A Journey Back to Self (poem)

This poem contains pieces from shamanic journeys I have made to the belly of Earth.

A Journey Back to Self

I travel to the belly of Earth
to see the sun inside my womb

Serpent, you have rested long
coiled in wait at the roots

She, of the Fiery Eye, open
Night lies in a cloak of shadows

Shake free your mane, Skehmet
Ra waits above the Mighty Oak

Life grows in darkness
before it breathes Light

Huascar, I seize your offering
bring forth the boy in hiding

Quetzalcoatl of feathers and scales
I am ready to balance the star

And dance the circle whole

Entering bliss through the heart

It’s the only way, really. Isn’t it? To enter bliss through the heart. Yet, we try so many other ways. I am thinking of the energy of the second chakra in particular. That womb of creation where energy stirs in fiery red/orange when truly ignited by love. I am thinking about Kimberly Harding of Soul Healing Art (check it out, she has wonderful posts) who often writes and paints about this chakra. And, I am thinking about the many messengers Spirit has sent me over the past week.

Yesterday, there was the hummingbird, a messenger of joy, soundlessly flying her green-gold glory into my gardens to penetrate and retrieve the sweet elixir of life from the open, red flowers of bee balm.

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One may think of sex, in the many ways the womb of creation, with its feminine energy is penetrated by the masculine energy of activation. Sometimes, fertilization occurs and something quite wonderful and new is born. There is the energy that is created when the masculine and feminine energies peak into climatic joy, and truly merge and join in a harmonic frequency of bliss.

And, one can think of the hummingbird, and how penetration of joy need not be overtly masculine and never needs to be aggressive. In fact, it’s the aggression, the over-use of male energy that creates a damping and compression of the feminine fire. Look at that hummingbird making love to the bee balm. The image is beautiful and soft. The bird knows only joy and light, for it is her purpose.

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There is nothing aggressive, nothing forced about her light-body as it silently hums over the flower. The hummingbird, with her green-gold feathers, lives through the heart, the divine path to joy and the opening of creative fire.

Two days before I saw the hummingbird, I found myself creating a circle of green stones around an orange stone. The green stones resonated with the heart chakra, the orange, the sacral, or second chakra. I was, I realized, activating the sacral chakra through the heart, in preparation for an energy healing session.

Spirit often brings me symbols and messages in dreams and visions before I have healing sessions with clients. The eve before this session, I had fallen into sleep with a vision of Mt. St. Helens.  I felt my soul leave my body on the wings of Spirit, as I soured over the exposed womb of a blood-red mountain. I was seeing the energy of the volcanic mountain not with the eye, but with the soul.

There were messages from the goddess of the mountain, some of which I can still recall, others have imprinted their emotional memory upon my cells. It was the energy that mattered. That womb, open and exposed and still working to heal. Gaia’s red energy activated through her green heart. A larger, much more intense, representation of the hummingbird and the bee balm I would see days later.

Sometimes, when our creative fires are dormant for too long, when we allow them to build against the walls of a womb without allowing them the freedom to explore the channels of our mind/body/soul, we face the threat of eruption. This happens to Gaia, this happens to humans, as we are all one. We share compression, we share release. When I flew over the volcano, I saw a sacrifice. I saw a gift. I felt the energy of Gaia open and exposed, so that we could learn and receive.

A wise, intuitive friend of mine pointed me to the Gaia Stone after telling her about my dream. It is a brilliant green gem forged from the ashes of St. Helen’s. A heart-stone created from fire. It’s frequency works to heal the emotional heart inside of us, to find the balance lost.

I have found that all fears find a place in the heart. When one is lucky enough to live in the pure state of joy, like the hummingbird, there is no need for violent eruptions of energy, there is only the soft energy of a heart filled with joy. Can we get there together? Can we heal our hearts, and in doing so, heal the wounded heart of the Earth?

The Feather

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It was an impromptu decision. I was desperate for something to do, the kids bored and magnetized too long to their respective screens. We ate a hasty lunch, took the dogs for a quick walk down the road and threw some snacks and water bottles in the car. The three of us were on our way to the Polar Caves.

Even though we were driving to a waterless destination while the temperature was rising closer and closer to unbearably warm, I was simply happy we had all agreed on something to do.  I hadn’t thought too much about the significance of where we were going, until hour later, not even when I saw the feather.

It was in the truck in back of me. Looming large and proud, the feather pointed  toward the sky and nestled up against the cab in the back of the truck. Wow, that’s a large feather, I thought to myself, How odd that it’s in the back of that truck. Still, I thought Isn’t it beautiful. I marveled at the detail, how I could see the individual veins, and the way the white gave way to a crest of gray-black. It looked so real!

What I strange thing to have in the bed of a truck I thought as it pulled into the left-hand lane to pass me,   fake feather, like a flag. I looked at the truck again, now in front of me. Two narrow, brown cylinders rested against the cab, bearing no resemblance to a feather whatsoever.

