Shaman s toolbox practical tools for powerful transformation

Shaman's Toolbox Practical Tools for Powerful Transformation

Bloom Post

All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, photographic including photocopying, recording of by an information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author or publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein.

Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

Copyright Š 2011 by Bloom Post Cover Design: Bloom Post, Trey Crispin Cover Photo: Bloom Post Author Photograph: Ruslan Tumash Partial Editing: Alan Muskat

ISBN: 978-1-257-02884-9 Printed in the United States of America FIRST PAPERBACK EDITION

Published March 2011

The information in this document is not intended as a substitute for Medical Advice. This book is not designed to be, and does not provide medical advice. All content (“Content”), including text, graphics, images and information available on or through this book are for general information purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice.

The exercises presented in this book are for interest purposes only. They have been tested in many workshops, client healings and other real-life applications and no harm has ever arisen for any participant as a result, and most have benefited enormously. Any application of these exercises is at the reader’s own risk, and the author and publishers disclaim any liability arising directly or indirectly from the use of this book or its exercises.

NEVER DISREGARD PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE, OR DELAY IN SEEKING IT, BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU HAVE READ IN THIS BOOK. NEVER RELY ON INFORMATION IN THIS BOOK IN PLACE OF SEEKING PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE

“Be present. Be in love. This is the only way you can ‘hold space’ for another person.” ~ Grandmother

“I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being.” ~ Hafiz

Contents Acknowledgments

viii

Introduction

x

Communing With Spirit

1

Shamanic Journeying ~ My Story

13

Energetic Protection

21

Directions for Shamanic Journeying

29

Animal Totems

41

Plant Spirit Medicine

51

Connecting With Other Nature Spirits

63

The Akashic Records

67

Working With The Akashic Records

85

Do Something Different

89

Gratitude

97

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Infinite Gratitude to Spirit for absolutely everything!

Thank you to the Guides, Guardians and Protectors that work with me at all times empowering my journey.

Spirit Eagle Angel Tribe, my dearest Winged Ones, I love you.

Smiles and giggles to Archangels Michael and Metatron, and of course Raphael. Thank you for showing me how big I really am.

Spider Medicine, thank you.

Grandmother, it’s all love, with gentleness and ease.

There are some really amazing human beings of light on this planet and I send much love and light to them for empowering me, supporting and encouraging me in so many ways: Sam, thank you for believing in me and for having my back!

I could not have done this without you.

Shaman John, thanks for the fun. You were my “first.” Ha! Kerry, amazing goddess, thank you for your thoughtfulness, encouragement and support all these many years. We’ve come a long way baby!

Satiya, thank you sweet sister for introducing me to the Council. I appreciate your authenticity, wisdom and friendship. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement.

Selah, aw momma, you’re so good. Bless up! And thank you from my cosmic heart, you sweet star-child. So grateful for you and our connection in the realms.

Guenevere, you are a beautiful and authentic manifestation of the divine feminine. Thank you for your magic. viii

Papa Carl, I love you. You're a wonderful Papa and an amazing man.

Michelle, my Piscean sister, thanks for the laughter that keeps me in the flow. Thank you for introducing me to the Knowledge.

SarahAnne, keep singing your songs sweet sister, and thank you for sharing your songs with me.

Jeremy, thank you. So many lifetimes, so many new worlds to create.

Thanks to Brother Al, Shawna, Julie-bird, Kara, Lindsay T., Lindsay S., Maria, Alena, and Caroline. You are amazing gods and goddesses who have empowered me more than you know. I deeply appreciate you.

Natasha, thank you for sharing your wisdom, and for our learning together.

Meriwether Lewis Morley, thank you for saving me, loving me, and gifting me with music and my middle name.

My Post Family, I love you. And don't be surprised if I change my name again.

Shannon, thank you for helping me spread my wings.

Daniel, I give thanks for our friendship. Thank you for seeing me.

Athens Sangha, you know who you are. I love you immensely.

Clients, participants at workshops, students in classes, thank you, because teaching is an amazing way to learn.

Thanks to Trey for computer support and for helping me finish this project.

Thank you Maestro Mason for the title idea!

Thank you to all the amazing people who have empowered me to heal and grow throughout my life. ix

INTRODUCTION

Even after all this time The sun never says to the earth, “You owe me.”

Look what happens with A love like that, It lights the whole sky. ~ Hafiz

Solstice, 2010. December 21st. Full moon lunar eclipse. Today. Now. The present moment. This is all that ever is.

You are a beautiful and divine being of light.

Everything about you is perfect, even all the things that you don't like or would like to change. You are Spirit, God, Creator, incarnate on this planet in your own unique form.

You chose your eye color and your hair color, your body type and your personality before you even arrived here.

You looked at the journey you would be taking on this planet, and you symbolically signed a soul contract to come here and do your good work in this realm.

You knew what you had signed on for and you knew you could handle it. You saw this place, this reality/illusion of duality and separation, and you said, “I want to experience that. I want to play in that game. I want to experience myself in a new way, in a dense, physical form. I want to bring my light to this place and share it with others. x

I want to see what it's like to live as a human. I want to feel what it's like to die, to transform in such a powerful way that I won't even remember it's birth, too.”

You chose to be here. We all chose this. We are not victims to our lives. We are co-creators of all that happens, to us and to the entire planet. That's a big responsibility.

Every thought you think, every action you take, every word you speak affects the entire planet. The affect can be incredibly subtle, so subtle that you might forget you have that kind of power within you. Remember. It is time to re-member yourself. Time to wake up from this dream and re-member who you truly are.

This book is one journey. There are as many journeys as there are people on this planet. When we share our stories we learn how other humans are navigating their journey. We learn new ways to walk our path. We learn new practices to empower us to grow and heal. This is how we help each other. We share our little piece of wisdom that makes up this infinite puzzle, and together we form an image that is Divine.

Take what resonates for you and use it on your journey. Use what feels right for you and make it your own.

If something does not resonate for you, let it go. This is simply one way to walk the path. Explore as many paths as you can and create your own mosaic of tools and practices.

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.” ~ Buddha The practices in this book are simply the beginning. xi

There is so much more to be explored. My understanding of this work has shifted and grown even as I've been writing this book, not to mention the many years that I've been experiencing these journeys intentionally. Start where you are and know that the possibilities are infinite. Enjoy the journey and explore what comes to you.

Share your experiences with others. This practice is not simply to find your animal totems or talk to angels. This work empowers you to heal, grow, learn, evolve, and to empower others through your own process. When you heal yourself, you allow others around you to heal as well.

These practices continue to teach me to love myself, truly love myself, all of me, even the parts of me that I didn't like so much in the past. This gift, in turn, teaches me to love others in a more compassionate way. Shamanic journeying has taught me to pay attention to the gifts that surround us each day; truly pay attention. I've learned to take time to notice the “little things,� the magic that is around us at all times. In turn, this empowers me to stay connected to that magic, even on days when I am feeling less than magical.

Shamanic journeying reminds me that we are never alone. We are loved, protected, cared for, supported, encouraged, provided for, appreciated, and held at all times.

We are always connected and we are all ONE.

xii

There is a spider living in my doorway. She lives in the upper corner during the day, and each evening she creates the most delicate and beautiful web in the frame of my front door. After walking into her sticky threaded home on three consecutive evenings, I finally realized she planned to stay, so it would behoove me to come to an agreement with her about our living arrangements.

I talked to Ms. Spider (who could be a Mr., I suppose) and let her know that I am happy for her to live with me. I can even leave the light on sometimes to help attract bug meals for her. However, it would help to find a way to live together, meaning that I need to be able to walk through my door and into my house without taking her house with me, usually stuck to my head.

It seems we have found a way to work together. I asked her to please keep her (very large) web to one side, and connect her threads to the other side of the doorway high enough so that I can pass through. Apparently it took her a few days to realize that the lower connecting threads would get walked through because I do not always remember to duck. Now she connects her web to the other side of the doorway up high enough for me to walk under and we live together quite peacefully.

I love watching her weave her web. It is almost perfectly geometrical and she works so quickly, using all of her eight legs to create her home. I have also watched her capture her prey and wrap it up in a cocoon. She is utterly amazing.

Mostly I see her sitting, unmoving, waiting. I find her a beautiful reminder of sitting in stillness. She sits there so patiently, waiting for something to find its way into her web; and her web reminds me to relax if I feel stuck, instead of fighting it, which seems to only create feeling more stuck.

As I write this book, spider medicine is consistently in my life. In the last few months, spiders have been more xiii

prominent as I have begun the process of being an author.

Spider is powerful medicine for those who write. She came to me when I first began journeying into the realms to meet my animal totems. I am grateful she has stayed with me, despite my taking some time to really connect with her medicine in an intentional way. She has been weaving her magic around me, waiting for me to be ready to sit with her and weave words onto a page.

My intention is to share the gifts of the practices in this book with all who are called. My prayer is that you remember who you truly, divinely are, no matter how beautiful it is. My vision is a peaceful world, filled with human beings who love themselves unconditionally; therefore appreciating and loving each other, and all things, with compassion and reverence.

I send each of you much love as you traverse the realms, exploring your inner landscape and traveling into your infinite depths. Perhaps we will meet on the cosmic roads. Life is a spiritual adventure! Enjoy writing your story. “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?� ~ Mary Oliver Many blessings, Bloom 12/21/10

xiv

Chapter One COMMUNING WITH SPIRIT

“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.� ~ George Washington Carver

One of my favorite moments during a trip out West took place as I was leaving a national park. The sun was setting and there was a beautiful, lone mountain at the entrance of the park. As I was driving by it, I felt compelled to stop and offer tobacco to honor this place.

