Tag Archives: Reiki

Communicating with Catbird

Posted on by under Consciousness, Native American, Shamanism, Uncategorized

Last week, we traveled with Duck as a spirit guide to help us effectively navigate our emotional waters. This week, Catbird facilitates our effective language and communication skill development. Given human relations are complex and multidimensional, learning to communicate effectively with one another is no easy task–especially when a cat’s got our tongue. Be that linguistical challenge as it may, Catbird helps us understand variation in sound and teaches us new forms of communication. Sometimes speaking with one another feels like trying to speak a foreign language that has not yet been learned. An important component to our program development as clearer communication channels, is our shared empathic connection to one another. While this phenomenon takes place in our hearts, communication through language amplifies from our throats. However, as we transition into an New Age, our ability to communicate through telepathy and other psychical mediums is cross-pollinating in our flowering blossoming. Catbird helps us be mindful of what we say, how we say it and who we say it to. Its medicine can help us discern what we publicize and what we hold within our secret gardens. At the end of the day, it is probably good medicine to express, rather than repress or build bricks around our hearts as self-defense mechanisms. The trick is to be respectful in our authenticity and not be too over the top with our self expressions during the emoting process.

Are folks unnecessarily meddling in the affairs of others or do you have a propensity to gossip around the water cooler? Sometimes, those of us finding ourselves in the parenting role get lost in it. And we can get good at enabling our children, while perceiving we are helping them. Of course, it is seductive to do that in any relationship, so it is wise to ask ourselves where we are on the map with that? It is also sound intelligence for parents to ask ourselves when setting a limit, we ought to be asking ourselves why? Avoiding power struggles is good medicine. At the end of the day, children need clear limits set and follow through with both logical and natural consequences. Balanancing structure, consistency, predictability and also bringing in novel experiences is the spice of healthy parenting and child rearing. Some folks feel disempowerd when physical force is taken away as an option to control children. But punishment is merely a way to instill fear into our Being and thus, teaches avoidance of getting caught. The old ways of “spare the rod, spoil the child” are now becoming recognized as globally ineffective, as while true discipline–which is the Latin derivative of teaching, is how we learn to evolve in our human family.

True, the democratic process can be messy, but not with positive long-term effects. This is why we look seven generations ahead in our actions. National security and Global security really starts within the Soul, in the home and beyond. We know that there is order in chaos, the Chinese symbol for crisis and opportunity are the same. Rather than looking at our plight in a problem-oriented lens, where crisis’ are “averted”, we step into the realm of Infinity and allow ourselves to see solutions. Teachers still have control in their classrooms, as parents still have control in their homes, but it is a more organic process, where our children tend to behave and do the right thing even when you are not around to come down with a heavy hand. Adults that do not learn to balance freedom and responsibility really struggle with governing themselves, unless they learn to integrate this knowledge into their Being. On some level, Malcolm X woke up while he was in jail and then woke up even more deeply after returning from Mecca–just before his physical death. The Rapture is not about doom and gloom, it is an internal experience available to all of us, if only we allow for it. The Kingdom of Heaven is an internal state of consciousness free for all to experience. In this sphere, we are without fear of exclusion from a private membership that has its privileges for a few elites to indulge in. The “Rule by Secrecy” mantra is waning.

With the wings of Catbird, we are weaving the energies of fertility and creativity into our daily Earthwalk. This spirit animal guide is good medicine to consume when opening up to new relationships wanting to awaken in our lives. Are you ready to allow for development in the area of communication? As multidimensional beings, perhaps meditation on Catbird’s lesson plan will reverberate sound and crystal-clear communication with our Universal brothers and sisters that want to reveal themselves to us, while co-creating a New Earth together. With today’s Full Moon and final eclipse of this powerful Spring Eclipse season, may we “ride the incoming energies of this lunar eclipse with the solar winds at (our) back” in our ascension onward. Maybe it will blow your mind, but our minds are designed to be like wizardly parachutes that appear out of this world.

