Dreaming the Earth of Love

Several nights ago I had a extraordinarily vivid dream.  I woke up in the early morning hours and went outside to look at the sky.  What I saw was mesmerizing.  There were 6 Planets in a cluster, not quite in a line, more like in a formation of some sort.  What was more incredible, these Planets were large and clearly visible, about the size of full Supermoon.  It felt like I could reach out and touch them.

I called to the person that I was with and asked him to come outside.  He had to see this.  I said, "I've heard people talking about the line-up."  We were enthralled with the beauty.  We started naming the Planets.  Jupiter was very clear (and large).  That's when I saw her, a Planet of blue and green.  She was whirling through the sky and my Heart leapt.  I said, "There's the Earth!"  I had such Love for her and was completely enamored by her Beauty.  (I wish I could share the Love that I felt and that was pouring out of me at the sight of her.)

Suddenly I realized that if I was looking at the Earth, I was no longer on her.  I awoke shortly afterwards.

While I do want to do some more work with this dream and get some clarity around where I was, the more important part for me was the Love I felt.  I, like most people, have had moments of utter despair.  Times when I was ready to leave this planet, when I thought this is too difficult a challenge.  But seeing the Earth like that, feeling the Love that I have for her, made me realize that for better or for worse, I am committed.  I will do what I need to do to help her (which includes her inhabitants) thrive.

I have long been an Earth Lover.  Enchanted by her Beauty and delighted by her abundant bounty.  When I was a teenager, I learned that this is "odd".  I was given the title, environmentalist (this is one of the nicer names).  I really didn't understand this.  Now, 20 years later, I am just as confused.  Doesn't everyone Love the Earth?

I don't understand how you could not fall on your knees and weep tears of gratitude.  I know that it is difficult for some to be in their Hearts or to cry tears of anything.  Even so, it only takes a minute to realize the pure miracle of life on this Planet.  Think of the air that we breathe and that it is the Plants who give us the gift of oxygen.  Or the water and how she is continually recycled.  Or the seed, that precious little package that contains 25 Zucchinis or a Maple tree.  Each of these is part of many complex processes, which we simplify for ease into the water cycle, etc.  Really, just trying to think about all that is involved in one of these processes, blows my mind to the point, that I can't think anymore.  And so, all I can do is feel and Love and be overwhelmed with Gratitude.

There is much fighting and discord these days (both internally and externally).  I think, "Why?"  What is the point?  When we are surrounded by such unbelievable Beauty and so many incredible gifts, why would we waste our precious time on this remarkable Planet like this?  Surely there are more important things to do like sitting with a Tree and thanking her for the air we breathe, for the warmth her branches provide, for the tasty fruit she so willing shares.  Or sticking your nose in the ground and smelling that delicious Earth, thanking the Earthworms and Mycelium and all the many creepy crawlies who decompose the plant matter and turn this into Soil to feed new life.

And isn't it time to turn to the people who share this Planet with us and say, "Hey!  I see you there!  Isn't this a crazy ride?  How did we get so lucky?!  And look at you, with that skin and those bones.  Look at the many shapes they make.  Look how Beautiful you are!  I have skin and bones too, mine make different shapes and colors.  Isn't it crazy?!  Who would have thought that you can combine the same elements and get such varying results?  Truly amazing!  Hey, did you eat a fig yet?"

We are all part of this round spaceship.  Our survival and even more important, our ability to thrive is intricately linked to the surviving and thriving of everyone else who is on this with us.  (By everyone, I mean every Being - not just humans.)  As humans, we each only have a relatively short time to enjoy this experiment.  So enough with this separation bullshit.  Enough with fighting or hating or not-worthiness.  Enough with better than or exploitation or destruction.  Let's move on to exploring and delighting in this beautiful spaceship, in the bounty that she provides everywhere you look, in the truly artistic creations, and in each other.  Humanity is capable of so much, I mean really, it only takes a quick perusal through reality TV to see the many different talents that people have worldwide (and this is far from the best humanity has to offer).  Just imagine what we are capable of, what we could experience, the Beauty that we could create (with the other Beings on this spaceship), if we would stop wasting our time and start focusing on the Love that connects us all!

I know it can be difficult.  I know that there are systems set up to keep us from re-membering our connection, our Love.  When you see the Earth like I did in my dream.  And your Heart leaps out of your chest.  When you see her like that, you don't remember the arguments or the separation, all you remember is the Love!  So let me tell you, it is time.  It is time to re-member and remember.  It is time to awaken.  It is time to Love.

Let's Talk about Sex ... Sacred Sex that is!

Turn on the television, watch a movie, listen to the radio, drive down the road and you will see images of sex.  Sex is everywhere.  Sex sells.  The media tends to encourage men (and women) to have as much sex as possible with whomever they can.  There are some scenes that depict this as a loving act; however, the focus continues to be on an act of pleasure and the man having an orgasm.  This is the form of sex that is considered the “norm” in our culture.  What most people do not realize is that this is limiting.  Sex is meant to be more than a form of pleasure and more than a way to insure the survival of our species.  Sex is meant to be a Sacred act.  So let’s talk about (Sacred) Sex!

Sacred Sex recognizes that sexual acts are a way of creating intimacy and connection between two partners and that their joining has the potential of raising their consciousness, which can lead to: inspirations, insights, and understandings; astral travel; healing; increased energy and vitality; remembering their own Divinity and recognizing the Divinity of their partner; Oneness; connection with the Divine, and more.  With Sacred Sex, the focus is on the connection and the energies created, as well as, on honoring the Divine in each other, rather than on pleasure and orgasm.  Here’s the thing, the “side effect” of changing the focus is an increased amount of pleasure and often both men and women experience multiple orgasms that are longer lasting and more intense.

