Circles, Flowers and Spirals

Over the past few weeks, I have been drawing circles, The Seed of Life, The Flower of Life and the Fibonacci Spiral as a way to explore new ways of seeing the world. These designs are used to describe the unfolding of creation and the patterns which are endlessly repeated in the natural world. They come together as an invitation to consider the limitless possibilities available as we experience life flowing, forming connections, expanding and converging in every moment.

I use drawing and other forms of creative work to help teach my mind new ways of thinking about life. They help me move beyond linear and dualistic frameworks, which separate and divide, to flows that connect and interweave. I love the Flower of Life as it takes circles of equal size, places them in an even an configuration, and creates beauty and balance.

Stories My Drum Told Me

I am delighted to share the first chapter of my upcoming book, “Stories My Drum Told Me.” Each chapter will be a self-contained story containing images and wisdom drawn from the unseen world, which I access both through Bön Chant and shamanic journey. Looking beyond the surface illusions of our ordinary existence, I hope to share the beauty, unity and power that exist in the mystery that flows through all of life.

You will find the first chapter, “Earth Breathing at the Beginning of the Day” on the Stories for My Grandchildren page. In this chapter, I introduce the Women of the Open Sky as they experience all of nature breathing together in the spaciousness of the early morning landscape.

The Resonance Field of Life

In recent weeks I have been captivated by all of the ideas, images and words that have come into my life as echoes and additions to what I receive in my shamanic journeys. I receive an image or message and within days other people share things that add to it and help me in the process of bringing what I have received into tangible form. This resonance knits our lives together to form the supportive structure that all of us need.

When Kathleen shared within the drumming circle of her journey to Grandmother Spider, this guide gave the advice to not worry about trying to build life in a linear fashion. It does not help to concentrate on one strand and ask it to hold all of our forward movement. Instead, we are to remember that each bit of energy, light, insight, or sound that sparks anywhere within the web enlivens and strengthens the whole thing. She spoke of a resonance field which fuels intuition and which is enhanced by joy and love.

During the same drumming circle, I experienced Humanity as the collective of all of us as cells in one being. We were each lit with our own inner beauty and wisdom. The whole Being of Humanity shimmered with light, love and possibility. Then as I watched, there were sympathetic vibrations within the Web of Life surrounding this Being of Humanity. As light, color and sound waves danced through the creation around us the outline between humankind and all of life faded. Every pulse of energy that was initiated anywhere in the Web of Life was felt as gift to every other part of the web.

A few days later, I read an article about the shattering of the collective consciousness of humankind. Our shared cultural and societal assumptions about who we are as individuals and as a human species cannot carry us through this current evolutionary transition. They are breaking apart to allow new perceptions and a new understanding of our interconnection to emerge. What if the resonance field of the Web of Life is now beginning to provide new connective tissue to knit Humanity into unity with all living beings?

Within the week there was one more piece dropped in by my friend Karla, who has practiced Buddhism for decades. We were dialoguing about how to work with the strands of Karma which move through our lives. She taught me that I do not need to know the cause or even if the Karma is something from my own history. Facing the feeling, sensation, energy of it head on, feeling it in my body and letting it pass on through is how it is cleansed. Doing this work benefits not only me, but all living beings everywhere.

The way I am putting these pieces together leads me to great hope. I had been looking for a cumulative awakening of individual people until we reached the critical tipping point within the collective consciousness. Now, it feels like the whole creation is working together to transform the most fundamental connections among all living beings. Humanity, far from being outside and separate from the Web of Life, is part of a resonance field which is rewriting human consciousness along with every pulse of light, love and creative vibration throughout the cosmos.

I continue to use my chant from the Tibetan Bön tradition to do my own inner work. As I encounter fears, angers, frustrations, mental barriers to feeling whole and united with all of life, I use this form of vibration and visualization to of clear them. As the vibration of the chant clears the clouds of mental chatter and the physical sensations they cause in my body, I experience the peace of a wide open sky. I do not try to create the feelings or ideas, but work with what I am experiencing in that moment. As I do this, I am adding my experience of relief and openness back into the resonance field of all people everywhere. As I clear blockages from my own being, a spark of light is released into the whole web.