I got out of the car and sat and looked at the sun setting in the sky. A Native American man drove up and parked next to me. He was tall and handsome with two silver-grey braids going down his back. He was watching the sunset as well, and we began to talk. He shared with me the significance of this mountain and why it is important to his people. I was filled with gratitude as he shared this story with me, about this area that meant so much to him and his tribe.

In my pocket was a package of organic tobacco I had bought in order to give offerings. Opening the package, I 1|Page

asked him if he would like some tobacco to offer to this place. He said yes and that he was thankful I had thought to bring tobacco as a gift.

We both held our tobacco and said prayers before offering it to the wind. We stood for a few minutes in quiet.

As we began conversing again, there were two birds circling overhead. We looked up, stopping our conversation to see what kind of birds they were. They flew lower and lower until they were just above us and we could see them clearly.

As we watched appreciatively, two beautiful hawks circled over us for a few minutes and then slowly started flying away together. We looked at each other and smiled.

He said, “That was very auspicious, a sign from Great Spirit.”

I nodded quietly in agreement.

Spirit is always communing with us, we simply get to pay attention. Driving through beautiful forests on a winding, mountain road, I was on my way to teach a class on Plant Spirit Medicine. Going over in my mind what to share with the students, I thought through the outline of the class and what I would say. In my head I suddenly heard, “Spirit is always speaking to us,” and within about fifteen seconds a beautiful, and very large hawk flew directly above me.

Immediately pulling off into a parking area, I got out 2|Page

of the car to watch this magnificent creature in the sky. It felt like instant confirmation that Spirit really is always speaking to us, and had confirmed my thought by sharing this gorgeous hawk with me.

As I stood by my car staring at the sky with my hand shielding my eyes from the sun, numerous cars and motorcycles drove by. Not one of the people going by looked up at the sky to see what I was watching. They all looked at me, but did not even bother to notice the hawk.

Spirit speaks to us in so many ways. Through the wind, trees, plants, water, sky, animals, humans, storms, stones, dirt, through all sorts of natural phenomena, Spirit is communicating with us.

Spirit can speak through anything. Spirit can speak to you through your television, the radio, CD’s or DVD’s. Even your computer can bring you information that Spirit wants to put in front of you.

In order to receive the messages that Spirit sends us, it is important to be present and pay attention. We must develop an awareness that allows us to listen, with our ears and with our hearts. Once we learn to hear Spirit speaking to us in obvious way, then we will begin to notice the more subtle messages. Shapes, colors, numbers, sounds are but a few examples of ways that Spirit can send us messages empowering us to gain clarity and understanding.

A great way to learn to receive messages is to pay attention to nature. Notice the animals in your neighborhood, the squirrels, the crows, the songbirds, even the bugs. Pay attention to the cycles of the moon. Look at the sky, notice the beautiful shapes of the clouds; really look at everything around you and take it in. Paying attention to the natural world around us empowers us to slow down and be more fully present, which allows us to notice the many messages we receive daily from the Universe.

How can Spirit commune with us when we are not paying attention? How can we hear Spirit speak to us if we 3|Page

are not listening? How can we find clarity and answers to our questions if we are busying ourselves with drama, gossip, reality TV or other numerous distractions?

If we fill our heads with distractions, our thinking will be unclear and our inner hearing will be muddled. We must take time to open ourselves up to the quiet and listen. We often get signs and omens throughout our day that might go unnoticed. When we miss the more subtle communications, then we can end up experiencing something much more obvious, and not necessarily enjoyable, that wakes us up and gets our attention.

Ultimately, the difference between a message and a distraction is our intention. Are we experiencing something in order to gain insight, or are we constantly distracting ourselves with mindless entertainment?

Spirit can speak to us in blinding bright lights or in much more subtle and quiet ways. There are times when a large, beautiful hawk flying above might be a sign for us.

There are times when a small feather falling next to us can be a sign. Each message is of equal importance. The bottom line is that Spirit is always speaking to us, it is simply a matter of how much we are listening and paying attention.

Messages from Spirit do not always come immediately. Our world can often be about instant gratification, and Spirit does not necessarily work that way.

There are also times when the answer is right in front of us but we don’t recognize it, and therefore think that we are not getting an answer to our question. Sitting in quiet each day is important in order to be open to receiving guidance. This also empowers you to make sense of the many signs and gifts that Spirit shares with you daily.

When you are aware and present, and recognize Spirit communing with you, your life will feel more balanced, peaceful and fulfilled. You will find yourself being more and more in-tune with the voice of Spirit, and with the daily signs that the Universe shares in your life.

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This connection with Spirit will allow a deeper connection to the earth and all of her inhabitants, empowering you to love more fully. The flow of your life, and your world, becomes more magical and full of joy and possibility.

On a beautiful fall day, I was sitting on a large boulder in a gorgeous river listening to the water. Quietly meditating for a few minutes, I felt the energy of the water as it flowed toward me, around large rocks and fallen tree branches. The rays of the sun warmed my face and I could hear nothing but the water all around me.

I suddenly felt the urge to open my eyes, and when I did, I saw a shape in some bushes on the bank. At first, the shape looked just like a monkey, the kind I saw when I visited India. After looking more closely, I knew it was not a monkey, however it allowed me to be reminded of the medicine of monkey, the symbolic gifts that monkey energy brings.

Had I simply rationalized that the shadows made it look like a monkey and ignored it, I would have missed the message from Spirit. However, since my imagination had showed me the shape of a monkey, I closed my eyes in order to journey to spirit world to speak to monkey and see what information it had for me.

Our conversation was very enlightening, and I was offered the gift of seeing answers to some things I had been 5|Page

wondering about. It was a beautiful moment that could have been missed had I not followed my internal urging to open my eyes. Since I paid attention to that strange shape on the riverbank, and followed what my imagination showed me, I was able to receive clear messages from Spirit regarding my life.

It’s not always the big things that are the clues. In my experience, it’s quite often the things that we perceive as little, trivial or unimportant, that are exactly the ways that Spirit is speaking to us. Take time to look twice, to stop and listen, to notice the things you had ignored before. It can make all the difference.

PRACTICES FOR COMMUNING WITH SPIRIT

“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls.” ~ Mother Teresa

Being present and aware in order to hear, see and feel information and messages from Spirit is a constant practice.

Here are a few exercises you can create in your life that will empower you to slow down, be present and in the flow with the Divine.

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*Breathe.

Notice your breath. How shallow is your breathing?

Are you breathing into your chest, into your solar plexus or down into your belly? Begin to pay attention to your breath.

Your breathing is an immediate indication of your state of mind. The majority of people are stressed and busy and do not even notice that they are only breathing shallowly into their chests.

Core belly breathing is a powerful way to intentionally connect with your body, as well as get grounded and centered. Breathing intentionally, all the way into your belly, also brings much-needed oxygen to the rest of your body.

Often we can not hear the “still, small voice of God� because we are stressed and distracted. Each time you remember, breathe into your belly. Breathe deep, gentle, cleansing breaths that re-align you with yourself and with the energy of Spirit.

When you are tired, stressed, losing patience with something, or feeling any kind of negativity, take a moment and breathe into your belly. You will feel your energy shift as you re-align the flow of your energy into a calm, balanced place through breathing deeply. Your head becomes clear and your body relaxes as you connect with your breath. *Sit and be quiet.

Meditate. Sit in silence. Create sacred space in your life to sit and be in the stillness and quiet. In order to hear, one must first clear out the mental chatter that creates static and does not allow our direct line to Spirit to come through clearly.

When you first sit to be quiet, what comes up in your mind? Is it a to-do list? Is it worries or fears? Pay attention to what comes up when you take time to quiet your mind.

These thoughts are often signs of what you are working with 7|Page

in your life and areas for growth.

That to-do list could be a sign of over-extending yourself. Let it come up, flow through your mind, and let it go. It is important to find some time each day to let our minds be as clear and relaxed as possible. This exercise is good for our mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health.

Be present to what you are inputting to your system.

When we sit in silence, all of the energy we have been receiving comes up. Are you listening to music that is uplifting and heart-opening, or negative and angry? Are you watching lots of television? Are you seeing movies that are full of violence and fear? What kind of food are you putting in your system to feed your body and soul? Are the people surrounding you positive or negative?

What we bring into our system is what we will work with when we sit quietly to meditate. We can reduce mindchatter and stress by monitoring what comes in to our energy-field. Calming music, healthy food, and positive input is incredibly helpful in creating a healthy, calm disposition as well as a joyful, relaxed mind.

We can not always control the energy that comes to us. Sitting in silence daily greatly empowers our ability to be with any energy in a calm and peaceful way. When your mind is calm, it will greatly help you manage the challenges that come into your life, especially the unexpected ones. *Slow down.

Life is not a race. Enjoy the journey. Look around, take it in, notice the beauty around you. Stop and smell the flowers, literally. Watch the sun rise, or set. Take a moment and admire a big and bright full moon. Take a cat nap.

Enjoy an afternoon doing nothing, or reading a book or lounging around watching the sun shift in the sky.

Whatever it takes to help you to slow down and enjoy the 8|Page

world around you, do it.