For millennia, there have been many different philosophies and techniques of Sacred Sex.  The scope of which is far beyond this newsletter.  As with religions, I feel all roads lead to One.  And it matters less what technique (if any) you are doing than what your intention is.  If you are interested in learning more, there are many books, videos, and classes that share methods of Sacred Sex.  As with most things in my life, my own journey with Sacred Sex began with a thought that there is something more, followed by explorations and personal experience, and then later confirmation of my insights through books.  Therefore, feel free to follow your own intuition of what feels right for you (and your partner).

Just because Sacred Sex is seldom discussed, portrayed, or taught does not mean that it is difficult or scary.  In fact, I believe it is how sex is meant to be.  The problem is that through Sacred Sex, one becomes her own authority and is able to tap into the Divine directly.  We know how the Church felt about “regular” people having a direct relationship with the Divine.  Plus, in Sacred Sex both partners are equal.  Some would even say that the woman is the guide, for it is often through the opening of her Heart Chakra that allows the man to tap into the broader energies.  Sacred Sex is a powerful tool that threatened the Church and Patriarchy. 

This may seem like an odd subject for a newsletter about Natural Healing; however, I feel that Sacred Sex has a large role in both our personal and cultural healing.  For us to evolve and grow into who we are capable of being, we need to accept our full selves - this means honor both our masculinity and femininity.  And in order to be able to do that, we need to heal the wounds of Patriarchy, including raising Women above the role of Sexual objects.  Sacred Sex helps us to do this.  For in order to participate, you need to accept that your partner is a Divine Being.  We also know that sexual abuse (along with sexual addiction and pornography) is very high in our culture.  And that there is a high rate of those who were abused become abusers.  Sacred Sex has the possibility of stopping that trend.  For with the right partner, one can heal and re-member what it is to be a healthy sexual Being.  (Of course, outside help may be needed including therapy, Flower Essences, or other forms of assistance.)

Since I mentioned partner, let’s talk about this.  The partner is a key aspect to Sacred Sex, for in order to have any of these conscious raising experiences, both partners need to feel safe and free.  It is especially helpful if there is a large Love or Heart connection between them.  Please know that one can experience Sacred Sex without a partner.  In fact, many of the different techniques suggest starting as a solo practitioner until you are ready to engage with a partner.  This is particularly helpful for men who are learning to control or refrain from ejaculation. 

Hopefully by now you are curious and want to explore Sacred Sex.  As I said earlier, specific techniques are beyond the scope of this newsletter.  However, I encourage you to treat your next Love making as a very Sacred and Divine act.  Create a sanctuary or a temple for your explorations.  If you know how to set Sacred space, do this, call in the energies of your guides, call in Rose or Cacao or another Plant to help you, ask that the energies you create through your connection be used to feed the Divine.  And then, have fun, take your time, look at your partner with new eyes, and remember that when you touch her, you are touching the Divine and when you pleasure him, you are pleasuring the Divine.

Oh and one final thing, Sacred Sex helps to increase the Love in this world.  You may find that by practicing Sacred Sex, you are able to feel, express, and receive more Love.  At the end of the day, this is the question that we are asked, “Did you Love as much as you could?”

Artist unknown

Going Around the Roundabout

Some lessons can’t be taught.  They simply have to be learned.

~ Jodi Picoult

As 2015 was ending and 2016 was beginning, I was intrigued to hear from a number of people that 2015 was a difficult year for them.  I know for myself, I experienced heartbreaks of various kinds in 2015.  When I hear about (or experience) difficulties the question I ask is, “Have the lessons been learned?”  If you experienced a difficult 2015, I invite you to look back (if you haven’t) and ask yourself, “What lessons have I learned?  Have I gained what I needed to from these?”

We are so enmeshed in duality and polarity: good/bad, dark/light, etc. That often we easily dismiss an experience or a person as bad or a jerk or some other label.  While this can satisfy our ego, it does nothing for our soul.

This past summer, I took part in a Mugwort Initiation.  During this weekend, one of the gifts I received from Mugwort was a trip to a higher dimension.  From this place, I was able to look down on Earth.  I could see that our “good” experiences and our “bad” experiences are different facets of one experience.  There isn’t good, there isn’t bad, there is one.

Bringing this back down to Earth, what can appear to be a horrible or heartbreaking experience through another lens can materialize as a gift.  Or a total jerk can be a great teacher.  The challenge is to be willing to move beyond the judgment and categorizing, to sit with the pain, to remain open and to look for the lesson or gift.  This may mean releasing a limiting belief or healing a trauma that led to a negative pattern or learning a new skill or gaining an insight or falling in Love with yourself.  Sometimes you may not know what the lesson is, sometimes it may take years.  However, by simply refraining from judgment, you remain open to the gift(s).

What do I mean by judgment?  Well there is the obvious that I already mentioned, naming the experience or the person - horrible, jerk, asshole, waste of time ...  Then there is the self-judgment, “I should have” or “I’m a sucker”.  None of this is actually helpful.  While the judging of the other person, limits the picture and your learning, self-judging is toxic and self-limiting.

Being open, means allowing yourself to feel what you need to feel, process these emotions, take your time.  We live in a fast paced society that is not comfortable with emotions.  Therefore, the tendency is to rush things along, skim over the experience.  If we do this, we risk missing the gifts.  Though, no need to stress over it, for if we were meant to learn a lesson, we will be given another opportunity.  Unfortunately, these opportunities usually occur in bigger and bigger lessons until you get the proverbial 2x4 across the head.  Therefore, I think it is wise to take our time processing the experiences, learning the lessons while they are somewhat easy.