I am still in the process of seeing how all of these hints and ideas fit together. This is an amazing and complex web of being. If this sparks images and ideas for you, I hope that you will share them in the comments section. Each one of us carries strands of the web that weave together to bring wholeness to our world.

Peace along your path,

Nancy

Lesson from Hare

What I see outside of myself depends on the filters I use to interpret the information flowing in. If I put images through the same conditioned framework, I am bound to see the same old things. In fact those thought patterns keep me from seeing what is right in front of my eyes.

A hare taught me this the other day. I was sitting reading a book and glancing up occasionally to look across the yard to an open area in front of the manzanita bushes. At first he just sat there motionless. I watched this statue-like form for about five minutes and wondered if he was all right. The next time I looked up, he was munching the grass near the base of the nearby bird bath. A half hour later, there he was again, just sitting, appearing to stare into the yard. Over about an hour and a half he was somewhere in that scene, sitting motionless or eating, any time I looked his way.

I had not seen a hare do this before. I usually see one haring off out toward the open field. They have kept their distance and if they pause to nibble the bushes, they are soon on their way. This behavior was different and therefore my mind began to see a problem. “Is this hare ill or injured? Does it realize that there is a coyote in the neighborhood and that lingering in one spot might be dangerous? Do I need to put extra food out for it?” All my thoughts circled the feeling that there was a problem with the hare and I needed figure out what to do for it.

That night, I asked Hare (the archetype of my visitor) if there was a message for me. In a dream Hare responded, “I was not concerned looking into the cabin and seeing you reading your book and drinking tea, even though you usually do not sit in one spot for so long. Why should you think that there is a problem with me when I sit, eat and enjoy the first warm afternoon?”

The next morning, the memory of the dream made me laugh. The gift of the hare was to show me what my mind does when I look out at other people, places and situations with the wrong eyes. Over the previous week I had been focusing not on my friends and family, but on the challenges they are currently facing and the frustrations they are experiencing. Instead of seeing the capacity, strength, inner light, and creativity of each person, I was scanning for “problems” to be help them solve. This is one of those well-worn thought paths that I can slip into without noticing.

No one needs my suggestions about what they should do or how to move forward in their lives. When I launch in with my ideas, I often interfere with their ability to listen to their own deepest wisdom and find guidance within.

When I share a challenge or puzzle, I do not want someone else to grab it away and try to solve it. I want the chance to listen to how I describe it and see what pops up. While possibilities sometime emerge as a friend adds their comments, it is still up to me to sort through what is offered and to see where it fits for me. Most often their gift is the compassion of listening to my words with open acceptance, and reflecting a confidence in my ability to find my way along my path.

I have not seen the hare in recent days, but I sense he is still afoot enjoying the longer warmer days. His presence is a gift. This animal let me bounce my thoughts and projections off of his lovely, peaceful form so I could see them more clearly. I’m deeply grateful for hare and all the four-legged teachers who visit me bringing curiosity, playfulness and peace.

Peace along your path,

Nancy

Healing From Within

I often envision my work for the healing of the Being of Humanity as one standing outside of it and radiating love towards it. Sometimes I invite that light to be moonlight or starlight that moves through me to shine gently on this form that I see outlined by the sacred mountains of the world.

Over the past few weeks, my shamanic journeys have shifted this perception. They have reminded me that I am a part of humankind and receiving as well as radiating the light of the sacred. They introduced me to a deeper sense of how interconnected we all are and how our wholeness is enhanced by all of us.