Notice how quickly you walk, even when it's a “relaxing� walk around the neighborhood. Do a walking meditation, taking each step slowly and intentionally and take a breath with each step. If this sounds like it would just stress you out and make you anxious, then it would be a powerful practice for you!

We miss a lot at warp speed; speeding to work, gulping down lunch, rushing to pick up the kids after school, throwing together something for dinner, scarfing it down and then collapsing into bed. Slowing down will help you relax and feel calm. Slowing down is good for your health, and everyone around you will feel more relaxed as well. Slowing down is key to noticing the signs that Spirit sends you. *Spend time in Nature.

Being with nature is as easy as sitting in your yard.

When was the last time you really even noticed that tree in your yard? Is mowing the lawn the only time you connect with nature?

Put your bare feet on the ground. Feel the energy of this powerful Mama Earth flowing through you. Feel the grass, the dirt, the stones under your feet. Visualize what is beneath the dirt, and feel the energy of all that lies beneath you. Take time to do this every day for a few minutes. Your awareness will increase and you will be more present. The world around you will become more focused, clear and you will begin to notice things you had not been seeing up to that point.

Go for a walk in the woods. Connect with the trees, the plants, the stone people (rocks and boulders), the squirrels and birds. Sit in the woods and listen. Is there wind? Is it silent? Can you hear water nearby? Can you hear squirrels scurrying about? Are birds chirping? Sit and 9|Page

listen to nature and the earth.

If you are not near woods, find a lake, or a park, or a pond, or an ocean, and sit. Remove yourself as much as possible from the energy of cities, cars and noise. Find a peaceful place in nature and simply breathe into your belly.

Smell the smells, listen to the sounds, and take in the visual beauty of the place. When you return to this place, notice if anything has changed. Do you see the same birds?

Is there a new nest in a tree? Is it warmer or colder or sunnier or cloudier? You might even run into the same people you saw there the other day. Take in all the information you can by being fully present and aware of your surroundings. Then relax and be, while breathing into your belly. *Re-connect with your youthfulness, your childhood energy.

Not everyone has a fairytale childhood. However, everyone has been a child and experienced the awe and wonder that children experience about the simplest things.

Children are great examples of genuine enthusiasm, excitement, anticipation and especially belief. Kids believe just about everything, until they are conditioned otherwise.

Have you ever just stopped to smell a flower? When did you last ride a bike, for fun, not just for exercise? How long has it been since you read a children's book? Have you drawn or colored or painted lately?

When was the last time you listened to your own inner child to find our what she or he would like to do?

Your inner child is not the voice that chides you for having ice cream or tells you there’s not enough time to have fun.

Your inner child is longing to spend time doing something fun, something that makes you laugh and feeds your soul.

It is vital for your well-being, and your heart, to take time to have fun, whether spontaneous or planned.

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Laughing and smiling creates peace of mind and health in our bodies. Find something you can do that allows you to laugh and smile.

Take time to appreciate beauty, through nature, or art, music, movement, or in whatever form you choose. Take time to walk around your block and notice things. A great exercise is to get a throw-away camera and take pictures of random things that catch your attention. Let your inner child guide you as to what you photograph and see what comes out when the pictures are developed.

Everything is real and everything is possible to a child. Re-connect and re-member that awe and wonder within yourself. This childlike energy will allow your heart to open, and in turn, amazing and beautiful things can flow into your life. Connecting with your childlike belief in all possibilities will also help tremendously when you use your imagination. *Enjoy, and practice, using your imagination.

The previous exercises are warm-ups for connecting with the power of your imagination, and that is really where the magic is. In your imagination, everything truly is possible and Spirit can open up your heart and your life in positive and often unexpected ways.

“The power of imagination makes us infinite.� ~ John Muir

The shamanic journeying exercises in this book are a unique and creative way to open up to your imagination and connect with Spirit. Many of us were taught not to trust our 11 | P a g e

imagination, therefore we cut ourselves off from our intuitive abilities. Pure imagination is where Spirit connects with you and downloads to you all that you create and experience. Intuition is where you feel this happening.

Imagination connects you to your Guides, your answers, your clarity, your healing, your path, your manifestation, your Personal Power, all of it. So if your ego starts saying things like, “You’re just making that up,” you can say, “Why yes, with the help of Spirit I sure am,” and keep going with it!

These are simple practices that can be easily incorporated into even the busiest life. By connecting with these practices consistently, you will see positive shifts in your daily experience. These daily practices will also amplify your ability to travel into Spirit World and connect with your Spirit Guides, your inner Divine Guidance.

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Chapter Two SHAMANIC JOURNEYING

“Everything you can imagine is real.” ~ Pablo Picasso

There is an old Native American man in my car. He is floating over me and chopping at things around my head with an ax. He seems to be cutting things away, clearing things out from around my head. Meanwhile, I am driving on a major interstate and trying to get home, safely.

How am I supposed to concentrate on the road with all this chopping and floating going on? Having no clue what is happening, I focus on the road, drive straight home, and quickly make a phone call.

“An Indian followed me home,” I blurt out, into the phone.

“What?” I hear on the other end of the line.

“I was driving home and suddenly there was this old Native American man floating above me around my head and he was chopping at things with an ax, all around my skull, like he was cutting things from me or something.”

“Well, that’s interesting.”

“Who is it?” I asked.

“I don’t know, ask him,” he said.

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This is how I met my first Spirit Guide.

Since my teens I have been fascinated with Shamanism. I am intrigued by anyone who seems to be able to do things that seem larger than life; Buddhist monks and nuns, yogis, magicians, shamans, and miracle healers are all incredibly fascinating to me. I have always been enamored of the monks in Buddhist stories who could sit in meditation on a mountain in freezing weather covered in wet sheets, generating so much heat in their body that they dried the sheets.

I have also felt drawn to spirituality and religion.

My Grandmother taught me the Lord’s Prayer when I was three years old. I would say the Lord’s Prayer, then I would say my personal prayers, and then I would hear God talk back to me. It never occurred to me that others did not regularly hear God talking to them. I just assumed this happened for everyone.

In Jr. High, when I was walking to school to try-out for basketball, I was very nervous about making the team. It made perfect since to me to ask God if I was going to make the team. Immediately I heard, “You’ll be OK. You will make the team.” Instantly I felt better. And yes, I made the team. These were the kinds of messages I would get as a child.

As I got older, I continued to get messages, and started receiving more and more information. This information did not feel the same as when “God” talked to 14 | P a g e

me, so I did not understand what was happening. I would sit next to someone on a bus and get psychic information about them. What I most often saw about people was the pain they were experiencing; if they had an addiction or an illness, for example, or if they had recently lost a loved one.

It was sometimes overwhelming to be able to intuit such personal information about others, and I often thought I was crazy. I did not know who to talk to about these things and felt like I had no energetic “filter” in order to stop all the information from coming to me. I did not realize I was taking on other people’s energy and that it was draining me. I would be in my late 20’s before I realized that I am an intuitive and that I have psychic abilities. It was years of feeling “too sensitive for this world” and wondering how I was going to be able to handle all of the emotions and energy that seemed to just come into my system without my being able to stop it.

I knew I needed someone who could help me with my sensitivities, but did not know where to turn. One afternoon I was talking to my massage therapist and she mentioned that she had hired a shaman to clear her office space of any negative energy. Here was my opportunity to meet a shaman in person. I was very excited to give him a call.

Given all the books I had read, and the movies I had seen about shamanism, I assumed that he would be an indigenous person from North or South America. I was ready to meet some dark-skinned old man with feathers in his hair wearing a vest of deer bones and shaking a rattle he had hand-crafted in his mud hut by the river.

I arrived at a typical nondescript office building to meet this magic man. I found his office and tapped on the open door to let him know I was there. He stood up, and toward me walked a tall, bald, very pale white man, with a bulging belly, wearing blue jeans, a collared shirt, and tennis shoes. He was about as far away from what I had pictured 15 | P a g e

in my head as I could have imagined.

I was already there, so I decided to go ahead and talk to him. I sat down in a comfy office chair and we began our dialogue. After discussing the kind of work he did and how he might be able to work with me, I asked him point-blank, “Are you a shaman?”.

He looked at me and said, “I am a student, and if I stop being a student I’m in trouble.”

“But other people refer to you as a shaman.”

He smiled, “Other people do refer to me as a shaman.

It gives them a context to explain the kind of work I do.”

He explained to me that his mother and his grandmother had both been “seers,” as he put it. He was raised in an Appalachian mountain tradition of connecting with nature and the plants and “seeing”. The extent of what “seeing” entailed, I do not remember, however, they all had the gift and he was using his gifts to help others.

Because of his answer explaining that he was a student, and due to his lack of ego about his abilities, I knew I wanted to work with him. I told him how I received information about other people energetically and how I just knew things that no one had told me. I told him how I felt like all the pain of other people came into my system and I felt like I was crazy.

After listening thoughtfully, he said, “Well, you might be crazy, but it’s in a good way. Let me show you how you can use it.”

He laughed, and I felt that someone finally understood what I had been going through all those years.

After a number of people telling me I wasn't crazy, but then suggesting medication, I found his answer honest and refreshing.

After that initial meeting I went back to him for healing work. He would play his drum and journey into spirit world to retrieve information for me. I would close my eyes as he was drumming, and in my mind I would see 16 | P a g e

animals and people and all sorts of things, but it never occurred to me that I was journeying too. I would try to block out these visuals so that I could keep my mind empty, as in meditation. I thought I was supposed to keep my mind blank and stay focused on the drumbeat.