Proper timing is personal.  This is your journey, your lesson, it is not up to anyone else to say what is the proper time to process an experience.  If you recently lost a love one, chances are it will take you longer than the allotted 3 days off work to fully grieve.  The same is true about an illness.  Illness is the physical body drawing your attention to something that has been in your emotional and/or spiritual body.  We think that when we are symptom free, we are “all better”.  However, if you did not take the time to process the underlying issue nor to let your body fully recover - often we are overworking our bodies and what is needed is rest - most likely, you will have another illness.  This too follows the progression of unlearned lessons, getting bigger and bigger until you are forced to pay attention: cancer, fibromyalgia, diabetes, heart attack, etc.

Of course, sometimes we can get stuck, which is also not healthy.  Nostalgia and obsessing are symptoms of being stuck.  The image that I think of is a car spinning their wheels in the mud.  The wheels keep turning, but the car isn’t going anywhere except deeper and deeper in the mud.  This too prevents us from moving forward and learning our lessons.

While I was traveling in Ireland, I quickly learned to love the roundabouts.  The maps and signs were not very clear (at least not to me), so when I came to a roundabout rather than having to decide quickly which road to take (and risk driving on the wrong one for hours before turning around), I would drive around the roundabout gathering info, looking at the signs, looking at the map until I was sure which exit was the right direction.  This is the analogy for processing an experience.

For instance, many people end a relationship and say, “What a jerk!  That guy has so many issues.”  Then they quickly find another relationship.  (This is the same as quickly picking a road from the roundabout.)  Only after the honeymoon phase is over, they suddenly find themselves in the same place as before, with a jerk with many issues.  They can keep repeating this process.  Or they can take their time after the break-up and feel their emotions.  Get curious about what it was in them that attracted this person.  What part of them is looking for healing?  What lessons can they learn?  This is going around the roundabout and gathering info until they are ready to proceed and suddenly they are on the right road heading to the next place of adventure.

The good news is that no matter what you choose to do, in the end it will be okay.  If you choose to ignore the lessons, you will be given other opportunities to learn them.  If you decide to process and try to learn the lessons this time around, there are many helpers to ease this evolution including Flower Essences, Plant Spirits, and more.  For when you allow yourself to process your experience and look for the gifts, you learn about yourself, your soul path, and you take another step towards becoming your True Essential Nature.  You will find that when you do this, the Nature Spirits and other guides will be there to support you in amazing ways.

   

If you had difficulties this past year, I again ask you, “What have you learned from these?”  

_____________

Some people see the lessons of Love in their loss, and grow from it; others see themselves as unlucky in Love, learning nothing.  And again, all this is okay.

~ Michael J. Roads.

Live Like a Tree

The Wheel is spinning again bringing us to the Darkest Night and then the strengthening Light.  While the Light is getting stronger and the days are slowly getting longer; for awhile, our nights continue to be dark and long.

This is the time of year of hibernation, of going inside oneself, exploring and learning.  Anyone who has done selfwork can tell you that it often is not easy; however, it is well worth it.  Sometimes you feel as if you may die, and like the caterpillar, you may very well die a figurative death, only to be reborn and discover your beautiful wings!

I have found that, not surprisingly, people tend to try to avoid inner self exploration.  This does bring up many fears.  What I have witnessed is that many cases of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), is connected to a fear of self-discovery and healing.  The long (generally cold, though not so far this year) winter nights, often require quiet and solitude and rest.  When we slow down, when we quiet, we are more easily able to hear the knockings on our Soul’s door.  These may be our Ancestors, our Inner Child, our Lost Selves, or others.  Depression can start when we try to avoid these or suppress them, of course, this knocking gets louder and more insistent as time goes on, until it can no longer be ignored.  If you experience SAD, I suggest that you ask yourself if there is something that you are afraid to discover or that you want to ignore.  Of course, this may not be the cause for you, maybe you need more Vitamin D or Sunshine or maybe you’ve been burning the candle at both ends for too long and your body is begging for rest or maybe you feel trapped by the cold weather and this triggers a Karmic wound or maybe you experienced a trauma at this time of year and your body continues to respond to it or maybe it is something else.

My invitation to all of us is to live like a Tree.  If we look at a Tree, we see the gorgeous Trunk and at this time of year, bare branches.  We may think that the Tree is sleeping, tucked in for a Long Winter’s nap.  However, there continues to be much activity underneath the soil.  Some look at the Tree and only consider the seen parts; the wise know that the real life of the Tree continues in the dark.  It is the health and growth of the Roots that allow the health and growth of the Branches, Leaves, Flowers, and Fruit.  And so, we can say the same for ourselves.  Our health, growth, and well-being is dependent on our Energetic roots and that part of us that lives in the darkness otherwise known as the Shadow.

We come to life on Earth to learn lessons and to grow.  Sometimes these lessons are very difficult and sometimes life seems impossible.  However, if we are to become our True Selves, we need to move through these and learn.  When we try to bypass our lessons, we slow our evolution, as well as, humanity’s.  Another word for bypassing is escaping.  There are many ways to escape, some of them are well recognized: drugs, alcohol, TV, sex or the most extreme, suicide.  Others are less recognized: meditation; consciousness expanding techniques designed to open the 1st eye and crown chakras;  journeys or exercises to help move to the 5th dimension; Sacred Plant ceremonies, such as Ayahuasca ceremonies; or even religion.  Okay, so this may seem a little extreme.

First, we all need a break sometimes.  Hopefully this break is occasional and allows you to catch your breath, remember who you are and why you are here, and allows you to continue your work.  It is also wonderful and important to experience Bliss (which may occur with the “escaping” activities).  The problem occurs when we are so focused on Bliss or escaping that we forget about daily life and the lessons we are here to learn.  Let’s look at our Tree guide again, if he put all of his energy into the Branches or the Flowers and ignored his roots, it wouldn’t be long before he toppled over.

