Spring and The Sacred Garden

Well, we are a week into the spring and here in Arizona the temps are beginning to rise and the world (and allergies) is in full bloom. For many of you in the colder climes, the snow is beginning to melt and the earth is starting to warm up and even begins to show the beauty that has been hidden all winter. It is a time of excitement and anticipation as the days grow longer and we welcome the return to all the activities we enjoy in the warmer days.

I am keenly aware of coming out of hibernation. It feels good to feel the spring sun on my body as I work in my sacred gardens in my back yard as well as my spiritual Sacred Garden.

In the Celtic traditions, your Sacred Garden is a place in the spirit realm that "belongs" to you. It is a place to rest, recharge, store shamanic gifts, meet with Spiritual Guides and Teachers, etc. Only those who you invite can enter your Sacred Garden. Your Sacred Garden is an inner representation of what you choose to create in your outer reality.

With the arrival of spring, it may be a good time to tend to your spiritual Sacred Garden ... spring cleaning you know. I invite you to take a few minutes to journey to your garden or slip into a meditative space and ask to be taken to you garden, or take a few minutes to visualize your Sacred Garden. Look around and see if you need to do a spring clean up. Are there weeds that need to be pulled or dead plants in your garden? Some may need to stay as they are not ready to be removed yet. Think about creating a compost pile with these weeds. After you remove them, pay close attention to how things change in your life. Maybe some of those things that no longer serve you will just disappear. After you clean up, be sure to plant new plants or seeds for those things you wish to cultivate in your physical reality. Remember the fertalizer you created in your compost pile and fertalize well, for it is from these lessons and weeds that we are able to create a new.

Remember to routinely take the time to return to your Sacred Garden to tend your plants, rest and simply enjoy the peace and beauty of this inner space. As you tend this garden, take time to enjoy the peace and beauty you are creating in your every day life.

Happy Spring.

Debbie

Shaman as Deathwalkers – Part II

As promised, we’ll continue where we left off before we were so rudely interrupted by Life. We were discussing the role of the shaman as a “Deathwalker” assisting those who are preparing to make their transition to Spirit or those who have already transitioned.

Sometimes when a death occurs, the Soul is caught unprepared. Sometimes the Soul may not understand what happened or that they are dead. This Soul's natural journey back to its spiritual home, is then interrupted. The Soul needs help, it cannot continue the journey on its own. This is where a shaman can assist the Soul to continue it’s journey home.

Recently, I had a co-worker cross over suddenly. It was an unusual incident that had left both his life partner and business partner devastated. They were feeling his presence around the house and being disturbed by this. I asked permission to journey for him and see if he had completed his transition, and he had not. We found him standing in his garage where he had died, looking totally confused. He was glad to see me and asked in his usual fashion what was going on. I explained that he had died and asked if we could assist him to get out of the garage and go Home. He agreed and we asked that any soul pieces that he needed be returned. At this point, we could see the light tunnel being opened and my friend became a happy go lucky young boy again. We asked if he had any soul pieces to return to others before he left. He emptied the pockets of his shorts and asked that We return some specific packages and a bunch of things came from his pockets typical of a little boy. My guides quickly collected the pieces and returned them to whom they belonged. At this point, my friend thanked us and said he was ready. He dove into the light tunnel like he was diving into a pond. He was met there by his guides and light beings and escorted to the upper world.

My most memorable Deathwalking case was right after 9/11. I was asked to journey for someone who had died in the World Trade Center. They had not found her body, but knew she was dead. I entered journey space and asked to be taken back to the towers (We had spent MANY hours there already). We called out the name of the person we were looking for and heard a faint response. We found her buried under some rubble in a stairwell. We busied ourselves to free her and she asked if she was dead. We told her yes and explained what had happened. She broke down and cried and we comforted her for some time. As we began to move out of the towers there were many souls asking if they could come along. Everyone was holding on to each other to follow them out and pretty soon my client in the front began to conga. The whole group became a conga line of souls returning home! As they came along they were each given a basket with their soul pieces and they carried their baskets in the conga line right up to the light world! Believe me it was quite a sight. Everyone was happy and singing like they were at a party, and it truly was a birthday party, as they were all re-born to Spirit. No somber occasion - hmm—I wonder if my client was an Irishman??? Certainly a reminder of Spirit’s humor.

For more on shamanism and death and dying read the article on our website “Death and Dying – A Change”.

Until next week.

Mitakuye Oyasin ( A Lakota prayer as a reminder that we are all related),
Debbie

Life "Happens"

Wow, I’m so embarrassed that we have had to let this blog slip. But as the title states “Live Happens”. Actually, it’s more like a carnival. There’s the Merry-Go-Round that whirls too fast, the world’s largest and most treacherous roller coaster, bumper cars (as a friend reminded me yesterday) and the I think they call it “The Hammer” – that ride that takes you up way high and drops you from the top. And they best part is we all signed up to get into this crazy place!

My last communication was about death and dying. We have been experiencing this journey over a year of ups and downs with Gary’s mom as she traversed her death path toward re-birth. It was a long, hard journey for the whole family. There was such a mix of emotions as we could only bear witness to her journey. This long journey came to an end on February 28, 2008. Fortunately, with our shamanic experiences we have a very positive outlook on the death of the physical being, but that doesn’t change the fact that we will no longer have our Mom to talk to or hug. The whole family will now begin to relax and grieve after holding vigil for so long.

Besides holding constant vigil for the last eight months, we’ve had the usual mix of life – the "j-o-b" that tends to overtake the time allotted, kids with trauma/drama, tooth issues, and the routine holiday bouts of the flu (mine has lasted two months!). Then there is our shamanic work/play that for me personally gets pushed aside until life settles a little and I can devote my attention to assisting my clients. I like to give them my undivided attention.

If anyone thinks that being a “shaman” exempts one from all the crap life can throw our way – guess again! As you can see, we play same dramas as everyone else. We simply have tools to help us respond instead of react (at least most of the time). This is the goal of our shamanic coaching – to empower our clients to experience life from a different perspective. Soul Recovery helps to bring back parts of our vital energy that allow us to see our world differently. We are able to clear long term patterns in our lives and heal ourselves of our emotional wounds (and physical) that trigger our emotions. We begin to recover our true self and become whole again.

As for the blog, I am committing to making a conscious effort to post weekly. I think I will keep them shorter so that I can keep up when "life happens".

Thanks to everyone for your support and understanding during these trying months for us.

Mitakuye Oyasin ( A Lakota prayer as a reminder that we are all related),
Debbie