See you further on down the trails,

Ari

Staying Afloat with Duck as an Emotional Guide

Posted on by under Consciousness, Native American, Shamanism, Uncategorized

Whatever our circumstances might look like in this lifetime, our human brethren are emotional creatures that feel a strong yearning to belong and be included in fraternal sisterhood. Some of us, try as we might appear hellbent on avoiding and killing that aspect of ourselves. Living authentically however, is sobering us up to our need to regulate our emotional plight. Sure, we have plenty of things to distract us from our emotional bodies, like “work to do and bills to pay”. But those distractions only make it conveniently inconvenient to suppress and repress our emotional tides that inundate. During this powerful eclipse season and Full Moon coming soon to a theater of life near you, our emotional realities are intensifying. Between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, the masculine energetic light of day is rising, as are our spirits. Meditation on Duck is a free guide to tune in to. Its energies want to share its spiritual wisdom with you. When we allow Duck’s Chi to paddle into our souls, we are given emotional comfort and protection. We are in our element with water and given assistance while floating in the astral and emotional realms. Duck helps us drink in the waters of life and swim effectively and stay afloat in our emotional waters. Duck is a powerful spirit guide to maintain our Earthbound connection and let things roll off our backs when things get heated. If only our CEO-Government friends running the business of our military-industrial-complex would marinate on consuming Duck’s free-spirited teachings.

As the world burns, soapy pundits on the tele remain engaged and driven to distraction vis-a-vis the pontificating of ego-centered debates. Admittedly, fascism has its romantic undertones, but we need not choose to buy it. Words are used as weapons of mass distraction, but we have weapons of mass destruction that we need to clear. The time is now to shift our focus away from looking at our Mother Earth as a finite resource to deplete, to a living Being that gives us sustainable life. The engrained business as usual model that has been indoctrinated into our brains needs a new cognitive map. When we are identified with our minds, an endless sea of mental concepts and incessant accompanying emotional reactions are typically dominated by unrealized anxiety. And this hypnotic trance has a tendency to propagate a sleep walk through life. But in every breath we take, we have an opportunity to wake up. Rather than check out, we all have our part to do. For some it’s putting down the 40 ounces to slavery. For others, it might mean seeing through the veil that capitalism and socialism are really just opposite sides of the same coin. Instead of concretely looking at one another as separate and disconnected, one religion being right and the others wrong, qualifying the winners and losers mantra–we become in touch with our strong impulse to shift toward unity in our consciousness. We are leaving behind a bi-polar world of angels and demons, while co-authoring a New Chapter that includes a pluralistic and multi-polar New Earth script.

Ducks are sound creatures of habit and are good reminders to return to safe and comfortable aspects of ourselves when we need to feel safe within our Being. Their energies help us cope with our emotions gracefully. Meditation on Duck helps us acquire and access strategies in the areas of balance, emotional comfort, adaptability and adventure. Life is a journey, not without its labor pains. We all feel that right now, especially during these changing times of transition. The old world is burning, while stoking the embers of the Phoenix Rising. Do you need to establish balance, increase or pay more attention to your emotions and close relationships? Meditation on Duck is ready to help you receive consultation to those questions without charging a bill.

See you further on down the trails,

Ari

Chakra Balancing Meditation

Posted on by under Meditation, Shamanism

Energy medicine is a healing and proactive approach to wellness. Ideally, we catch our health issues at the energetic level, before they leave their mark on our spirit-mind-bodies. In that light, Chakras are spinning discs that are part of our energetic bodies and are designed in perfect alignment by Great Spirit. As such, remembering to balance our chakras on a daily basis has a powerful cumulative effect on our overall well-being and vitality. If you are into Reiki, you may picture the appropriate symbols to increase the power of this meditation. Some folks see, hear, feel and sense Chakras differently, if not at all. Try not to get hung up on that, as there is ego in powers of perception. It is a colorful world so within, as without and folks tend to perceive differently.

–Focus on your breath and put your hands in the prayer position and open them up like a peacock to open up Sacred Space.
–Visualize your luminous energy field (a white mist around your spirit body in front of you).
–Visualize your spherical Root Chakra that is Red in color and is located around the base of your spine. Take your right hand, placing it in that area, in front of your body and slowly spin your hand around in a counter-clockwise direction 10 times to unwind your Chakra. Release any unwanted energy to Mother Earth to be cleansed and composted. Then spin your Chakra 10 times in a clockwise direction to re-balance it. During this process, just watch and notice whatever comes up for you and gently let it pass without judging and/or labeling it.
–Continue along in this way with the rest of your Chakras.
–Sacral Orange is about 2 1/2 inches below your belly button.
–Personal Will/Self Esteem(Yellow) is at the base of your breastbone.
–Heart Chakra (Green) is in the middle of your chest area.
–Throat Chakra (light blue).
–Third Eye (Indigo) in the middle of your forehead just above your eyebrows.
–Finally Crown Chakra (Violet) at the top of your head.