I feel the same is true for us.  Yes, meditation can be a wonderful tool.  Yes, it is great to have an expanded 1st eye or crown chakra and yes I think our goal shall be to live a Heart-centered life.  And when we expand the 1st eye and crown chakras without a strong root system, mental illness can set in (among other things).  This happens because we are no longer connected to the Earth, our support system and our filter.  Suddenly, we are able to receive much but lack the ability to discern what is True, what is ours, what is right for us and what is not.  

Again, I invite you to live like a Tree.  Focus on your Roots, on the growth within the Shadow.  When we do this, we face and heal our hidden fears, we reclaim those lost parts of ourselves, we heal our wounds, we remove the burdens including the Karmic and Ancestral burdens, we discover our True Essence.  As these are healed, our Roots become stronger, and our Light naturally becomes brighter.  We may find that our first eye and crown chakras begin to open naturally.  They open because we are ready for them to do so.  In my experience, the more deep work that I do, the greater I expand and the more Light I bring into my Being and my life.  (Of course, there is balance to this too.  If we only ever drudge through the “shit” and never take the time to enjoy the gifts, we also are not really experiencing Life.) 

Remember, along with going within and doing self exploration part of living like a Tree during this time of year means resting, moving slow, letting go of that which no longer serves you, and focusing on your wellbeing.

This newsletter focuses on the experience of those living in the Northern Hemisphere.  Sometime ago, I recognized the balance of the Earth.  For while those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are going within and hopefully resting, people in the Southern Hemisphere are igniting, being active, and creative.  We have a balance of inward and outward.  We live in an amazing and beautiful world!

However, you celebrate the strengthening of the Light at this time of year, may you find your own Light renewed and shining brightly.  

Many Blessings to you!!

Living Life Among the Flow

As our world is shifting, we are awakening to “new” forms of healing and definitions of health.  We are returning to the wisdom that traditional and holistic healers have known for centuries (if not longer), most illness is the result of emotional and/or spiritual imbalance.  What this means is that to truly heal and recover, you cannot simply mask or remove the physical symptoms, you need to get to the core issue.

A large contributing factor to emotional imbalance which can then lead to dis-ease is trapped, unprocessed, or held emotions.  If we consider our culture, there are few emotions that are okay to be expressed.  We are allowed to feel happy and joyful (in fact, women are generally expected to be happy).  And we are allowed to feel angry, though mostly this emotion is saved for men and it is only allowed when directed at groups of people who “deserve” the anger.  We all know the saying “Boys don’t cry” and it is assumed that it is okay for women to cry.  I disagree.   

Unshed Tears

The majority of my female clients do not express their tears; they are carrying many unshed tears.  Do you know what happens when we hold our tears?  We block the ducts, which then blocks the lymphatic system, which interferes with our body fluids and can cause cysts, lumps, tumors, thickened fluids (such as thickened mucus in the lungs - contributing to asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia).  As crying is a built-in cleansing mechanism, we also preventour body from good energetic hygiene, dumping all that is not needed (energetically and physically).  Of course, this is only one component of an emotion (or actually a reaction from an emotion).  We have so many other emotions that we do not allow ourselves to express or even know how to express safely.  

Emotions are a natural part of life, they allow us to take action (including resting or no action).  They give meaning to life.  In essence, they are a good part of why we are here, as part of this journey is to experience this world through the body and the senses.  It is hard to do that without having an emotion. 

Emotional Flow

By their nature, emotions need to move.  In an ideal situation, we experience an emotion, express this, and then it dissipates.  We do this throughout the day.  Emotions become problematic when we aren’t doing this.  When we do not express our emotions, they build up in our body creating havoc, and generally this emotion becomes bigger and bigger until often a person explodes in a fit or a breakdown.  As Eliot Cowan says in Plant Spirit Medicine, “Emotions naturally move and flow like a stream.  When the mind suppresses the flow, it is as if a dam were built.  Upstream, a lake of unexpressed emotion builds up, becoming bigger and more permanent than it would have been had it been allowed to simply flow unobstructed.  Because emotions want to flow, the only way to keep an emotion around is to try not to have it.” (p.54)

When we do not express an emotion, a chain reaction occurs.  We saw part of this above.  The held emotions block-up or dam our body both energetically and physically.  As we do this more and more, our bodies become denser and it becomes harder to clear out what doesn’t serve us.  Causing our organs to work harder.  As our energetic field is filling with these negative emotions (negative in that they are blocked), we become a magnet, attracting other negative emotions and thought forms from our environment.  In addition, as Eliot Cowan said, the blocked emotions grow.  Our tolerance becomes less as there is less room for blocked emotions and we get “triggered” everywhere we turn.  These unprocessed emotions often get expressed as rage or even masked anger.  They can also get expressed through fear including OCD, eating disorders, and other psychological issues.  (As we fear the loss of control, we try to control everything.)  We often spew nasty statements or even energy towards others, trying to relieve some of the pressure from these emotions.  When we do this we essentially are filling the energetic environment with garbage.

Empaths/Sensitives

Now comes the role of empaths or sensitives.  These wonderful beings are naturally sensitive to the energies around them.  They act as filters (consciously and unconsciously) trying to clear the garbage.  (This is a job that we are all meant to do, but the empaths tend to take on more than their share.)  They will even absorb the unprocessed emotions of others with whom they’ve come into contact.  This is wonderful and generous of them and helps us to have a cleaner energetic environment.  However, if they are not clearing their own system, then these emotions that do not even belong to them can start wreaking havoc on their own physical bodies.  A common symptom of this is “burnout” and sadly, psychotic breaks.  (Taking on other’s emotional baggage, also prevents them from learning their lessons.)