This shaman shared many beautiful things with me from these journeys and told me information about myself that others did not know. I experienced healing in these sessions and was always excited to go back.

After a few sessions, I decided to share with him what I was seeing when he drummed. I was nervous because I was seeing things that were different from what he was seeing, and I wondered if it was appropriate for me to be seeing things at all, since that was his job. He enthusiastically told me it was great that I was seeing things and asked me what I had experienced. I shared what I had seen and he and I discussed how it made sense with what he had visualized and he encouraged me to keep seeing for myself. He told me that I was journeying and that it was good to keep doing that. From that time forward we would both go into spirit world when he drummed and share what each of us had experienced, comparing our visions.

Eventually, I asked him to be my teacher and spent over a year studying formally with him. We spent time in the woods where he taught me many shamanic techniques like how to read the energy of the land, and how to feel for sacred spaces in nature. He shared his knowledge of natural portals and vortexes, and how to connect with the ancestors of a place. We also went on lots of journeys into the world of spirit and he empowered me to heal many issues through energetic body work. As he worked on me I would take it all in and begin practicing on my own what I had experienced him doing.

It was during this time of study that I connected with my first spirit guides and learned how to communicate with animal totems, guardians and other guides. Finally, all the 17 | P a g e

psychic information I had been receiving started to make sense, and I learned how to work with my gifts so that I did not have to receive the emotional and personal information of every person around me. All of this began with an old Native American man chopping things from around my skull.

When I asked this Appalachian shaman over the phone, “Who is he?” and he answered with, “Ask him,” I was a bit confused.

“But isn’t he a friend of yours?” I asked.

“No. He’s a friend of yours.”

“OK,” I said, “I’ll ask him.”

Laughing, the shaman said, “Good. Well, let me know what he says.”

That is how it all began. That night, I sat on my bed, closed my eyes and could sense this Native American man was still with me in my room.

I asked him, “Who are you?”

“You can call me Grandfather,” he replied.

We continued to talk for some time, getting to know each other. He led me to a fire where we would continue to meet for that first year, while he taught me. He led me to my sacred spaces in the realms where I would meet other guides who would also teach me. I connected with animal totems and ancestors, as well as other beings of light who were, and in some cases still are, working with me on my 18 | P a g e

journey, aiding me in my growth and healing.

One of the many gifts Grandfather gave me was a name. He shared this with me after we had sat with each other for almost a year. He said that it was time that I knew my true nature and that he was going to tell me my name. I was very excited, hoping to be named after a wolf or a jaguar or something that seemed “cool”. Grandfather laughed, knowing what I was thinking. We sat by the fire and he looked at me lovingly.

“You have the vision to see what many others can not see. You have the ability to see from a distance, and to see the bigger picture, acknowledging that there is truth to both sides of a story.”

He was quiet for a time.

“Right now you are like a child, growing into your gifts and your power. You are like a small bird that has hatched from its shell and has been growing in the nest, letting its mother feed it. It is time for you to step out of the nest and learn to fly for yourself. You are an eagle, but you are a young eagle. You have many lessons to learn, and you have many gifts. I have been like mama bird to you, but now you must learn to fly and you will go and learn from others. My time with you is coming to a close. I will leave soon.”

I was upset and on the verge of tears. “Why are you going to leave?” I asked.

“It is time for me to go so that you may study with others in the realms. I will always be with you.”

Crying, I did not know what to say.

“Daughter, listen to me. It is time for you to step into yourself, your true nature. It is time for you to become who you are, Eagle Woman.”

For many years I held this name in my heart and told no one. It was a precious gift that I chose to keep secret until it was time to share with others. It took almost another full year before I could truly appreciate and begin to live into the 19 | P a g e

beautiful spirit name Grandfather had bestowed upon me.

It had been almost two years since I had first found him, chopping around my head, chopping away at what hindered me. Grandfather, like so many of our guides, could see my potential long before I could. Grandfather could see my authentic self, and he empowered me to live into that potential by holding a mirror for me through my spirit name. He also knew that if he stayed with me I would not journey further into the realms and into my abilities.

A few months after Grandfather gave me my name, we sat by the fire and he told me that it was time for him to leave. I was sad, but I trusted him and his wisdom.

Grandfather hugged me and said, “Are you ready?”

“Yes, Grandfather. Thank you. I love you.”

He smiled. Then I watched as he slowly blended into the smoke from the fire. He floated up over the fire and suddenly flew into my heart. I felt a physical shift in my chest and knew that Grandfather was with me, in me, forever.

I heard him say, “I told you I am always with you, daughter.” And he is, always.

I am Eagle Woman.

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Chapter Three ENERGETIC PROTECTION

“Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, grow.'� ~ The Talmud

Once the doors of spirit world were wide open for me, I was able to see ancestors much more clearly. Visiting the southwest, especially the Four Corners area, I was very excited to connect with the ancestors of these sacred lands. I visited a few large National Parks where Native Americans had lived. One of my favorite places to visit was Mesa Verde. The road into the park is long and winding, through beautiful vistas of mountains and valleys.

In the park live all sorts of wildlife including majestic wild horses, and powerful bucks with large antlers. There are majestic hawks soaring in the sky, and I sat just a few feet from a tribe of deer resting peacefully in the shade.

At Mesa Verde there are areas that have been preserved where the ancestors lived. Their homes are still there, kivas dug deep into the ground. Around this living area are informational signs explaining how these ancestors made their homes here, with pictures of how it might have looked when they were still alive.

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As I walked through the living quarters area, I could feel the ancestors. With my ability to see in the realms, I saw a small child who had lived here hundreds of years ago. I spoke to him and he walked up to talk to me. Though he was in spirit world I could feel his energy and speak to him as if he were with me today.

He spoke a different language, yet I could understand what he said. When traveling in spirit world, there seems to be a universal decoder for languages. Though there have been a few times when I could not understand the ancient language being spoken, generally Spirit will empower me to understand what is being said, even if it is not in English. I have also asked my guides to translate for me when necessary.

I could understand this young boy when he asked me questions and spoke with me. However, when he told me the names of people in his tribe, I was not able to translate what he was saying. I wrote the names down phonetically, as they are not names that I had ever heard, and I would imagine are not commonly used in modern times, even by Native American people.

This sweet boy asked me interesting questions and I answered to the best of my ability. He pointed to an airplane flying overhead and asked me what it was. It looked to him like a large silver bird. After explaining what an airplane is and how it carries people in the sky, the concept was a bit beyond what he could comprehend. I would imagine the idea of a large plane carrying humans thousands of feet in the air would be an incredibly unbelievable and odd concept to someone from his time.

He also asked me where his people were today. He wanted to know why there weren't living there anymore.

This was an even more difficult question to answer.

After showing me things in his home and introducing me to some of the children in his tribe, I left for the evening.

I had a rattle with me that had been a gift from a shaman I 22 | P a g e

was studying with. At the boy’s urging, I left it in a safe space in the kivas for the night so that it could soak up the sacred energy of that area.

When I came back the next day to pick up my rattle, I was greeted by this boy and many members of his tribe. The previous day I had only met children, however upon my return most of the tribe had come to see me. I was incredibly grateful for connecting with the ancestors there and left with a real sense of connection with the land of Mesa Verde along with a deep appreciation of the previous inhabitants of this place.

I visited another park, which had also been sacred Native American land. There are cave drawings still on the walls and great hiking trails over rock cliffs, as well as overlooks with amazing views. Sitting on a cliff overlooking the area, I could feel myself surrounded by ancestors.

Excited to connect with them, I took out my rattle and started shaking it to get their attention and call them to me.

Shaking a rattle is a powerful way to call out to the ancestors and invite them to sit with you. I soon found myself surrounded by various ancestors and energies. At this time I was still quite naĂŻve, and in my enthusiasm to call these energies, I had not taken time to create energetic protection.

At first, the group of ancestors that gathered around me just watched me sing and rattle. When I got quiet, a male asked me who I was. I told him my name and that I was honored to meet all of them. I sat for about an hour communing with the spirits of that place. After talking with them, I continued hiking and exploring the area.

A few days after returning home, I started to physically feel odd, uncomfortable. It is not an easy sensation to explain. I was not sick or in pain. However, I felt different, and not in a good way. Something did not feel right. Calling the shaman I was studying with, I let him know I felt odd and wanted to meet with him.

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The next afternoon while sitting with him he looked at me silently for a few minutes. Then he asked, “Who did you bring back with you?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, you brought back friends from out West. Did you mean to do that?”

He could see energies around me that I had invited in, unbeknownst to me, while I was shaking my rattle and calling to them.

“No, I didn’t mean to bring them back,” I said. “I just wanted to talk to them because I was so excited that I could see them. They’re all over the West. I could even see ancestors standing alongside the highway. They’re everywhere out there!”

“Well, you brought some back with you and that’s why you feel funny. You don’t need these energies hanging around in your energy. Let me see what I can do.”

With that, he closed his eyes and did his work. When he was finished, he told me that he asked them to leave, and explained to them that they were not meant to be connected to me. There was one energy/entity that he said seemed a bit dark and not very friendly. He said he did not know who he was and did not bother to ask because he did not want to talk to him.

This was how I learned about energetic protection.

