Once upon a time, I was going to call this blog Talking to Trees, because I love tree-talking more than any other shamanic practice. Trees are magnificent, gentle and wise beings. All of nature is generous, but trees have always struck me as the most giving of all Earth’s creatures. Recently, I attended a conference in the Hudson Valley with …
Where’s the Magic?
A couple of weeks ago, I started a blog entry about how magical my life was feeling. Everything felt very rich and serendipidous, even though the truth is, I have been living with less income this year and constantly wondering how to pay for the things I need. Despite the financial constraints, however, my life felt as if everywhere I …
A Spring Ritual
At the time of the next new moon, plant something–a shrub, a tree, a seedling, or bulb–whatever you choose. Give the gift of this planting to the earth in a special way and for a special reason. Spring is the season of rebirth and renewal. The new moon is always the optimal time to initiate the new: new projects, dreams …
A Mid-Spring Night’s Dream
This visual exercise can be done either as a self-guided meditation or as a shamanic journey: I invite you to step into a dream: Allow your imagination to follow the prompting of the words. Take a deep breath. Let go of your awareness of your room and any present concerns that weigh upon you. See yourself setting down the worries …
The Days of Miracle and Wonder
This entry is part of a sermon given at the Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Church in Woodbury, CT during April of 2012: “The Poet Dreams of the Mountain” by Mary Oliver speaks of the longing—and need—to step out of human time and live according to the time and purpose of the Earth itself. To emerge from an urgent personal agenda and …
Creation is Never Done
We are creators for sure. We have heard this said in many different ways, but the bottom line is that the world as we know it is our ongoing creation. Though we are not genies from a bottle—we cannot simply cross our arms and blink things into being—it is probably best that we aren’t capable of instant manifestation. Folk tales …
And the Beat Goes On
During a recent journey, I had an opportunity to meet and speak with my client's great-great grandmother, a Cherokee woman who had walked the Trail of Tears. She told me that the shamanic journey is a way of bringing what is inside us to the outside where we can see it and hear it, and that the drumbeat is an …