In a recent journey, I was standing near the Being of Humanity, being the gentle cool light of the moon. One of my guides told me, “You are part of a cell within this creature and you belong within it.” Stepping forward, I was drawn into a position within the forearm. Nestled in among all of the elements, energies and interwoven network of life, I could feel moonlight emanating from deep within me. It was also pulsing through this entire being from every other expression here. In the same way that cells of the human body communicate with one another, we were all feeling the vibration of joy, wholeness and harmony that rippled among us.

We were also enfolded in the love and nurture of Nature, of Gaia, of the One Life Force. The Being of Humanity was held in a gentle embrace by all within the web of life. My healing and wholeness flow as an expression of the sacred source, through all of life, including my individual life. As I live balance and harmony, I enter the flow of healing throughout this Being of Humanity.

“There are billions of you who are experiencing this breathing of grace and love,” I was told. “Each of you is filling with light and love that twinkles back toward the stars like they shine down on you from the sky.”

The next morning, I went out under the predawn half-moon. As I gazed at the field of winter-dried grass, I was flooded with joy. There before me was a dancing carpet of glistening frost crystals. Every blade of grass was twinkling with light, mirroring the sparkle of the stars and moon above us. “I am not alone in this. Those who love, and fill the world with joy and light are everywhere,” it came to me. “Each one is a tiny outpouring of the love of the Sacred Mystery in tangible form. Each one lives with wholeness and harmony, filled with Sacred Light uniting the whole.”

We are each sacred expressions of the light and life of the cosmos. Each one of us, in our being, is here with purpose and meaning for this specific time in history. Being fully the soul we are designed to be is the greatest gift we can give in the transformation and healing of the Being of Humanity and of the web of life.

Drink in the love, wisdom and light of the stars. Let it fill every cell of your body. Let it ease your pain and heal your tension and struggle. Let it open the flow of energy through your body to bring you joyful health and strength. Then enjoy simply enjoy moving through your day feeling this connection with all that is.

Peace and Joy,
Nancy

Moonlight as Healing Light

moonlight

While I began enjoying the night sky during our winter in the Arizona desert lands, it is only since we settled here near Mount Shasta that I have been following the gentle emptying and filling of the Moon each month. The broad view of the sky and the strong invitations to look at the night sky have been deepening my relationship with her phases and flow.

I recently received the image of the Being of Humanity as a human child form, supported by the sacred mountains of the world. I was told that Humanity suffers from a fever, fueled by a distortion in the function of fear within our species. (see my recent post The Healing of Humanity – First Images). This has led to doing transfiguration work (focusing my mind on my inner being of light and inviting it to shine outward in unconditional love and light.) In the past, I have used the image of starlight within my core, but I decided to journey to Moon to see if she would teach me how to use her light as part of my healing work.
Messages from Moon:

My colors are the aquamarine on the quiet ocean and the subtle indigo of the clear night sky. These both are cool colors, soothing colors.
My light is not penetrating like sun or starlight. It is not meant to push through the barrier of darkness, but to hint at the outlines of the land and other creature forms. It does not heat and energize the tissues of the human body but caresses them, almost too subtle for tactile perception. It is a light that must be reached for by the eye, mind and being. It is an invitation, a gentle kiss on the forehead.
In my first quarter phase, my light is most clear. As I approach full, it is muted by the glory of reflected sunlight and overpowers the stars. Last quarter through first, I invite the warmer light of sun and stars to outshine me. It is a dance and flow that allows an ebb and flow both to sight and to skin.
You are tending a fevered child being (Humanity.) It already has plenty of heat and the excited energy of the sun. Yet you do not want to leave it scared in the darkness that folds around it. There it is vulnerable to nightmares and monsters.
During the day, many are sending vibrant healing energy to the Being of Humanity. During the night, bathe this young one in the gentle aquamarine and indigo night-sky blue. As it relaxes to sleep, enfold it with a loving, gentle touch. Let moonlight be its blanket and your lap be its pillow. Tenderness, quiet presence and faith in its ability to heal will be your gifts. Many are willing to seek to dispel the stagnant energy of its body and pull in cleansing light. But few are holding this creature in love and singing lullabies to it as it sleeps. Sleep is an amazing healing force. Much happens in the depths of the night to release what no longer gives health and to allow a slow gentle absorption of grace.

