyclical work and you are seeking ideas and insights from the moon. Regardless of what you do, cultivating relationship with a Celestial Ancestor, is never a bad idea!!
More resources on Moon:
Original post of the amazing photo of the moon by Seán Doran.
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In my podcasts, and in person, I often talk about the “God Shot”. We all want them and some of us have them. But what is a God Shot? I think it is when you have a spiritual experience so profound it affects, or can affect, the very underpinnings of our present lives. God Shots certainly help to catapult us to a deeper and more profound relationship to Spirit, or at least it can.
Some of us have had the luxury to travel for spiritual workshops. Some of us are fortunate enough to have great workshops in the places we live. The workshops, ceremonies, etc. often bring us closer to the divine. The question then is; what do we do after? Integration of our experiences is important, but how do we do that? Another aspect of the God Shot is to work with it. We are invited to be in the presence of the Divine but how do we stay with the Divine? [Read more…]
Happy New Year!
How do you mark the Turning of the Wheel? Is it an occasion for you? Or perhaps you celebrate the Old Ways and November 1 is your New Year. However you mark it, can be as unique as each pair of eyes reading these words.
Some years, I use the Medicine Wheel as a tool for review, tracing and tracking any patterns I can see. Patterns are not always recognizable at first glance, which is why I like to use a visual tool. Some years, I do no review at all. For me it depends, on whether my journey was more personal, or more community orientated.
Last year (2016) I used my Medicine Wheel to trace and track my journey. I had many personal experiences, some of which left me bereaved and bereft, and one, left me for dead. My first journey was to Centre to merge with my Authentic self, once merged I am less likely blind to my own masks and hiding places. After merging, I traveled to the World Tree, walking slowing around the trunk, until I felt pulled to a particular direction. I allow myself to trust my intuition. My second journey was to South, my weary warrior self. [Read more…]
Almost 25 years ago, I received my first degree in Usui Reiki. It was, to me, and my friends, absolutely unheard of. To achieve your Master level, the cost was still $10,000. Reiki has certainly come a very long way, inspiring a whole new genre of healers. I know many people, in and out of, my shamanic world, who are practitioners, and some, are also, teachers of Reiki.
My first introduction to Reiki, was just before I was introduced to Shamanism. At the time I experienced Reiki, I knew it was going to be the “second” part of my three pieces I needed to be “who I was meant to be”. If only it had all been that simple… but I am getting ahead of myself. My first experience receiving a Reiki treatment, was not at all a pleasant one. I remember it clearly, I received it on the Friday night of the weekend course. After the treatment, [Read more…]