So called “psychotic” people tend to be the most sensitive among us.  Generally, through trauma, soul loss, possession or experiences that forced their 1st eye open, they become ungrounded and lose their vitality or soul force.  Since they are extremely sensitive, they are receiving and collecting more and more of the unprocessed emotions and thought patterns.  Their ungroundedness prevents their filtering system from properly working and so these emotions and thoughts continue to build, compound, and attract more until they react.  Their actions which we usually find horrifying are actually the portrayal of the thoughts and emotions that we have all been spewing carelessly into our environment.  Therefore, the amount of “random” violence that we have been witnessing and experiencing with increasing frequency is connected to these unprocessed emotions.  And as much as we want to point our fingers at the shooters saying that they are "sickos", we are all responsible.  

Responsible, which does not mean guilty, does not mean take on guilt.  Responsible means response able, able to respond.  We can respond to this situation, we can change it, and we can bring healing to our World.  

The good news is when we do this, we heal ourselves.  For the answer to this problem is for each of us to become aware of our emotions and thoughts, process and express them appropriately and notice and heal the held emotions that remain in our bodies. 

Healing Emotional Blocks

So how do we do this?  Fortunately, our body is made to process and clear emotions, if we learn to allow our emotions to flow, this will happen naturally.  Crying, laughing, and having orgasms are part of the natural process to shake up our energetic field and release stuck emotions.  Since unprocessed emotions have a low energy charge, keeping your aura strong and vibrant and your vibratory rate high, will help protect you from taking on emotions and thought forms that do not belong to you. 

Here are some other suggestions:

• Plant Limpia, Egg Limpia, and Sacred Bathing all help to remove stuck energies from your body and aura, including held emotions.

• Massage with a good Massage Therapist also helps.  Through certain “trigger” points, your therapist can actually activate the held emotion/event.  S/he can call Light or her guides to transmute this energy, while you breathe through it and allow the emotion to flow again.  (I usually call on Mugwort when I am getting a massage.) 

• Smudging helps to clear emotions and thought forms that you have collected from your environment.

• Plant Spirit Healing (PSH) can help on many levels.  Mugwort is the main Plant that I work with to transmute and clear held emotions.  Occasionally, I call on Tulsi or Rose or another Plant to help with this.  PSH also helps to dig deeper, finding the core issue.

• Flower Essences are wonderful at transmuting and releasing held emotions, though the essence depends on which emotion(s) is being held and sometimes what the circumstance is around that emotion.  Flower Essences can also help to teach us to let the emotions flow.  For held grief or sadness, Onion Flower Essence is one of the best at helping to release the tears.  Motherwort Flower Essence is a great boundary setter.  As such, she can help you express anger that you may have kept inside.  Marshmallow Flower Essence is a wonderful softening essence, which can help those who have become hardened by cutting themselves off from their emotions.  Marshmallow can also be useful for those who are overflowing with anger.  These are just a few.

• If you feel overwhelmed by your emotions, you can send the excess into the Ground or to a Tree.  However, it is important that you ask the Tree or Ground to transmute the emotion (turn into a life-giving substance), otherwise we are simply poisoning them.  It is also best to ask permission before doing this.

• Spending time in Nature of course can help.  Nature bathes us in a special chemical compound that helps to relax our nervous system and puts us into Heart Coherence.  When we are able to do this, we are supporting our natural system that clears emotions.  Running water, especially waterfalls, are wonderful for clearing emotions.

• Of course one of the best ways to reduce held emotions, is to acknowledge your emotions and allow them to flow.  Therefore, it is a good idea to get to understand emotions, what you are feeling, and ways to express what you feel.  There are many great books and programs that can help with this.  I found Non-Violent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall Rosenberg to be incredibly helpful in identifying different emotions.

• Doing personal work is often an important component in understanding emotions and releasing blockages.  Often we do not express particular emotions because that was what was required of us as a child.  However, as a healthy adult, this pattern is no longer serving.  Other times, we may have a limiting belief that needs to be cleared.  For instance, while they may be reluctant to admit it, many people have a fear of joy and do not want to express their happiness for fear that if they do, the “shoe will fall” and they will lose what they were joyful about.  Through personal work (and with the help of the Plants), they can discover that this fear is not necessary and limits them from having a joyful life.

• Dancing, singing, painting, sculpting, creating other forms of artwork, other forms of movement can all help you to both express your emotions and to release the held emotions.  Plus they are a lot of fun!  Remember healing yourself, getting to know yourself doesn’t have to be drudgery, it can be lots of fun!

If expressing emotions is a new skill for you, you may want to let your loved ones and immediate circle know that you are working on this.  Like learning to walk, learning to express our emotions can sometimes be a wobbly mess.  You may find yourself stumbling or even falling on your face.  You may react more strongly than needed or find yourself repeating old patterns.  Remember we live in the Universe of Perpetual Second Chances, so you will have another opportunity to try this skill.  You are learning, just like you eventually learned how to walk and then run, you will learn how to express your emotions (if you keep trying).  Even professional runners can still trip and fall.

I’d like to leave you with one last thought.  Our culture tries to portray that those who express their emotions are weak.  If we cry, we are not strong enough.  That is such a bunch of hogwash!  As you do this work, getting in touch with your emotions and expressing your emotions, and being comfortable to share them with others, you will discover that your Heart opens.  You will live a more authentic, Heart-centered life.  There is nothing weak about this!  In fact, living in this world with an open Heart is very hard work.  It takes a truly brave soul to be willing to be vulnerable.  As Jeff Brown writes in An Uncommon Bond, “Yes--sensitivity isn’t a sign of weakness.  It’s a sign of life.”  We are being asked to live a Heart-centered life, fortunately, those brave enough to take on this task, discover that the Plants and others are willing to guide us along the way.  And the rewards are great, for you truly live life!

Harvesting Gold

Note: This article is from the Brigid's Way October 2015 Newsletter.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to write this newsletter.  The reason being that as everything is speeding up, the information keeps flooding in and I could write about 8 newsletters a month, on very different topics.  I thought that I knew what I was to share this month and was getting clarity while I was working outside.  But then, I saw her and everything changed.  Suddenly I knew that I needed to write about Hope, write about Beauty.