I have begun to integrate this wisdom by setting the intention to be filled by the cool aquamarine or indigo light of the Moon. Over time the color grows more vivid in my imagination. In its calm glow I let my being fill with love for all of us as creatures who live under the same Moon.

This also supports me in letting go of assumptions and projections that lead to the illusion of separateness and duality. When I focus on moonlight, it invites me to remain within my own skin and to listen to my core integrity. It is here that I find the truth of being interwoven with all of life by the Sacred Mystery which moves in, through and among us.

As you gaze at the Moon, allows its gift of cool, calm, healing light fill and sooth you.
Nancy

Looking Through the Wave

Wave As I stand on the threshold of this new decade, an unexpected joy and spaciousness greets me. For days my focus has been on how pivotal this decade is in terms of the Climate Crisis. If we fail to totally change the way we fuel our lives and our economy within this ten years, we will pass the crucial tipping point in global warming. The resulting cascade of environmental changes could lead to an Earth that can no longer support human life. So, why is there hope and joy bubbling up from my core?

It comes from an understanding of my role, and the task for all of us who are committed to living an Earth-centered life in our later years. We are called to become the Elders of our culture and to serve as spiritual elders have for centuries, as those who see in that darkness and look through to the light.

Here is what I experienced in a recent shamanic journey:

I was standing on a beach as an old woman, wearing a simple long dress, with a shawl draped over my head and shoulders. I was facing out to sea. In the near distance was a 500 foot standing wave. It was a solid wall of water, which had paused for a moment before crashing into the shore where I stood.

I was not afraid, and there was no urge to turn and run. There was nothing I could do to stop or change the wave. I was asked to look straight at it and on through it to what exists beyond. What I saw was a vibrantly alive forest and a pristine, thriving Earth. There were many varieties of plants and animals in the undergrowth.

When I asked about humans, I was told that they no longer live in big concrete structures. I was shown a gathering of small hut-like homes made of natural materials. The people emerged from their dwellings, walked out into an open meadow and began singing their love for all of the gifts of the Earth and stars. I was told that the People had rediscovered the heart of gratitude and harmony.

The general message was to stay calm. Look through the noise, confusion and chaos of these times. Hold in focus the Web of Life returned to vibrant health and balance.

It was a call for us to serve as the Wise Elders of our culture. We are here, to do deep spiritual work to aid the transformation of the relationship of humankind to the natural world, and to the Sacred Source of Life. The changes needed in our outer lives can only be empowered by a renewed love for all living beings. When every expression of the natural world is a dear member of our family to be honored, served and cherished, we will rediscover our appropriate place within the Web of Life.

This is a huge challenge, and we are those who are here at this time, and at this point in our lives to meet it. There is no panic, no hurry, only the clear gaze of those who can see through the wall of water that separates us from Life. We stand together, looking into the future. We focus on the Earth beyond, in which our children’s children to the seventh, the fourteenth and the twenty-first generations will find joy and peace.

To honor our common spiritual journey of the healing of Earth and Her Children, I am now offering one-on-one Spiritual Direction. This process of bringing all of life into focus around the sacred nature of life is open to people of all spiritual traditions and practices. For more information, follow the link above or contact me at earthcenterednancy@gmail.com.

Seeking a Gift Economy

One of the most tenacious threads of our mainline culture is our market-based economic structure. It is also the most essential one to break in order to live an Earth-centered life. The very nature of capitalism is to view everything as a resource with a monetary value – whether tangible item, talent, skill, or person. As I shift to viewing all around me as living beings – trees and rocks as well as animals and birds; cabins and cook pots as well as human friends – all emerging as gift from the One Source, I choose to look to a gift economy as a way of passing along what I have been given.