After feeling comfortable with the above Chakra meditation, perhaps consider trying the next two more advanced forms.

–First, visualize a Golden spinning disk like halo (like we see in renaissance art) a couple of feet above your Crown Chakra. This is the eighth Chakra.
–Finally, the Ninth Chakra, the realm of Spirit is everywhere, but I like to think of it as “the Spirit in the Sky” where We become One with Everything. I perceive my Eighth Chakra taking off like a disc shaped spacecraft and flying to and merging with the Ninth Chakra, Great Spirit, which is everywhere.

Singing Gleefully and Truthfully With Chickadee

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While tweeting with my peeps in the woods recently, a chickadee joined in while singing harmonically. As we look back on the Spring Equinox, waning Moon, Fireball that gleamed the Eastern Seaboard of the Americas, Chickadee’s energy welcomes the budding Spring growth yangward. Light-masculine energy is gaining momentum and spirited energies are intensifying. The black head cap sitting atop chickadee’s head represents the intellect, higher level thinking and levitation of our perceptual fields of vision. Black is a beautiful color and it symbolizes mystery, dark feminine energies and creative womb of life waiting to give birth. Perhaps this is why Aboriginal Australian and African shamans are remembered as powerful medicine makers of the Dreamtime. Ever since I was a boy, the idea of mind over matter resonated deeply within my soul. Consumption of Chickadee medicine aids us in unearthing the mysteries of the mind and effectively navigate the dark. Although small in stature, Chickadees are fearless social creatures and tend to flit about in groups. Given that there are seven kinds of chickadees, they symbolize an individual’s consciousness rising above the material plane, or a triangle (3) rising above a square (4). There are seven rays of power, seven major planets and seven chakra centers. When our chakras are balanced, we know a deeper awareness and connection to the Universal pillar of Truth.

We know the tweet sounds true that the empire is addicted to its wars and lustful relationship with violence. We can’t get enough of it in the corporate media. As such, this negativity is dancing on the minds of the masses, in many cases unconsciously. But the violence is waking us up, as Great Spirit works in mysterious ways. When we are paying careful attention, we see concrete evidence that peace is being considered a seed worth watering. For example, a Federal Court ruled against the state of Alaska’s challenge to the National “Roadless Rule” that would have nullified it and allowed for deforestation on Nationally protected land. Some of our friends that advocate for federalism are glad to switch gears by crying a river of crocodile tears for state rights. Sometimes, this delayed process strategically undermines environmentally friendly, win-win business that sees through the fog of a maximum economic profit paradigm. Moreover, one of our conservative friends in Congress has asserted, “a more restrained foreign policy is the true conservative policy.” Will actions speak louder than words by rolling back 700 American empire bases around our Planet? As things heat up in the Middle East, more folks are waking up to the need for a cease-fire in Syria, ending the war in Afghanistan, sanctions against Iran and the blockade by Israel of the Palestine. Isn’t is possible for the Phoenix Rising to be a radical shift in our collective consciousness, rather than a pocket full of terrorism disrupting the status quo? If only our birds sitting atop their hight perch would heed Chickadee’s peaceful chimes of freedom, as the truth shall set us free.

Some will assert that the truth stinks like dung. While dung is necessary for compost, the truth does not have to hurt in the sense of feeling blocked. Rather, truth may drip gently, like water gradually building momentum. This process is akin to an internal martial arts practice in that true power builds gradually. In that light, April showers bring May flowers. Chickadee reminds us to sing our truth in a cheerful way that reverberates within our flowering individual and collective souls. Has anyone felt lighter than when listening to a singing chickadee, while basking in our Sun’s vitamin D and breathing in crocuses fragrantly?