Who did I see?  Goldenrod (see the above photo)!  You may be saying, “Big deal!  She’s everywhere this time of year.”  This is mostly true, but she hasn’t been in my yard.  

I did not know Goldenrod until I lived on a Farm.  When Autumn came around, our fields were suddenly full of these Golden flowers that made my Heart sing.  Every year, the farm filled with more and more.  After several years of living there, she started becoming more popular with herbalists, especially as a remedy for fall allergies.  Of course, bee lovers love Goldenrod for she is great food, when many of the other Plants are winding down.

For me, I loved being around Goldenrod.  I would trample through her on my daily walks.  Suddenly, all my cares would be lifted and soon, I would again find myself mesmerized by her beauty.  No matter how I felt when I started those walks, I always returned feeling light and joyful, for Goldenrod certainly did fill me with Light.

After years of having a secret love affair with Goldenrod, I discovered Mary Oliver’s poem (see below).  Ah, yes, someone else sees her beauty!  I would repeat to myself over and over again, “they bend as though it was natural and godly to bend, they rise in a stiff sweetness, in the pure peace of giving one’s gold away.”

Once you know Goldenrod, you see her everywhere, well nearly.  She, like most Plant emissaries, likes to grow in rocky, abused areas; of course, she is helping to reclaim them and adding her beauty.  As I would drive or walk, I would see her from the roadside.  My Heart would fill with Love and Gratitude at each sighting.  And I would remember the message from Goldenrod to add Beauty to this world.

As you may know, I sold my farm last year and moved to town.  This has been a challenging transition for me.  It was so very hard to leave my Plant friends and allies, along with the other Nature Spirits.  Of course, when we have a relationship with the Nature Spirits, we never truly leave them or lose them, they can go anywhere, their physical form does not need to be in front of us.  I know this and yet, I miss my daily romps with Goldenrod.  I see her from the road, I see her when I’m hiking, I see her in my friend’s pictures, but I miss looking out my window and seeing her.  I miss being able to step outside and be surrounded by her healing energy.

Therefore, seeing her growing in my backyard, next to the train tracks, overwhelmed me with gratitude.  I don’t really know how she got there, for I had just recently mowed and did not see her growing or I would have mowed around her.  It doesn’t really matter, for here she is!

Why do I share this with you?  Because Goldenrod is reminding us to look around, be observant and to remember that we are surrounded by gifts.  For even in this new place, I am quite fortunate and overwhelmed with abundance.  The Plants appear again and again.  They are our teachers, they are our guides.  Plants are excellent adaptors.  They have always evolved before Humans and therefore, can help us through these changing, and sometimes challenging, times.  A good rule of thumb is that when a Plant crosses your path 3 times, pay attention, she is trying to tell you something.

Another gift of Goldenrod is that she reminds us of the importance of perspective.  Our perspective creates our reality.  We can look out on our Dandelion filled yard and think, “Oh, I am so Loved!  Look at this food and medicine.  I can’t wait to blow the seed heads and make a wish.  Oh, how beautiful to see all those Sun heads.  I wonder if Dandelion has a lesson to share with me?”  Or we can think, “Ugh, another weed!  Time to get the weed killer out.  She just keeps returning, what am I doing wrong?” 

We live in a world of duality: good and bad, light and dark, black and white, male and female.  We often are so focused on this (as well as our differences) that we forget that they/we are cut from the same cloth.  This duality does not really exist, it is a creation of our minds and culture.  Among many spiritual and consciousness expanding groups, there is much focus on shifting to the 5th dimension.  There are meditations, breathing exercises, journeys, and classes to help you move into this higher consciousness.  Which all sounds wonderful; except that too often, I see people use this work as a way of escaping their pains and problems in this world.  This shift in consciousness cannot be about escaping (we’ve had too much of that already), but about embracing.  If we want to really experience the lessons of the 5th dimension, then we need to start by realizing that the duality that we live in is a farce.  Our biggest challenges and disappointments are our greatest teachers.  What we consider to be bad or evil is really an invitation for us to shine our light brighter.

If you need proof of this, then look to our “disasters”.  During these times, people come together, we help one another, we suddenly start being our best selves acting with Love and compassion.  Also during these times, it doesn’t really matter how much you earn or what you do or what your level of education is, for at the base we are all Humans and we all want Love and Safety.  These trying times, teach us a lot about what is really important and about who we are and what we truly want.  Sometimes, we don’t shine so well during these events and that is okay too, for that is a symptom of a wound that is wanting attention.

Whether your goal is to broaden your consciousness and shift to the 5th dimension or to simply live a happier life, we all benefit from shifting our perspective towards looking for the lessons and realizing that good and bad are really two facets of the same crystal, what you see depends on which lens you are using.  When working on soul work, this usually becomes so clear.  My clients are often amazed during a soul contract that the person who has been so “horribly abusive” to them their whole life, actually loves them and is a friend/teacher who is fulfilling a role so that they may learn a lesson.  So I invite you to look to see where your challenges are actually your gifts.  Who are your biggest teachers?  Are you learning the lessons?

Of course, please remember that the Plants are always there to guide you and assist you.  The best helpers are those that are calling out to you or those who are your particular allies.  Here are a few that have stepped forward.  I have found Mugwort to be a particular emissary of the fifth dimension.  If you are wanting to experience this or would like to see a particular issue from this vantage point, ask Mugwort for assistance.  (I would then suggest going on a journey or dreaming with her.)  Rudbeckia (Black Eyed Susan) is helpful for shifting perspectives.  If you are stuck with a certain issue, it is helpful to look at it from a different angle, Rudbeckia can help with this.  Rose is well, Rose!  Rose is a major guide for us at this time, for more reasons than I can include in this newsletter.  Mostly, Rose helps us to connect with our Heart and live Heart-centered lives, this is very important for our changing times and evolution.  And of course, Goldenrod helps us to find the Gold in our daily lives.  When you are able to find the jewels in the mundane and especially among the challenges, you truly are rich.  That is alchemy at its best.