What gifts do I have to offer at this point in my life?

A perspective which emerges from a lifetime spiritual journey, which has moved from Christianity, through Zen Buddhism, to Earth-centered shamanic practice. I have lived this journey full heartedly, sinking deeply into each of these spiritual practices with mind, body, soul and spirit allowing it to become a vital part of my life. Each stage covered decades of time, and the depth and complexity which each one deserved.

Before I received chaplain’s training or spent 12 years as a clergywoman, I already possessed an innate calming presence and ability to companion people going through times of crisis or major life transition. This capacity only deepened in my time working with hospice, and co-leading Still Point Zen Practice Center. I am still learning to listen to the depth of people’s experiences, and find my shamanic journey work helpful in developing this skill.

I have dedicated my life to living an Earth-centered life for my remaining years. The willingness to leave a middle-class lifestyle and purchase a 30-foot motor home as our residence is only one small factor. I continue to deepen my relationships with the land on which we live, the mountains in whose shadow we dwell, and all the living beings who share this region with us. My shamanic practice takes me into the unseen realms, where I open to wisdom born of our interconnections within the Web of Life, and bring back images and insights to add to my words and writing.

Each day I greet in gratitude for my life, this land and the wonderful man who I share life with. I do shamanic journey to nurture the Web of Life and aid in the healing of the human family which is essential to the healing of the planet. I spend time dreaming the dream of the reality of harmony, life, creativity and balance which I want to see emerge beyond the current breakdown of our culture.

I am currently writing this blog – Earth-centered Living After 60 and a book that shares the same themes: Spirituality, Living Appropriately as a Human Being in the World, Living in Harmony with Nature, Leaving the Cultural and Economic Systems Behind, Golden Years, Taking the Journey Together, and Practical Matters. In this way I hope to share one way of moving into a new harmony with all living beings.

Beginning in the 2020, I will begin offering Spiritual Direction for those who are seeking to deepen their inner journey. It will be based in my Earth-centered spirituality and shamanic journey practice, while also inviting those who touch the mystery of the unseen world through other spiritual traditions and practices. Watch for a new page on Spiritual Direction to learn more.

What do I seek in return ?

Freedom to live my dedication to Earth-centered living as deeply as I have lived the rest of my spiritual path.

Freedom from making my spiritual practice a market-based way of making a living.

Support of a simple way of life as I write the book/s that are emerging from this lifestyle and my shamanic journey experiences.

Freedom to explore how to offer deep listening to individuals as a means of supporting their inner healing, without making it a business.

To support this I am looking for Patrons –

People who are not able, at this time, to do the work or live the practice that I am, but are interested in witnessing what this path might hold.

Individuals who are interested in seeing my writing come to fruition, and providing the freedom from money-earning that I need to write both blog and book.

Those who want to support my shamanic journey work and my approach to healing the land, humankind and all living beings.

Those who are intrigued by the concept of deep listening or spiritual direction combined with shamanic practice as a support for individual healing work.

I am using a very helpful site called Patreon which provides a channel for individuals to support others who are creating art, books, and music. “Support My Work,” in the side bar will take you on to my Patreon page. The Patreon site will lead you in the steps to contribute a monthly amount that you feel is appropriate. I welcome contributions of $5 or $10 per month, because many people are living a very simple life with limited financial resources. In addition, I am seeking a handful of people who can offer $20 or more per month, as a sustaining flow for our lives. Each patron, at any level of giving, will receive an additional monthly article taking you deeper into one of the Earth-Centered Living after 60 themes.

For a beautiful description of where Patreon fits within a new flow of economy, I invite you to read David Cain’s article: Two Ways to Keep the Fountain Flowing: https://www.raptitude.com/2019/11/two-ways/

As always, this website/blog will remain available to all, free of charge. I also appreciate you sharing what you read here with others who you feel would value what I offer. This is part of the central gift of my life and I want to let it ripple outward beyond my small circle of family and friends.