See you further on down the trails,

Ari

Weaseling Our Way Through Our Meditations

Posted on by under Meditation, Shamanism, Uncategorized

For many thousands of years, humans following the shamanic path have been journeying to visit the spirit realm to bring back heavenly knowledge into the material realm. We have a Full Moon today, which is a powerful time to use its energies to fill your meditation cup. Try to use its spirited energies for power rather than react to them through force.

*Light incense/candle.
*Start drumming to a consistent beat that feels natural to you. A simple bongo drum works well. Get into a comfortable position, relax and breathe.
*Picture a weasel in your imagination and feel its energy coming into your Being.
*Ask Weasel for any guidance that you feel is appropriate for you. Being specific with your question is helpful.
*Continue drumming for 10-20 minutes and gently allow yourself to receive whatever arrives to you in your consciousness.
*Thank Weasel for its spiritual medicinal offering.
*Remember your callback by opening your eyes and changing your drumbeat. A callback facilitates the transition back into our material reality. A callback can also be in the form of a word or mantra that you prefer. My callback consists of 3 sets of 8 beats, then 3 sets of 3 beats and then 3 sets of 7 beats.
*Record your notes of whatever messages Weasel brought to you. These messages might be in the form of feelings, lyrics, sounds, visuals, smells etc. Let go and gently allow your soul to inform you as you travel along in your walking meditation.

Weaseling Our Way Out of a Rock and a Hard Place

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The energy of Weasel is powerful medicine for us to ingest right now on Nature’s cycle. We are standing at a crossroads. Our old ways, old world and collective hold of the ego are losing its firm grip on us. But there are still many, particularly those in positions of high power, who are fighting tooth and nail to resist the arriving of massive changes coming soon to a theater near you. With Climate Change, Mother Earth is growing more vocal against the raping of Her by an overindulgence in masculine-yang energetic perspective that is depleting our natural resources, trashing Her and us according to the gospel of the Almighty Dollar. Yet at the same time, we are experiencing a flowering of consciousness that is cross pollinating humanity and our connection to our beloved Mother Earth. Looking back on the Spring Equinox, we remember Nature being a healthy role model of harmonically balancing our masculine and feminine energies in a sweetly satisfying spirit-mind-body soulful dance step. One powerfully green and free form of alternative energy is Weasel. When consuming the energy of Weasel, we are equipped to access and acquire its spirited teachings of ingenuity, stealthy, sly and secret circumvention pursuit of our goals. Do you remember when the Americas were forcefully taken over by European colonialism? It was Weasel’s medicine that revealed to our Native American brothers and sisters the hidden intention and agenda of the folks coming over on boats to the New World. In this light, what are our shadowy friends in clandestine meetings up to in their moving and shaking? As we move further into spring and closer to the Summer Solstice, more spirited energies are streaming into our consciousness in the form of an astrological showering of eclipses. The more aware and in alignment we are with this information, the less reactive we are to it. What we are talking about here is tunneling beneath the pop headlines that disseminate information we are intended to see. But even in the dark, there is light.

Perhaps Weasel was helpful to a Federal Appeals Court recently, by standing up to Mega-corporations, when oil and gas leases were denied access to scenic public lands in Wyoming and Utah. Was it Weasel that assisted David-like local municipalities by enacting local bans or moratoriums on Goliath-like oil and gas companies to prevent gas drilling and “fracking” that pumps millions of gallons of chemically treated water into the ground to extract gas from deposits deep down in our Mother’s veins? Synchronistically, Weasel parallels a recent movement of politicians that are beginning to see through the Fog of War by taking a stand against the War Hawk mentality in American foreign policy. In short, Hawkish agenda du jour seeks to push for more Drones and robots that popular films such as the Terminator and Robocop showcased in the entertainment industry, under the guise of a self-fulfilling prophecy back in the 1980s and 90s. Do we want to reenact the warmongering history of the Old Testament or do we really want to manifest a New Covenant by co-creating a Divine marriage between Heaven and Earth? Great Spirit is helping us wake up to a higher quality of respect. Rather devolving into a reptilian-brain, fear-based respect that mirrors a gangbanger mind-set, we need to clear our Karma by earning respect back from our more vulnerable populations. The oppressor must welcome the oppressed to the negotiating table with transparency and trust so that we may heal our wounds. With great freedom comes great responsibility, as the same systems that oppress can liberate. Taxation with Representation in part looks like crafting legislation that eradicates our Weapons of Mass Destruction without blowing things out of proportion. But we all need to do our part. Weasel’s medicine can silently help us pursue the process of inner peace by dissolving our internal warheads, so that the waves of this energetic Tsunami are felt across our Planet and we are universally inundated.