Whatever your daily circumstances are, may you find the blessings that surround you.  May you look at this world with gratitude and may you receive the Love that is being showered on you.

The Season of Grief

We are shifting into a new season with a brief pause at equilibrium.  Things are speeding up and change is all around us.  Sometimes it is easy to lose one’s footing, to feel off-balance or overwhelmed.  Nature and the Seasons can help ground us, bring us back into center and back into touch with our bodies.

If you are feeling overwhelmed or out of balance, I suggest spending time in Nature, particularly with the Trees.  Of course, this season just beckons you to be with the Trees as their beauty really comes alive with the changing colors of their leaves.  Who doesn’t want to go for a long walk in the woods, listening to the crinkle of the leaves below?  Or remember the innocence of childhood by jumping into piles of leaves?  Or for those in my area, go searching for Paw Paws?  (If you have never eaten a Paw Paw, all I can say is “I’m sorry!”)

Autumn is the time of year that we transition from the high extroverted energy of Summer to the more introverted, ideally restful Winter.  When we compare the seasons to one’s life, Autumn is the winding down towards death.  Therefore, it seems natural that Grief and Sadness are prominent emotions at this time of year.  (The Lungs are also the organ associated with Autumn and they are the organs that hold grief.)

Our culture’s relationship with grief is quite strange.  We act as if it is something bad, something to ignore or suppress.  To show grief is to show weakness or even to disrespect the dying.  When in reality true grief is the outpouring of Love.

Our society is under the disillusion that we can ignore our feelings, bury them and they will go away.  This is not true.  I mean, we can bury them, but they don’t disappear, in fact, they only grow and then manifest into bigger and bigger issues until you can no longer ignore them.  Unfortunately, when these surface as now big physical issues, we again do not deal with the underlying cause, instead we medicate and remove the symptoms.  This then has the effect of starting a cycle, where the issue will continue to grow, becoming bigger and bigger or stranger and stranger.

The Manifestation of Undigested Grief

Undigested grief can appear in many ways.  We have all seen people who have hardened their Hearts because of grief.  Of course, a hardened Heart quiet easily becomes a heart attack.  As grief is connected to the lungs, lung ailments are common: asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis.  I have shared the story of my Nanny who wanted to be strong for everyone after my grandfather died.  She believed that we should rejoice at someone’s death because they were going Home to Heaven.  No matter your spiritual beliefs, of course, your Heart would hurt and you would be sad to lose your life companion of 72 years.  Her grief finally manifested on what would have been her 73rd wedding anniversary as the worst case of shingles anyone in our area had seen.  That was almost 4 years ago and she still suffers effects from this.

An obvious side effect of undigested or unexpressed grief is depression.  When we do not grief, we hold onto that sadness.  I understand this, as sometimes it feels like this sadness is all that you have left from the person that you loved.  However, when we express our grief, our sadness transforms into gratitude and Love.  Our grief is replaced with something better.  We feel more alive.

I belief addictions can be a form of self-medicating trying to numb the pain of grief.  Let’s be clear here, grief does not just occur from someone’s death.  We can experience grief at the loss of our innocence; the loss of a Love, a friend, Land; our children growing and leaving home; among many other reasons and possibly the biggest reason for grief in our world is the loss of our indigenous selves, that part of us that is connected to Nature, connected to mystery, connected to the Wild.

Besides the benefits to our own health, there are more reasons for truly grieving.  Undigested grief tends to bubble and turn into anger which then turns into violence.  If we think about the world we live in, there is so much grief and so much sadness and one of the only ways that is acceptable to deal with this is through violence.   As Martín Prechtel writes in his beautiful book The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise, “...When the sorrows of war’s losses go ungrieved, we are guaranteed the coming of another war, or violence breaks out in the streets.

Wars are the pile up and oversaturation of losses of previous wars never allowed to “metabolize” and break down through grief into its original particles to restore itself to the living.  War is an enormity of sorrow looking for new blood to pay the overwhelming debt of ungrieved blood from the previous war.”  

Undigested grief is carried through generations both ancestrally and culturally.  Which means that if we do not deal with our own grief, we pass this burden on to future generations.  Let’s be real here, I think these generations will have enough of a mess to clean up, they don’t need to be taking on our grief also.  This also means that most likely we are carrying around grief that does not belong to us and for which we most likely do not know the cause.  The good news is that we can chose to heal this grief too.  When we do this, we not only heal ourselves, we also protect future generations from this, and we can help to heal our ancestors.  Often this old grief appears in our families and societies as grudges and prejudices.  So when this grief gets healed, these beliefs that separate us can dissolve, bringing more unity and peace.  (During the Ancestral Healing Class that I am offering November 1st, we release the burdens of our ancestors, which often includes grief.)

Our pets are sponges for our emotions.  If we do not heal and release the emotions, our pets absorb them, especially grief.  Caressing your beloved companion helps you feel relief because he is absorbing your toxic undigested emotions.  Some animals are able to transmute these and remain healthy and vital; but most eventually become poisoned and develop bizarre illnesses. 

The Gift of Grief

We are taught that grief is a burden; but in reality, it is undigested, unexpressed grief that is a burden as shown above.  For grief is really a gift.  First, it is a sign that you have lived and you have loved.  After my brother died, I spiraled downward into what I call the Abyss of Grief.  All I could see around me was darkness, I spent hours on my bathroom floor howling, my body was so exhausted from crying that I couldn’t do anything.  I truly wanted to die and I most definitely never wanted to feel that again.  At some point, a light started coming in, it was then that I realized I was experiencing such enormous pain, because I had the great fortune of experiencing so much Love for a person.  Suddenly my pain and anguish felt like a very small price to pay for the amount of Joy and laughter and Love I experienced thanks to my brother.