Life is Not All Petting Bunnies

bunny This was what I was told in a recent journey to one of my teachers in the Unseen world. I’m finding it to be very true.

We have nearly come full circle from the time we made the decision to release our 3-bedroom rental house and it’s lifestyle. In a month, we will pass the one year point since the end of my work as a bookbinder. So many changes, and not all of them “petting bunnies.”

This life calls for a great deal of honesty with myself and about myself. I can not sink into the relationship with nature; with all living beings; with my deepest sense of calling, if I am hiding out from myself and others. One of the impacts of paring things back in my life is that when I find something I am unwilling to let go of, there is something important hiding behind it.

My bookbinding equipment still sits in a storage area, which is costing us a monthly rental fee that our budget can no longer support. Yet, I have limited my attempts to sell it to people connected with the bookbinding schools in this region. I was talking with Bill this morning and finally found the courage to explore why.

My bookbinding business failed. I had given myself fully to learning the skills to both create hand bound books and journals, and to do complex book repairs. I had gathered more and more materials, papers and equipment. I tried new craft fair settings, and extending the hours I spent in this work. But the business failed. In fact it failed to the point that we are now going through bankruptcy because of the debts it accumulated. That sense of failure and the accompanying shame keep that equipment and materials locked up in the dark.

I had designed a scenario in my mind of finding the right young bookbinding student, and having my equipment go to helping them set up their studio. I wanted to have a story of generosity. I wanted to pretend that leaving bookbinding was part of the natural flow of moving toward motor home living. What I am learning is that all of this is hard to admit, but vital to my story. If I am going to stay honest about the challenges of this life (and its promises), I need to share deeply.

This is made easier by a TED talk Bill found yesterday. Brene Brown spoke for 20 minutes about Vulnerability , it is liberating. She points out that while vulnerability is at the base of many of our fears and much of our shame, it is also the fundamental basis for creativity, joy and whole-hearted living. Failure is part of life as we give ourselves to commitments, relationships, or projects with all of who we are. We have to launch ourselves into that flight of creative possibility, without reservation or fear. It is not that we are being unreasonable, it is just that we are letting our heart propel our life.

I would never trade the life I have now for a return to a successful bookbinding business. I would not trade my hours of walking the trails, journeying for wisdom to ancestors, and singing for the healing of the Earth, for endless hours in a bookbinding studio creating the most incredible books.

This land and this mountain have claimed me. We have been asked to remain here on this 3 acres of land, to care for it and for an aged cabin for Bill’s sister. Our home on wheels is a strong shelter providing all we need. We have food and some of the cleanest water on the planet. We have just enough in the bank to make the monthly bills, while the generosity of the Universe continues to flow to us in amazing ways.

Our small home keeps me growing in my intimate relationship with rain and wind, phases of the moon and song of morning birds. It is a strong reliable shelter for our living. My devotion to living for the healing of the Earth and All Her Children deepens every day. It is not all petting bunnies, but the transforming flow of life keeps showing me flowers.

P.S. – The bookbinding equipment is now up on Craig’s List.

Sixty-First Birthday

A year ago, I took a transformative birthday hike which gave a surge of flow to some things we were already considering and brought to life others. I shared that experience in my post “Birthday Hike.” At that time much was still unformed, theoretical, and experimental in the unfolding of a human life, lived in harmony with nature. I did not know then what it meant to live an Earth-Centered life, in the service of the Earth and all living beings. It has been an amazing year.

Last year, after my birthday hike, I returned to a rented 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house that was tucked up on the north face of a wooded hillside. The house was enfolded by Dogwoods, Pines, Cedars and Manzanita. The outside critters were pets, having been fed by hand by the previous tenant. We too were tame, throwing out apple and seed in the evenings and watching chipmunk and squirrel; blue jay and deer gather for this staged encounter. Our sky was very narrow, leaving the house in the shade much of the year, and yielding little of moon or starlight.