I put the feather out of my mind as we pulled into the Polar Caves entrance and tumbled out into the dripping heat. I had, after all, two kids to watch and a series of caves to crawl through that would test my endurance for confined spaces. It was a quick trip, the three of us making our way through the loop of caves in the cliffs in just under an hour in our effort to compete with the crowd and the heat above ground. Ironically, there was still, in the middle of July, a thick slab of winter ice slowly melting in one of the caves. I could have stayed down there all day, if not for the kids, the line of people behind me, and my claustrophobia threatening to consuming me if I lingered more than two seconds without moving toward light.

It wasn’t until hours later, when I was back home walking the dogs around the block after yoga class, that I let the feather return to me to be mulled over in my mind, the mind that appeared to be playing tricks on me. The feather, I realized, had been pointed up as though in a headdress. I thought back to the Polar Caves, and then it hit me. It was a sign, even if its message was illusory. I thought about how the mind sometimes sees things that aren’t really there, but rarely by accident. I call these images, messages from the world of Spirit, or our Higher Selves. I had, I realized seen a feather for a reason, and seemed fitting that I had been on my way to an old Native American site. I was pretty sure I knew which of my guides was trying to reach me.

 

A Taste of My Garden in June

I love photographing nature, perhaps more than I love writing, because the muse of Nature never leaves. It was a beautiful day today, and I couldn’t help taking out the camera and walking through my gardens. I hope these images of Nature’s beauty lift your spirit, as they lifted mine.

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The Light of Your Truth

Nature speaks to us when we listen. Here is what the message evoked from the energy of this butterfly. I found her to be a wonderful example of the path to inner truth:

From the black energy of creation emerges the divine light of your truth
From the black energy of creation emerges the divine light of your truth

~ANDROMEDA – EQUITARIAN SHIP – CURRENT STATE OF HUMAN AFFAIRS ~

Another wonderful channeled post by Anna. I am so happy I’ve discovered her site:

~ANDROMEDA – EQUITARIAN SHIP – CURRENT STATE OF HUMAN AFFAIRS ~.

The flight of the Bumblebee

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Have you ever noticed that each type of bee hums a different song? Yesterday, while photographing this bumblebee, I realized that the melody of its legs was playing alongside the unique tunes of a yellow jacket and a honey bee, who were also busy gathering nectar and pollen from the azalea blossoms.

The bumblebee, and the lore associated with its ability to defy gravity by using tiny wings to lift its over-large body, teaches us that anything is possible if we set our sights to achieve our dreams. Seemingly insurmountable obstacles are over-come if we allow doubt to disappear.

The bumblebee is also a curious and social insect. As I write this post, a bumblebee occasionally passes by the window, as if to check in on my progress. My daughter, when she was quite little, was fascinated with the soft form of the bumblebee, and would often hold them in her palm and gently pet them. Although bumblebees have the ability to sting (multiple times), they never stung my daughter, and unlike many of their relatives, are rarely bothered into aggressive action in the presence of humans. They’re bold, gentle giants in the family of bees.

All bees are important to the pollination of plants, reminding us how intricately we are woven with other organisms into the Web of Life. Perhaps now, more than ever in history, bees remind us of this important interdependency we share and how sacred  and vital the bees are for the preservation of life. Bees show us the value of working together to preserve the nectar of life for all — that we are all important contributors and to be aware that the greed, or poison, of a few can causes the demise of many. Bees are in a state of decline, their survival as a species threatened due to the poisons in the form of pesticides we use on our plants.  We have allowed the Web of Life to be stretched and torn, and whenever I see a bee, in any form, pollinating  the untainted flowers of in my yard, I feel immense gratitude and love for these small, but vital beings. They are each a survivor against great odds.

Bees have been revered for thousands of years, and are often found as symbols in ancient civilizations. The honeybee builds a comb in the shape of a hexagon, an important symbol in sacred geometry associated with the sun and the heart. Hexagons appear frequently in nature and in human-made forms as important building blocks of matter. The shape is found in our DNA, snowflakes and crystals, and is sometimes referred to as the “primal crystal of life.”

 

The root of the matter

A Healing Path
A Healing Path
I’ve spent the better part of the day gardening. The mulch was delivered on Saturday, and after a busy weekend of sporting events and other kid-center activities, I thought I’d use my quiet Monday to spread it around. The garden path and the area surrounding it shown in this photo used to be grass until I pulled it out of the earth at the end of last summer.

I garden because I love plants and Nature. I love being outside with my hands mingling with the earth. I garden to heal. Today, while I was mulching my new garden area, I tugged the unwanted weeds out of my path. While working on the grass that likes to return each year with my Vinca, I was reminded of the tenacity of energy–that unless we dig out the roots, it will return anew.