None of these energies were out to harm me, however, having them in my energetic field felt a bit draining. When I asked the shaman about them, he said that it is not that they are trying to hurt anyone. He taught me that these energies/entities were simply connecting with someone like me who was wide open and inviting them in. Sometimes these energies do not know where to go and are glad to connect with someone living who offers them an energetic space to cling to. I had called them in to get their attention, had presented myself to them, so some of them decided they wanted to “come along for the ride” when I left the park.

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It is as safe to travel in the spirit realms as it is to be in this earthly realm. Just as there are people on this planet we would rather avoid because we do not resonate with their energy, there are also entities in spirit world that we will not resonate with. It is good to discern when you do not feel good about the energy of something in spirit world. If you meet an entity and are not sure about it, demand that it tell you who it is, and ask if it is of the light. If it says yes and you believe it and feel good about it, you may then allow it work with you.

If you encounter something that you do not feel good about, trust your gut instinct. If you feel a tightening in your body, or other physical reactions like the hair raising on your neck, trust those instincts and be discerning. Take your time with any energies that you are not sure about, and do not let them work with you until you feel comfortable. Just like with people, give yourself time to get to know an energy that shows up. Sometimes we have an instant reaction to someone that is negative, but once we get to know them better we end up being great friends.

If an energy arrives that sets off your internal alarm, then question it or ask it to leave. You do not have to talk to, or work with, anything in spirit world unless you choose to.

This is your journey that you are creating, and you are in charge of who gets to work with you.

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HOW TO CREATE ENERGETIC PROTECTION There are numerous ways to create energetic protection. This chapter will list various examples and you may use these specific examples or create your own version of energetic protection.

A simple way to consistently create energetic protection is to visualize an orb of white or golden light surrounding your body at all times. Seeing yourself in this orb of protection is an easy and effective way to keep your energy field clear and protected during your daily life and while traveling in spirit world. Whenever you remember, visualize yourself in this orb of light and soon it will become a habit and you won't even have to think about it.

When going on a shamanic journey, it is important to call in Protectors and Guardians in order to empower energetic protection. This is an important practice before traveling into the realms or connecting with ancestors. The entities that came back with me from the West did not set off an “alarm.” Guardians and protectors are helpful not only because some entities are malevolent, but also because you may not notice them.

Guardians and protectors can look however you imagine them. Angelic warriors or guardian angels are powerful protectors. Ask them to wrap their wings around you and keep you safe. Mama Bear is a another powerful and protective energy. If you work with animals like lion or tiger or other strong creatures, you can ask them to protect you. You can also call in centaurs or other “mythical” creatures to guard you if you resonate with their energy.

Ask your guardians to create a circle of protection around you and feel the difference when they are there.

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Other animals that are helpful for energetic protection are armadillo, fox and skunk. Armadillo can empower you to have a thick skin so that things don’t get to you so much in your daily life. Fox medicine is great for blending in and being invisible, especially in social situations. Skunk is helpful if you would like to keep certain people away from you. Ask skunk to make a circle around you with his scent and notice how people will come toward you and then suddenly walk away.

If you are feeling the need for more intensive protection, you may call in multiple forms of protection and see them around you in layers, like bundling up for a cold day. Call in multiple forms of protection and use all your resources if you are feeling especially vulnerable.

Other examples you may add to your energetic protection are visualizing a shield-like dome that covers you which has a surface that deflects any negative energy that is directed toward you. You can top it all off with visualizing cloaking and invisibility up to as many miles as you believe you need it, even in the hundreds of thousands of miles.

The more you practice simple daily energetic protection, the more consistently you will have it. You can experience greater mental clarity as well as more physical energy, as you are not taking in energy from others that does not serve you.

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While energetic protection is helpful for creating healthy boundaries, it is not meant to be used as an aggressive attack on others, including those in spirit world.

Creating energetic boundaries is healthy. However, using these protections in order to attack or send negative energy to others is never advised, even if you feel someone is sending bad energy to you.

If you feel negative energy directed toward you, visualize a reflective dome around you that deflects this energy back to where it came from. Do not send any negative energy of your own toward another being. When you do this, you create unhealthy cords connecting you to the other person or entity and allow more negative energy to be directed toward you.

Love and light are the most powerful tools when encountering negative energy from another. Call in your guardians and protectors and let them keep you energetically protected. You do not need to fight any battles in order to remain clear; simply maintain a vibration of compassion and take the high road. You are a being of light and you are protected at all times.

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Chapter Four DIRECTIONS ~ SHAMANIC JOURNEY

“Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway.� ~ Mary Kay Ash Imagination is a vital key to accessing the spirit realms. Everyone can access their imagination, and everyone can experience a shamanic journey. This is not a meditation where you empty your mind of thoughts. This is about your mind being calm as well as active, as you will be utilizing your imagination to see your vision.

If you find yourself becoming distracted, simply breathe into your belly and re-focus. Be patient with yourself and know that random thoughts will flow through your mind. What is a random thought and what is part of your journey? Shamanic journeying is a balance of letting images come to you as well as allowing your imagination to create pictures in your head. If you start making a to-do list in your head, that is a distraction. Perhaps you are seeing restaurants in your mind because you are hungry; those kinds of images are probably random. When you relax and let images arise from an unconscious source, you will 29 | P a g e

experience the difference between a Spirit Guide and a random thought. If, for example, you see an animal in your mind, then this might be a guide for you. Allow your imagination to “flesh out” and create a full picture of that animal. Once you have the visual of your guide, you can then see and communicate with them in your mind. With practice, you will know and trust that they are present;.

On the other hand, you do not need to literally see a guide. You can sense the presence of a guide and hear them in your head without seeing them visually. Trust your own gifts of working in the spirit realms and be open to how you personally communicate with your spirit guides.

Communicating with spirit guides is different for each person. Our guides can communicate with us verbally, visually, intuitively, and even through symbols or colors.

Some people only see in colors and shapes. Gut instincts as well as feelings are other clues for communication. There are many ways for guides to share information with us. It depends on each person how they “see” in the realms. The more you journey, you will find your own gifts for connecting with your guides and the experience will get easier.

“The idea is not to engage our fantasies but to allow images to rise on their own from an unconscious source. This is the True Imagination of which the alchemists spoke.

Try it again at a later time if your images are being driven by wish-fulfillment or from instincts such as visions of a juicy hamburger if you have missed lunch. Part of the curse of modern man is that he confuses fantasy for the amazing power of True Imagination and thus relegates both to the psychic trash heap.” 1 30 | P a g e

When you begin journeying there may be times when you feel like you are making it all up and it feels silly.

Talking to an owl might feel funny at first. Having a daisy come up to you and start a conversation could feel odd if you have never experienced this before. Let yourself be open to what shows itself to you and be willing to have a new experience. Remember the youthful enthusiasm you had as a child and allow yourself to enjoy the experience, just like when you suspend your disbelief in order to enjoy a movie.

When that voice comes into your head telling you that you are just making it up, or that you are doing it wrong, remember that the voice you are hearing is usually ego. The skeptical ego tries to protect us, but more often than not it just keeps us stuck. Our egos can feel quite threatened when we step into our personal power.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of god that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated 31 | P a g e

from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ~ Marianne Williamson If there is a voice that tells you how this can’t possibly work, tell that voice “Thank you,” and continue moving into your journey anyway. When we do something new it can feel funny at first. No one else can see you talking to a lion or an angel in your mind, so why feel embarrassed? This is your own personal experience. Enjoy it!

Be willing to feel foolish in order to do the work. Be willing to appear foolish in order to heal. Powerfully changing your life in order to live with joy, peace, health and fulfillment is worth feeling silly from time to time. Once your life is flowing with grace, ease and beauty, you will wonder why you ever felt foolish at all.

Your power is in your vulnerability. Your power is in your willingness to acknowledge any fear of the unknown and move forward anyway. Your power is in your “true imagination” as you create your world. Begin your shamanic journey and step into your personal power.

"True imagination is not fanciful daydreaming; it is fire from heaven." ~ Ernest Holmes There are many ways to experience a shamanic journey. You can sit in quiet, or you can listen to a CD with drumming or music. You can sit inside or outside, any time of day or night. Ultimately, whatever is the most comfortable for you is the best way to create the space for your shamanic journey.

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When experiencing a shamanic journey, find a quiet place to sit and relax where you will not be disturbed. Make sure you are comfortable to sit for at least fifteen minutes.

How you sit is not important, what is important is that you are comfortable so that you will not be distracted by discomfort. You may sit on your bed, in a chair, on the floor, outside on the ground, on a couch, wherever you can have solitude and quiet.

Some people prefer to lie down when journeying. It can be easier to relax when lying down, however, this also makes it easier to fall asleep in the middle of a journey. It is alright if you fall asleep during a journey. When you wake up, try to remember if you had any dreams as Spirit can work with us in dream-time as well. At the very least, you got some much-needed rest. You may try to journey again immediately, but it is probably best to choose another time when you feel more rested.

There are CD’s of Native American music or drumming which can be used to facilitate your journey.

Native American drumming is wonderful for shamanic journeying. You can also listen to any music that feels calming and relaxing; music without lyrics is best. When listening to a CD while journeying, one can often be influenced by the energy of the music, which can then influence and shift where a journey goes, depending on the tone of the music and how it affects you emotionally.

Practice using music to journey as well as sitting in silence.

Fifteen minutes is a good starting place for learning to journey. Once you are more comfortable, you might find yourself journeying for longer periods of time. Remember that this is energetic work, so you might feel either tired or energized when you are finished. Allow yourself time to get used to doing this work. Let longer times of journeying come naturally.