This year, I returned to our 30-foot long Winnebago motor home, and its lovely small shower. It sits in a meadow-like setting with a dozen or so adolescent pine trees at the near side of the 3 acres. We look out at the cinder form of Black Butte, with the silhouettes of trees marking its outline against the sky. The canopy of the heavens is wide open to bring sunshine through the days and the shifting patterns of moonlight across the nights. The Milky Way stretches leisurely across the sky when the moon is young, and the sun appears at a slightly different point on the mountain side each morning.

There are deer and hare; chipmunk and lizard; sparrow, hawk, golden eagle and swallow in the meadow. I saw a long, thin gray snake one day, and we chased a coyote away one night because it was disturbing our near neighbor’s dog. We still water a small area near the motor home, and scatter some seed for the smaller birds. I have set up a small tub of water near the far fence, sheltering it between bushes and overhanging it with dried manzanita to provide a safe place for the smaller creatures to drink. They are all shy and wild and wonderful.

Last summer, much of my time was spent trying to enliven my bookbinding and book repair business. I put in more hours, went to more craft fairs and took on more challenging repair projects. It didn’t work. The business died beneath me and, in releasing my identity as a bookbinder, the last obstacle was removed from shifting to a full-time motor home life. By December the equipment and supplies were in storage. All of those materials are now seeking a new set of hands to put them back to their intended use of making beautiful books. I hope that my ads with several bookbinding schools will catch the eye and imagination of a new bookbinder.

The practical challenges of living as two individuals in a small home are finding their own solutions. We are playing with our schedule to allow times for independent function. We find true appreciation of the good food, beautiful surroundings, comfortable home and freedom to live simply in relationship with one another and with the Earth, which this home on wheels supports. We are each following our own unique path in ways very different from all of the shared work we have done in the past. We are encouraging each other in our self-understandings that I am more of a mystic than I had realized and Bill is very much the wise elder and mountain hermit.

I had been doing Shamanic Journey for over a year when I turned 60. I had completed a couple of courses on line with Sandra Ingerman and Don Oscar Miro-Quesada. I had met my power animals and journeyed to several places of healing in the Unseen world. Images and messages from this journey work provided guidance, encouragement and vision for the transition that took on its practical form in the late fall.

This year, nourished by many more shamanic journeys, hikes in amazing natural beauty, and continued learning from my teachers, I have settled into this as my path and work. The transformation of the World requires the dreaming into being of that transformation. What takes form in ordinary reality must first be envisioned, tended and drawn through from the Unseen World. This is not the work of my human will, but as a living channel of the loving, healing, creative energy of the Sacred Source flowing through me. My work is to deepen my relationship with the creating heart of the Earth/Source/Creator through experiencing it in my shamanic journeys and chanting.

I hope to be able to weave together a book of the threads – images and insights I can bring back from the Unseen to the Seen expression of Life. I can not describe this work well, but I know the feeling in my core – the focus of my consciousness, my life, my love in celebrating the sacredness of the Earth and her expression in all living beings. The dedication has moved from theory to daily practice, and is now supported by a teacher and shamanic drumming circle here in Mount Shasta.

Over the months ahead we will each continue to discover how to share our gifts with others. I will do my work for the benefit of all, as all shamanic work has always been done. I will write when the words flow, or when a poem wakes me from sleep. I will send honor, respect, balance, clarity and harmony out into the world with every step I take in my hiking. I will discipline my mind, so that my thoughts are adding light, love and renewal to the Web of Life.

You are always free to come to this website and follow my unfolding life path. Please, share this with others who you feel would enjoy the journey. If you find that it resonates with your being, please explore your own ways of connecting with the Light, Love and Life of the Sacred Source. I would love to hear from you about what you discover along the way.

(The photos are of Black Butte to show how it towers above us here, and the tree line up the southern slope.)