When remembering to consume the free-spirited energy of Weasel, we learn how to pursue our goals, while staying out of trouble. Do you need to weasel your way out of situations that don’t appear to allow for it? Do you need to develop your own observational skills? Are you being too vocal in your pursuits? Do you need to dig deeper into your soul? Are you and others being honest? Weasel is powerful medicine that aids us in developing our observational skills, read between the lines, see beneath the surface and perceive the truth behind the smoke and mirrors. We are able to hear what is really being said and see multiple consequences to an event, much like playing chess. May we use its medicine to shine our light in a discreet fashion for mutual-aid. The time is now to ascend from a dimensionally challenged perspective, so that we may open up to a multi-dimensional worldview that values a deeper heartfelt connection to one another.

See you further on down the trails,

Ari

Dolphin Meditation

Posted on by under Meditation, Shamanism

Here is a shamanic journey meditation that I have selected to share with you this week to stay in the flow of Nature. Journeying with Dolphin helps us bring back visions from the Dreamtime so that we may bring more of that energy into our material reality. This is a spirited way to consume healthy energy medicine that is good food for the soul.

*Light incense/candle.
*Start drumming to a consistent beat that feels natural to you. A simple bongo drum works well. Get into a comfortable position, relax and breathe.
*Picture a dolphin in your imagination and feel its energy coming into your Being.
*Ask Dolphin for any guidance that you feel is appropriate for you. Being specific with your question is helpful.
*Continue drumming for 10-20 minutes and gently allow yourself to receive whatever arrives to you in your consciousness.
*Thank dolphin for its spiritual medicinal offering.
*Remember your callback by opening your eyes and changing your drumbeat. A callback facilitates the transition back into our material reality. A callback can also be in the form of a word or mantra that you prefer. My callback consists of 3 sets of 8 beats, then 3 sets of 3 beats and then 3 sets of 7 beats.
*Record your notes of whatever messages Dolphin brought to you. These messages might be in the form of feelings, lyrics, sounds, visuals, etc. Let go and gently allow your soul to inform you as you travel along in your walking meditation.

Swimming in Dolphin’s wake

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Remembering when to go with the flow, not push too hard against the river, be soft, gradually allowing momentum to build and let go of our left brain, logical-rational minds is not always easy. Especially, when many of us feel the shifting tides and spirited energies flowing into our consciousness. Swimming with Dolphin is good medicine for that. Authentic living asks us to take a fair and balanced gaze onto Life. Some of us might not like hearing the news that our lower selves deliver us–especially when arriving in the broadcast of negative emotions. But information is what it is and we have a right to give ourselves permission to grieve during the dirge of our old selves. In that light, it sounds true that we are washing away the toxicity, breathing in fresh air and watering the seeds so that they may blossom into new growth. For some of us, we might be doubting Groundhog’s forecast for an early spring. However, Winter is waning and coming soon Spring almost here. At this time, light and dark, masculine and feminine energies will share an equal marriage, if only briefly. Dolphin’s teachings resonates within our inner waters and its medicine serves as Universal Manna for our soul’s nourishment. In the beginning, there was sound. With Dolphin as our guide, we see and connect with our greater global community. Water symbolizes creation, passion, sexuality and new dimensions. Beyond nostalgia, sometimes when looking back on our past relationships, we notice past regrets and feel sad about that. Sending telepathic messages to someone is one way to heal, while opening up our hearts to a deeper sense of empathy, understanding and bringing in more heartfelt compassion into our Being.