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*Take time to center yourself and relax.

Breathe easily into your belly at least three times in order to ground yourself and calm your mind. Close your eyes when doing this and keep them closed for the remainder of your journey.

Breathing into your belly is a powerful way to ground your energy. It can be helpful to see your root chakra, the area at the base of your spine, energetically connected to the earth. You can visualize a cord of golden light going from your root area down into the earth for grounding and stabilization.

Breathing gently into your belly, your core, is also a good way to clear your mind. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth a few times, slowly. You only need to do this until you feel calm and centered, then you may breathe naturally for the duration of your journey.

Take time to let your mind become calm, and let the stress of the day release before focusing your energy on your journey. *Once you are grounded and relaxed, create energetic protection.

Visualize an orb of white or golden light surrounding your body at all times. Seeing yourself in this orb of protection before starting your shamanic journey is an important practice. It is always good to visualize your energy field clear and protected before traveling in the realms.

(See Energetic Protection, Chapter 3) *Create a portal to enter into spirit world.

Everyone enters the spirit realms in a different way.

Allow your imagination to show you the special way you will enter the spirit world. You may visualize a door, as 34 | P a g e

ornate or simple as you like. You might see curtains or a stairway, or an arch to walk through. Some people go into a cave and others say they have walked into an ocean or even a submarine. A student once told me his portal was a willow tree, as it had been a favorite of his as a child and he always felt safe and loved when with that tree.

Whatever resonates for you is your portal into the realms. It is important to create a portal that can be opened and closed, and clearly shows when you are entering and exiting spirit world. This empowers you to keep your energy clear in the earthly realm, leaving any energy that needs to stay in spirit world where it belongs.

place.

*Once in spirit world, find your way to your sacred

After you have passed through your portal or doorway into spirit world, let yourself be intuitively guided to a sacred place that is special to you. It is important that this place feel peaceful and safe. It can be similar to somewhere here on earth, or it can be completely new.

Sacred places can be by a lake, on a mountain, in a temple or garden, at the ocean, whatever resonates for you and feels good. This sacred space is the place where you can meet your animal totems, plant spirit guides, and all other spirit guides that you are here to work with. Sacred places are a wonderful, safe space to recharge your batteries. It is your special place that is filled with beauty and opens your heart.

It is good to keep your sacred place to yourself, allowing it to be truly sacred to you only. If you choose to share your experience of your sacred space with other people, be discerning, as it is truly holy ground that has been given to you as a gift so that you may do your good work in spirit world.

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When first learning to journey, it is helpful to go to your sacred space first, before meeting your guides. If a spirit guide shows up first, ask them to lead you to your sacred space.

Sometimes people who are new to journeying will get lots of information and visuals very quickly and find it difficult to slow down the journey. Beginning in your sacred space helps you to receive information with clarity, and at a pace that allows you to take it all in. As you practice journeying, it is not necessary to always meet your guides in your sacred space. *When you have found your sacred place, ask that the guides who would like to work with you for your highest and greatest good please step forward so you can meet them.

Be patient and let your guides come to you in their own time. You might meet one at a time, or they can arrive in a group. Be open to whatever or whoever shows up, as it could be various things such as an angel, an animal totem, an ancestor, or other archetypes and energies.

When a guide shows up, check in with yourself to see if they feel good to you. Your body will give you signals if something does not feel right. If something shows up and it gives you a bad feeling or frightens you, tell it to let you know who it is and ask it if it is of the light. If it does not answer you in a manner that relieves you, tell it to leave.

You do not have to work with anything that shows up if it does not feel good to you. This is your journey and your sacred space. Only what you choose is allowed into your sacred space.

Once a guide has shown up and you feel good about them, feel free to ask their name or other questions you might have. Sometimes our guides will take us elsewhere to 36 | P a g e

show us things. Often they will have gifts for us that bring healing, as well as empower us on our journey. It is a lovely, heart-opening practice to give them a gift as well. In spirit world you can imagine any type of gift you would like to give and it is always free. You may give your spirit guide a gift of thanks at any time that feels appropriate during your shamanic journey.

You can bring any issues to your guides. Whatever you seek, you can ask them. If you are in need of healing, or if you would like clarity around something, bring this to your guides. Perhaps you are having challenges in a relationship or at work, you can ask your guides for help with these situations.

Be aware that sometimes guides give us answers that do not necessarily seem clear. You may always ask for clarity. However, if you do not get a clear answer during your journey, be willing to sit for awhile with what they have shared. Often, their answers will become more clear over time.

It can also take practice to receive answers from your guides that seem clear, so don't be discouraged if you do not immediately get answers that make sense to you. Keep connecting with your guides in spirit world and you will find that your communication with them becomes more clear.

Also, be aware that your guides are working in the spirit realms and can see the big picture in a way that we do not. As an example, you could ask a question about your job and then get some direction as to how to heal a relationship with a family member. Though the two might not seem related to you, in spirit world they can see that when you heal your relationship, your job situation will shift. Be open to what you receive, and be willing to sit with it for a time.

You are free to ask your guides as many questions as they are willing to answer, and you may journey for as long 37 | P a g e

as you like. *Always thank your guides for being with you and sharing their guidance.

Gratitude is a powerful practice, so be sure to thank all the guides that came to work with you before you leave spirit world. This is a sign of respect, not to mention good manners. *Make your way back to the earthly realm through the portal you've created.

Remember to close the portal behind you, allowing the circle you have opened to remain energetically closed until you choose to go back to that place.

Closing energetic space is important when you are finished journeying. With the portal closed, you are free to go about your daily life without keeping the spirit realms open around you. *Once you return to the earthly realm, take a few minutes to acclimate to your surroundings.

Stretch your body a bit and take your time getting up.

Ground yourself before going about other tasks. Be sure to drink lots of water and keep yourself hydrated. This work is energetic work so take care of your body by drinking plenty of water.

Find time to rest, especially if you had a powerful experience. It is good to let the experience integrate, so nurture yourself as much as you can for the rest of the day.

If you need to do other things, that’s fine, simply be aware of your energy level and take care of yourself as you go about your day.

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Journeying before going to bed is helpful for letting the experience integrate while you sleep. However, if you find yourself very tired in the evening, find time to journey during the day when you can stay awake. *Journal about your shamanic journey.

It is a good practice to journal after you journey. This helps you remember all that happened in the journey. It is also a great reference to come back to and read later when you may have forgotten some of the details. More answers and information can also come to you while journaling.

When reading about past experiences, you might find an answer you had forgotten that you received. After you have practiced journeying for some time, your journal can be a wonderful reference for how you have progressed in your personal practice and in your life. “The Possible's slow fuse is lit By the Imagination.� ~ Emily Dickinson

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Footnotes: 1 - The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy for Personal Transformation, by Dennis William Hauck. (Penguin Compass, 1999) 40 | P a g e

Chapter Five ANIMAL TOTEMS

“Animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.” ~ George Eliot

Connecting with animal totems is generally the easiest place to start for those beginning their journeys into spirit world. We often resonate with animals more freely than with beings from realms that might seem otherworldly.

It also helps that we can see and interact with animals easily in this physical world. Plants are powerful totems as well, however they are not necessarily as cuddly and easy to connect with emotionally as animals.

By accessing the animal totems that are working with you, guiding and empowering you, much can be learned as to how to gain clarity, create healing and live the life you choose to be living. Getting to know your animal guides is a wonderful way to connect with your own gifts and your personal power. The animal totems that come to you while you journey are symbols of the power that you already possess, and they mirror for you how you can bring your gifts into this world and live your most authentic life.

Different lineages and schools of thought have 41 | P a g e

different ideas on what is an ally and what is a totem, and if they believe there is even a difference. Animal totems are guides that are with us throughout our life, empowering and guiding us. Animal allies are guides that come to aid us on our journey when we need their help.

As you meet different animal guides and work with them, you will come to know which ones are totems that will be with you always. You will also come to know which animals are showing up for you at that particular time in order help you with a specific situation. Allies can come to you for an afternoon or be with you for days and perhaps even longer, depending on the situation.

Getting to know your guides is like getting to know a friend. Some friends will be in your life forever, and some are with you during certain transitions, challenges or adventures, and then you may not see them for a long time.

For example, frog will come to me to remind me to sing, and will empower me during a detox or a cleanse. However, frog is not a totem that I work with on a regular basis.

When you meet an animal guide, you may ask if it is your totem. However, it is best to simply appreciate the guidance and love you are receiving, trusting that you will know what your relationship is in time. Ultimately, all animals are our totems and our guides because we are all one energy, so don’t get too hung up on who is a totem and who is an ally.

Animal totems come into our lives in many ways.

They can come to us is through gifts that are given to us, like collectible figurines or animal-themed decorations. Many children receive toys that are totems. One of my earliest childhood memories is of my beloved stuffed animals.

There was a teddy bear, of course, and an orange and black striped tiger, and a wonderful pinkish-purple hippopotamus with little flowers on her neck. I loved them so much, and was quite sure that when I was asleep or out of the room they came alive. I talked to them frequently because I knew 42 | P a g e

they could hear me and they were my friends.

According to Steven Farmer, Ph.D., in his book Animal Spirit Guides (which I use consistently to gather information on animal totems and recommend it as a reference), here are some of the traits of a person with Bear as a totem: *You’re a powerful healer, whether your focus is physical, emotional, or spiritual healing. *You’re assertive and confident, with a strong presence. *You need periods of being reclusive for your creative spark, and typically emerge from these periods with new ideas and projects.