The weeds of unwanted energy
The weeds of unwanted energy

Any gardener will be familiar with this concept. We can mow down new growth, we can nip its buds and we can give it a good trampling, but unless we dig deep and pull out the roots, the growth will most likely return in time. I believe all healing must lead to the root, and that this is why dis-ease in its myriad forms returns or consumes. Unless we get to the origins of the growth and heal or remove it, the energy will persist.

Last night I dreamed I was back in college, moving into a basement room in a dormitory I once lived in called “The Tower.” The tower was much taller and larger than it was in reality, and my little basement dream room was crumbling around the foundation and windows. There were large gaps where the cold air was seeping through, and no adequate light for which to share the space with houseplants.

After reading my previous posts, you will know that I have been healing, layer by layer, the energy of my past. Through this process, I have had to return to my roots, which are meant to provide stability–a strong foundation for the structure of the self, and the family. I have been digging up my roots, and the old foundation that once sustained life as I knew it, is crumbling. It was, after all, not a healthy life. I was ridden with dis-ease and secrets and suffocated by silence.

The Tower from Universal Waite
The Tower from Universal Waite

My tower is crumbling at the base. As I shed the fiery crown of patriarchy that ruled my early life, I see the gaps left behind in my foundation of self. The stability of the old structure has been compromised, as it makes way for the new, true self to emerge. The holes need to be filled with the energy of the true self. The green growth needs to be nurtured and coaxed out of the shadows.

I have, in essence, chosen the path of the orphan, but one can say that we all travel a similar path to healing the true, whole self. We must shed the roots that tangle and regrow unwanted energy in order to grow the complete being of our individual truth. It is the path of life that we are all on, it’s only the nature of the roots that differ.

A Pine’s Lesson

Spring Green on Pine
Spring Green on Pine

Today I am feeling the burden of a release waiting. The tension is in my neck and left shoulder, where the weight of an energy that I need not bear is ready to be freed. It is an old, stubborn weight; a habit carried over from childhood. These cords that bind us can be hard to cut. They are stubborn, they chafe and rub at our comfort, reminding us that their energy is still there.

I have learned that a verbal cutting of the ties that hold us is quite different than an energetic release. We can say we’ve had enough, we can even shut the door on welcoming more, but until we let go of the history, the accumulated burden we bear inside our cells, we have not truly let go.

The release can be layered, in fact it often is, as our bodies are not designed to deal well with a rapid, sudden change. I peel away my layers as though I am molting outgrown skin. I am a snake, uncoiling into spring, leaving behind the lacy ghost of my former self, but I am also a bear, shedding an old coat of energy in patches that leave me temporarily unbalanced. What remains, holds on the tightest.

I passed the pine tree before I turned to go home this morning. The creak and whine of the burden it bore called to me as the dogs stopped to sniff and pee. There were two pines, to be precise, one dead, one living. The living pine bore the weight of the dead, which had fallen into its arms. With each breath of wind, a moan was released at the place of union between the two trees, as the weight they shared shifted but never fully let go.

As I studied the two trees, joined by a death, I saw how the burden from the dead pine was creating a wound in the live pine. At the crease of its limb, the bark had rubbed raw, the orange skin below exposed. I imagined it felt like my left shoulder. There was a parallel between us, the pine was my mirror.

On Easter I had shut a door verbally, but it was something I had tried to do before. I’m still waiting to see if I will allow the door to be opened again, in some form, while my shoulder and neck remind me that my body and soul is waiting for a true death and resurrection. And, I cannot deny my dreams. Last night I dreamed I was trying to find what I had intended to let go. Before I got there, I had been delayed by the purchase of an over-large ice ream that was supposed to be the color of a rainbow. The total of the dripping expanse of sweetness was $12. I scoffed, I angered. It was all too much.

Joanne Scribes writes on her site, Angel Numbers, that the number 12 represents the combined energies of 1 and 2. One, is the number of beginnings, 2, of unions. Combined into 12, the energy of the number calls for the release of old habits and burdens so that the soul can begin anew, fresh, unencumbered. Resurrected in truth. When this occurs we are free to live out our soul’s purpose without the trappings of old attachments.

The male cardinal
The male cardinal

A pair of cardinals appeared later, nestled together in the azalea beside my driveway, at the conclusion of my morning walk. Here again was the number 12, in different form. Ted Andrews writes in his book Animal Speak that the cardinal’s cycle of power is year-round, reflecting the rhythm of the number 12 (symbolic of 12 months, hours, days, etc.). These birds, Andrew writes, “remind us that regardless of the time of day or year, we always have the opportunity to renew our own vitality and recognize the importance of our own life roles.” (pg 124).

When we let go of the dead weight, the burdens of the past we need not carry, we set free the energy of our true self. We allow ourselves to live in a free, unencumbered form, to shine bold and bright in the light of our truth. This is what we all strive for, whether we know it or not. This is the yearning of each soul, and it is a gift to self when we let go of the ties that bind.