Grieving helps one to feel alive and is in celebration of Life and living.  It may not feel like that at first, but this is the natural course of grief.  Eventually, you find yourself amazed at the gift of Life.  You look out with clearer lenses.

The act of grieving is cleansing, especially if we allow ourselves to cry or even more appropriately wail.  Expressing our grief removes stagnant energy and limiting beliefs.  It clears the aura and allows space for Light to come in.  

Expressing our grief also helps us to be in the present.  It releases us from the burdens of the past and helps us to find where we are at this point in time.  To focus on now.

How to Grieve

There are so many ways to grieve.  As long as you are expressing your feelings and not hurting anyone, I’d say there isn’t a wrong way to grieve.  Since we’ve been taught that grieving is bad, many of us have to relearn how to grieve.  For this, I highly recommend reading the book The Smell of Rain on Dust by Martín Prechtel.  This wonderful little book demonstrates the beauty and necessity of grieving.  Martín also gives examples for grieving ceremonies.

I think one of the best ways to grieve is to cry, to wail, to howl.  These actions vibrate your energy body and help to release and clear what no longer serves you.  Unfortunately one of the most damaging side effects of patriarchy is the belief that crying is weakness and therefore many people have blocked this gift.  Onion Flower Essence helps with the release of tears.  As does spending time with people who are good criers.  Don’t be surprised if your tears turn into laughter and then possibly back into tears.

Other suggestions for ways to grieve are to tell stories of your loved one; write, write anything - journal, poetry, stories; look at pictures and reminisce; cook their favorite foods; sing - loudly (being vocal helps with the release of grief); create; plant a Tree or garden to visit.

   

Plant Allies

There are many Plants who help us navigate our way through grief.  (Which I should mention that as much as we want it to be, grief is not logical, clean, linear.  It is messy.  It will sometimes come up out of “nowhere”.  It’s okay, allow yourself to feel what you feel.  When you do this, you are becoming more authentic, really you are becoming more Human, tapping into your powers.)

Cedar (Thuja occidentalis)

Cedar is a Plant long believed to help with grief and clearing grief.  Smudging with Cedar is traditional after experiencing loss.  Cedar is connected to our ancestors and helps souls travel to the other world.  Cedar Flower Essence can also be taken.

Rose

Rose is one of the premier Plants to provide support for the Heart and Soul while you are experiencing grief.  She helps to hold you, allowing you to “fall apart”.  When your grief is expressed, she helps to bring you back together, filling your Heart with her pink Light and Love.  Rose keeps us soft and strong at the same time (a skill much needed at this time).  Therefore, she helps to prevent the hardening of the Heart caused by unprocessed grief.  Fortunately, Rose comes in many forms.  I tell people who are in the throughs of grief to have Rose in whatever form they like and as often as they can.  Rose tea, rose jelly, rose water are all wonderful.  You can use Rose essential oil.  Have a Rose bath.  Light a Rose candle.  Get a massage with Rose scented oil.  Call on the Plant Spirit Rose to support your Heart.  Or have Rose Flower Essence.

Weeping Willow

This beautiful Tree is aptly named, for she helps to hold you while you cry.  She also can help to bring the tears forth.  She provides protection and support through your grieving process.  In this case, I suggest spending time with a Weeping Willow Tree, allowing her to caress you with her branches.  Her Flower Essence is also helpful.

Elecampane

Elecampane is an herb that is often used for lung ailments, especially bronchitis, pneumonia, and coughs.  Elecampane helps to bring up old gunk and including grief and sadness.  Therefore, Elecampane is especially helpful with deep, buried grief.  I like to work with the Flower Essence, though you can also take the tincture using spirit doses of 1 to 3 drops.  I’ll give the warning to do this when you have time to process through your emotions.  (In other words, not 15 minutes before a big family gathering or important meeting.)  

____________

Months before my brother’s death, I began making essences that all had a relationship to grief.  I did not truly understand this wonderful gift until I needed them.  The following are my own essences, some of which have very different descriptions than the same essences made by others.

Serviceberry

This Flower Essence helps those who are weary in their grief.  They are sad and lonely, not sure if they have the energy to carry on.  Serviceberry helps to give new hope.

Redbud

I often combine Redbud Flower Essence with Serviceberry.  These 2 essences were made at the same time.  On her own, Redbud is about sensuality, lightness, the joys of life.  She is about claiming one’s beauty and sensuality.  In a grieving situation, especially when combined with Serviceberry, Redbud helps to remind one of the beauty of life, helping to bring the spark of Light into the darkness of grief.

Elderberry 

Elder is a very wise Plant connected with the Underworld as well as the Faerie World.  There is much to be said about Elder, but in the case of grief, this Flower Essence helps one to find the beauty and strength when dealing with adversity, knowing that your grief will add to your light.  Helps to remind you of the Phoenix energy.  

The Season of Grief

As I mentioned, you may be feeling grief or sadness knocking at your door this time of year.  This is natural, I invite you to let it flow.  This is also a great time of year to release long held grief, benefitting from the energy of the season.  There are many guides and helpers, including Plants and our pets to help you through this process.  Grieving helps you be more alive and clears the body of burdens, it is an expression of Love.  Processing and releasing your grief not only benefits you and your health, it also aids our society, bringing more Peace. 

"If there is ever to be any real peace on Earth, all people need to relearn

and reestablish the now diminished and hidden arts of Grief and Praise,

for one without the other is not possible."

-Martín Prechtel