Has anyone out there seen the film, The god’s must be Crazy? In that vain, Coke is suing to block a recycling program that will help facilitate our transition through Climate Change. On the other hand, the Violence Against Women Act will now protect all women from abuses. But why do we limit our protection against violence at all? From a developmental perspective, it is easier to identify with the perspective of an abuser-bully than the experience of a victim because of the misconceived power that entails. Why are friends on Capitol Hill so terrified about allowing maturation to kick in here? We all have growing up to do and Karma to clear, but leadership serves as a role model to our World. The so-called sequester cuts are killing programs that serve as a safety net that have protected the “General Welfare” of hundreds of thousands of our mentally ill and formerly homeless brothers and sisters and kids in Head Start. And our politicians continue to push for a self-fulfilling prophecy for yet another world war, when they promised the first one would end all wars. This time, Israel is being encouraged to taunt Syria and Iran, as things continue to heat up in the Middle East. Wyoming opened up lands to unrestricted wolf killings that threatens their recovery. While we hear political-business rhetoric about how government should stay out of our lives, at the same time Facebook gobbles up $430 million in government subsidies so that they don’t have to pay a Red Cent in taxes. The clear channel says consumption is being pushed on us and then we are punished for taking the bait and getting hooked–even though it is a scientific fact that punishment doesn’t work and isn’t a form of discipline. If we have to petition to stop the killing of our underwater friends, we have a right to ask why our Navy is conducting an underwater sonar program in the first place. Who are you serving here? We all have a right to the Truth and a need to trust that we can live harmoniously with one another. We will all win as we move away from fear and stay as close to Love as possible.

When swimming in Dolphin’s wake, we remember to integrate playfulness into our walking meditation. In the spirit of that, we receive guidance to pay attention to our body rhythms and energetic patterns fed to us by Great Spirit. Ingesting Dolphin’s medicine helps us access the hidden caverns and underwater cities within the depths of our souls. Classroom lessons are teaching us how to build a bridge between our material realm and Dreamtime. Meditation on Dolphin helps us dive into our primordial history, remember the power of our breath and communicate more effectively with one another.

See you further on down the trails,

Ari

Turtle Meditation

Posted on by under Meditation, Shamanism
Here is one possible Shamanic journey that I would like to share with you.  In a watered down sense, the journey process is about shifting our consciousness–merely a perceptual shift, potentially leading us into a transformational experience with reality.  We journey to become more conscious and awake during our travels in our material realm, giving us more power and freedom in our lives.  Journeying and meditation aid us in becoming the change we want to see in the world.  For example, during a journey meditation this week, I encountered a huge whale while swimming as a sea turtle in the ocean.  Although the sight of the whale was overwhelming, I allowed myself to hold a position of curiosity and empathy, while simultaneously realizing that the whale meant me no harm.  Remembering to be conscious of our breathing helps us calm our anxieties and remain in the present moment as it unfolds, but intentionally without projecting spin onto whatever front comes our way.
  • Light incense/candle
  • Start by drumming or rattling to a consistent beat in your sacred space.
  • Picture a turtle in your imagination.
  • Feel and perceive turtle energy in your consciousness.
  • Ask turtle for guidance, let go and then follow turtle wherever it takes you during your journey.  Be sure to thank turtle for its gift to you.
  • Before returning to this reality, it is important to change your beat to a call back for an effective transition.  For example, after 10-20 minutes of drumming, I open my eyes and then hit the drum 8 times for 3 repetitions, then 3 times for 3 repetitions and then 7 times for 3 repetitions to signal the end of my journey.  But your call back can be in the form of a word, a thought or a mantra that works for you.
  • Record what arrives to you from your journey.

Meditation with Turkey Vulture

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Here is a meditation I did recently out in a boarder-edge area in the backyard.
  • Light candle/incense of choice.
  • Visualize a Turkey Vulture effortlessly riding the thermals, while gleaming the skies.
  • Hold snow (or ice-cube) in fist while breathing in and focusing on fiery dark emotions while gazing onto flame of candle, picturing a rainbow and waterfall.  Reiki folks can picture symbols too.
  • Exhale the darkness within to release as compost.  If you have a beverage, take a sip and spray out like a whale/dolphin.

When I finished this meditation, I noticed the snow ball melted quite fast.  In fact, I felt like I thawed out too and noticed a lift after the experience.  Turkey Vulture helps us see the colorful energy fields in Life.  Isn’t that the kind of energy we want to bring into our World?  As above, so below.  So within, as without.  I would welcome your experiences with this meditation or other meditations like it.