Tiger has some interesting totem energy as well: *You’re naturally clairvoyant, with the gift of prophecy that becomes stronger and more evident as you age. *You’re a healer, and due to your strong tactile sensitivities, your best vehicle for healing is performing some kind of bodywork. *You’re solitary and nocturnal and do your best work at night.

And then we have Hippopotamus energy: *You’re able to know what’s beneath the surface of things and people and can get to the truth quickly. *You honor your truth, speak it readily, and expect others to do the same.

When the adults in my life gifted these animals to me, 43 | P a g e

they were also gifting me with the symbolic gifts of those totems, though they did not realize it. When I read what these totems are about, I definitely resonate with each one and can see how it has worked in my life.

There are other clues as to your animal totems. Are there certain animals you feel drawn to? Do you have a collection of frogs or turtles or some other animal? Do you find that you always notice the crows wherever you go?

These are also signs that you are working with the medicine of those animals, or that those animals would like to work with you.

All animal totems bring us powerful gifts. Be open to the different animals that may appear to you. Do not have expectations of what kind of animal you would prefer to work with. If a mouse comes to you, it brings equally powerful medicine as a horse. The medicine they bring is simply different. If an octopus appears to you, it is bringing you exactly what you need in this moment, even if you do not live near an ocean or know anything about octopus.

Connecting with animal totems empowers us to be more present. When we pay attention to the animals in our daily lives and begin to notice how they interact with each other and with us, we are learning to be more aware of our surroundings and the many ways that Spirit can speak to us through animals. Paying attention to these totems helps us be more intentional in our actions as well. The next time a deer runs across the road in front of your car, it may be telling you to slow down and drive more carefully; it might also be running in front of you to get your attention because it has symbolic gifts it would like to share with you.

Pay attention to your surroundings. Notice the squirrels in your neighborhood, and the birds that are flying above as you drive to work. When taking a walk, look twice to see if that bird is a turkey vulture or a hawk. Give thanks for those groundhogs on the side of the highway. Be amazed and delighted at the many gifts that are brought to 44 | P a g e

us each and every day, through the power of animals, when we are open to receive.

DIRECTIONS ~ CONNECTING WITH ANIMAL TOTEMS *When you are ready to connect with your Animal Totems, find a quiet place to sit and relax where you will not be disturbed. Make sure you are comfortable to sit for at least 15 minutes. *Breathe easily into your belly a few times in order to ground yourself and calm your mind. Remember, this is not a meditation where you empty your mind of thoughts. This is about your mind being calm as well as active as you will be utilizing your imagination to see your vision. *Once you are grounded and calm, ask for energetic protection. Visualize an orb of white or golden light all around your body keeping you safe at all times. *Next, open the doorway/portal that you have created to enter the spirit realms.

space.

*Once in spirit world, find your way to your sacred

*Now that you are in your sacred space, ask your 45 | P a g e

animal totems to make themselves known to you by stepping forward so you can see them. Be patient and relax as you let them come to you. Be open to whatever animals show up, without any expectation of who will be there to work with you.

During your journey you might connect with one animal, or perhaps more; whoever shows up is exactly who you are meant to work with at this time. *Once you meet your animal guides, ask questions.

You may consider your questions before you journey, or simply ask what comes to you once you meet them. You may ask them anything. Know that even though we will almost always get an answer, it may not be what we were expecting and it may not even make sense in that moment.

Sometimes we are given colors or feelings and can not necessarily interpret them in that moment. Go with the answer that is given, and feel free to ask them for more details if you do not understand. Be open to what you receive, and be willing to sit with it for a time after you journey, allowing the information to integrate.

Communicating with animal totems can happen in different ways. There are times when totems do not speak and they simply show us things or take us places we are meant to see. At other times animal totems will speak to us in the same way we speak to other humans. More than likely, you will hear in your mind what your totem is saying whether you actually see their mouth move or not. *Once you have asked the questions you would like to ask, feel free to give a gift to your animal totems, as well as ask if they have any gifts for you. At times, your guides will hand you something, and at other times the information you receive, or healing that you experience, is the gift.

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*When you are finished with your journey, be sure to thank your guides for being with you and make your way back to your portal and close the door of spirit world behind you when you return. *Journal about your journey so that you have a reference for later and can remember the details. *Drink plenty of water and allow yourself time to rest as you practice shamanic journeying.

DEEPER CONNECTION WITH ANIMAL SPIRITS Totems offer us energetic and symbolic gifts which can also be referred to as their 'medicine'. The physical medicine of animal totems is often found in nature. I have found feathers, butterfly wings, the shells of cicadas, a turtle shell, a snake skin, and even a squirrel tail. When I find these gifts, I always ask them if they would like to come with 47 | P a g e

me before bringing them home. If you intuitively feel that it is a gift for you, then take it with you. If you feel that it is something that is meant to stay where it is, you may honor it by saying thank you and then leave it be.

When I feel that something is being gifted to me from Spirit, I will bring it home and put it on my altar to honor what I have received. Whether I leave the offering where I found it or bring it home with me, I will also look up the energetic symbolism of that particular animal in order to see what information is being shared with me.

I am very wary about buying pieces of animals in a store. Finding a turtle shell in nature is one thing, but for a turtle to be killed so that someone can have its shell is cruel and wrong. I do not believe that a rabbit’s foot on a key chain that you buy in the drugstore is good medicine for anyone. However, if you find a person who honors the spirit of the animal and has antlers or a shell or something to offer from an animal that has been respected ceremonially, then it is up to your discretion as to whether to purchase it or not.

Once you have met your animal totems and allies, physically connecting with an animal is a powerful way to connect more deeply with its spirit medicine. Many people have brought animal medicine into their homes through their pets. Different people resonate with different medicines and some people have dogs and cats, while others have fish or snakes, hamsters or ferrets. There are many domesticated animals that we can connect with their medicine safely.

Wild animals are not necessarily wanting you to pet them and bring them home, however there are ways to connect with their medicine as well. There is a nature center in the town where I live that has many wild animals that were brought there to be saved or rehabilitated. Many of these animals were wounded in the wild and would not have survived if they had not been brought to the center to 48 | P a g e

be taken care of. This has been a wonderful resource for seeing wild animals up close that we would not normally be able to see. There are also national parks and preserves that have many wild animals that people are allowed to view. I much prefer this to seeing animals in cages.

Drawing pictures of an animal in order to connect with the details of how they look, and finding and printing wildlife photos found in magazines or online, are both good ways to keep their medicine around you. Put drawings and photos of your animal totems in your room or office, and on an altar or other sacred place in your home to honor their power and medicine.

If you are working with an animal that lives in the woods, find time to sit in the woods and commune with the energy of that animal totem. If it is an animal that prefers the water, sit near the body of water it lives in and connect with the area where this totem loves to be. If you have an animal totem that lives in an area that you can not get to, you can do a shamanic journey to travel in your mind to that place and feel the energy of the area where they live. I have never been to a jungle in this realm, however, I have traveled to the jungle in spirit world many times to work with jaguar medicine. Whatever is the animal’s habitat is an excellent way to connect with that animal’s energy and spend time in its natural surroundings, either literally or through shamanic journeying.

Another way to connect with the spirit of an animal is to examine its diet. Eating habits let you get to know an animal totem better by learning how they nurture and sustain themselves. If you are feeling connected to koala bear, for example, then it is good to look at what it eats.

Koalas like to eat leafy things, and sometimes it can be a sign to take a look at your diet and eat more leafy greens and herbs.

Some animals, like a hawk, eat rodents, snakes and even other birds. This is not necessarily a totem asking you 49 | P a g e

to eat like it does. However, another way to learn more about your totems is to examine what their prey is, or if they have prey at all. For example, if you are working with hawk medicine, read about the medicine of hawk’s prey and see what you can learn from them as well. Working with both totems is a way to create balance in your shamanic practice.

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Chapter Six PLANT SPIRIT TOTEMS

“O Tiger-lily,” said Alice, addressing herself to one that was waving gracefully about in the wind, “I wish you could talk!”

“We can talk,” said the Tiger-lily, “when there’s anybody worth talking to.”

Alice was so astonished that she could not speak for a minute, it quite seemed to take her breath away.

At length, as the Tiger-lily only went on waving about, Alice spoke again, in a timid voice– almost in a whisper.

“And can all the flowers talk?”

“As well as you can,” said the Tiger-lily. “And a great deal louder.”

“It isn’t manners for us to begin, you know,” said the Rose, “and I really was wondering when you’d speak.” ~ Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll

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In my first year of journeying with my guides, a book about plant spirit medicine came into my life and I was intrigued by the concept. I had spent much time connecting with guides that were animals and other beings of light, however, up to that point, I had not connected in spirit world with plants very often.

About six months before deciding to connect with my plant spirit allies, I had been told about an intriguing plant called ayahuasca. I had heard stories of shamanic ceremonies using this powerful medicine to journey to the realms and receive visions and healing.

Ayahuasca is a jungle medicine from South America.

The ayahuasca vine is mixed with the leaf of the chacruna plant, creating a powerful mixture that empowers the person who drinks it to experience visions and often journey into other realms.

I was very intrigued by ayahuasca and also very intimidated by the stories I had heard of people’s experiences with her. I had been told that she is powerful medicine and that she allows us to enter our perceived dark places and work with our “shadow” side.

My concern with connecting with my plant totems was that I would go to spirit world and meet ayahuasca and that she would be my guide, someone I would work with repeatedly. I assumed this meant I would need to go to a ceremony in the jungle and drink her medicine regularly.

Because of the stories I had heard, I was not feeling excited by this possibility. I decided to go looking for my plant spirit totems anyway.

I had been working on occasion with a black jaguar guide when journeying to spirit world. This black jaguar would often shape-shift into an indigenous South American man and then back into his cat form. I worked with him regularly and he taught me many things when I went on shamanic journeys.

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Connecting with my black jaguar guide, I asked him to please take me to my plant spirit totem. He took me into a beautiful, lush jungle. We seemed to walk for a long time through dense bush and foliage and eventually we arrived at a small clearing. In the middle of this clearing was a group of plants with white flowers. They were growing together in a bunch and it was a large group of them.

They were beautiful flowers. The leaves of these plants reminded me of a lily, but they did not look like lilies I had seen in the United States. The stems holding the flowers were about a foot high, and at the top was a small white flower.

I asked my guide what kinds of flowers these were, and he very matter-of-factly pointed to my laptop and said, “Look in your box.” Information can come to us in all sorts of ways, so never discount modern technology, even when experiencing a shamanic journey.

Returning from spirit world I turned on my computer and began looking for this sweet flower I had seen in the jungle. I looked for quite a while and was getting tired of researching. At the time, I did not know what ayahuasca looked like, so I decided to look her up to see if she was this white flower I had encountered.

I found a website listing various plants and their constituents, as well as having their pictures with the information. I found ayahuasca and read about her and looked at her picture, realizing quickly that she was not the plant I had encountered in my journey. Though relieved that she was not my plant totem, I still had no idea what that flower was. I was staring at the computer screen, ready to give up, when I suddenly realized that the background “wallpaper” of that particular page was covered in this exact white flower that I had seen in my shamanic journey.

I immediately began scrolling through the list of plants from the website. I was determined to go through the 53 | P a g e

entire ten-page alphabetical list to find the picture that matched the wallpaper with my flower totem on it.

Backing up to the beginning of the A’s, I began to scroll down slowly and there she was, on the first page. Her name is Amazon Lily. She is native to Central and South America. Her flowers resemble daffodil flowers, are sweetly scented, and borne in groups of four.

I learned that Amazon Lily is a plant that empowers healers to have confidence in their work. Years ago, when I was introduced to her, I was seeking guidance and confidence to bring my gifts to the world. Amazon Lily empowered me to begin working privately with clients as well as leading workshops.

The website where I found Amazon Lily has her listed as follows: AMAZON LILY [T] Eucharis grandiflora (white) Amaryllidaceae, Amaryllis Family Psyche: For spiritual people having self-worth issues that impair the ability to manifest highest truth and beauty; shifts attention from flaws to miracles, from weakness to strength and grace.

Spirit: Unity and strength of spirit; purity, devotion. Helps keep focus on desire and intention for healing and service.

Healers: take before beginning work, to clarify the aura.

Combine with Rhodochiton, Lotus for clearing and grounding before working with others.

When connected with one's purpose for incarnating, it is much easier to serve and heal. 1 This was the beginning of my experience with plant spirit medicine. Since then I have spent many years in the forests where I live, learning from trees, flowers and other plants. I work with flower essences and have studied 54 | P a g e

herbalism in order to create a stronger connection with the plant kingdom. I also supplement my diet with tinctures and teas harvested locally.

One of the most exciting gifts of connecting with plant totems is the ability to work with their medicine energetically. Creating a deeper relationship with the plant kingdom can teach us to connect in such a way that we can ask for their help energetically when we need a particular medicine. Through shamanic journeying, you may call in the energy of a plant and experience its healing affects, even when you do not have it with you to ingest into your physical body. This allows us to experience healing from the medicine of plants at any time, which opens up a world of possibilities.

DIRECTIONS ~ CONNECTING WITH PLANT SPIRIT TOTEMS Connecting with your plant spirit totems is very much like finding your animal totems. Once you are comfortable connecting with your animal guides, ask to meet your plant totems. If there is a plant that you are drawn to, you may ask your animal guides to lead you to that plant and speak with it. Plants share a wealth of gifts that are different from the animal kingdom and they are strong allies to work with to facilitate healing. *Find a quiet place to sit and relax where you will not be disturbed. Make sure you are comfortable to sit for at least fifteen minutes.

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*Breathe easily into your belly a few times in order to ground yourself and calm your mind. Remember, this is not a meditation where you empty your mind of thoughts. This is about your mind being calm as well as active as you will be utilizing your imagination to see your vision. *Once you are grounded and calm, create energetic protection. Visualize an orb of white or golden light surrounding your body. *Next, open the doorway/portal that you have created to enter the spirit realms.

space.

*Once in spirit world, find your way to your sacred

*Now that you are in your sacred space, ask one of your spirit guides or one of your animal totems to come forward so that they can help you. Once you have connected with a guide, ask them to lead you to meet a plant that is your totem or ally. Follow them to find this medicine.

During your journey, you might connect with one plant or several; whoever shows up is exactly who you are meant to work with at this time. Let go of any expectations of the plant guide that will come to you and remain open to the medicine that you receive. Just like animal totems, all plants carry powerful medicine, whether it is a rose or an herb, a tree or a vine, they all have equally powerful gifts. *Ask questions of the plant(s) that come to you. You 56 | P a g e

may ask them anything. Know that even though we will almost always get an answer, it may not be what we were expecting and it may not even make sense in that moment.

Sometimes we are given colors or feelings and can not necessarily interpret them in that moment. Go with the answer that is given, and feel free to ask them for more details if you do not understand. Be open to what you receive, and be willing to sit with it for a time after you journey if the message you receive is not totally clear in that moment. *When working with plants it is good to ask them how they would like to work with you. Is it an herb that can be tinctured or made into a tea? Is this a plant you can grow in your yard or in your home? If so, ask this plant totem if they would like you to grow them or use them as medicine. *When you are finished asking questions, feel free to give a gift to your new guide and you may ask if they have any gifts for you. *At the end of your journey, be sure to thank your guides for being with you, and make your way back to your portal, closing the door of spirit world behind you when you return. *Journal about your journey so that you have a reference for later and can remember the details. Drink plenty of water and nurture yourself.

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DEEPER CONNECTION WITH PLANT SPIRITS There are many ways to connect with the spirit of plants. Getting to know a plant is like getting to know a human friend. The more time you spend with that friend, the better you will know them and learn what they are about. Research to gain information about the plants that you meet when journeying.

The most immediate way to get to know a plant is to examine it. What kind of environment does it thrive in?

Does it grow in bunches or alone? Is there a big, showy flower? Is there any flower at all? Is it fragrant? Does it have thorns? Pay attention to the details of a plant, how its leaves grow, how its stem grows, how it displays itself to the world. These are all signs of the energy of this plant Where is a plant from? Is it native to that region or was it introduced from another place? Notice where a plant lives. Does it like the woods or open fields? Does it like dry areas or wet places? Is it a shade lover or a sun worshiper?

Can you find it in town or only in the country? Just like getting to know a friend, spend time with this plant. Go and sit with it where it grows, its home, and get to know the surroundings.

What does this plant do? Does it create food for insects? Does it host bugs or other life forms on it? Is it edible to humans? Is it used as an herbal medicine or a culinary spice? Is it a remedy for something? Can it be used to make an essence? What else does it offer, for nature and for humans?

Draw pictures of the plant to really take in the details of how it grows and its special markings. Take photos of the plant from lots of different and creative angles.

Depending on the plant, you may harvest it and dry it 58 | P a g e

to make tea, or to keep in your home. Is it a plant that makes itself available as a spice for us to cook with? Is it inedible or poisonous?

Ingesting a plant you are working with, assuming it is edible, is another way to connect with the energy of that plant. Some plants can be made into tea, others are lovely to dry and hang in your home for fragrance or decoration.

Once you know your plant totems, planting them in a garden, or in a pot, and taking care of them is a tangible way to create a relationship.

As you create deeper relationships with plant totems, practice calling in their medicine without ingesting them.

For example, if you have a headache, lie down and ask the medicine of peppermint, and other herbs that are helpful for headaches, to come to you and bring relief. You may journey into spirit world in order to connect with these healing herbs and ask them to help with your headache. Lie quietly and allow the medicine of these plants to come to you energetically, and soon your headache will subside.

This is only one example of the numerous ways we can work with the healing medicine of plants energetically.

TREES When was the last time you really noticed the trees in your yard or in your neighborhood, other than to mow around them or drive by? What kinds of trees grow in your neighborhood? Are there trees near your home that create shade, keeping your home cool in the summer?

Connecting with trees is empowering and healing. I highly recommend hugging a tree whenever you have the opportunity! Trees are amazing and so incredibly loving.

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Every time I hug a tree, I energetically feel the tree hug me right back.

The best time to get to know the names of trees is when they have leaves. In the winter, when there are no leaves, they must be identified by their bark and this is more challenging than identifying them by their leaves. Spring and summer is a great time to get to know the trees in your area. The fall can be a beautiful time to learn about trees and see what colors their leaves change to, if they change at all.

Even if you do not know what kind of tree you are looking at, you can still connect energetically with it. Take time to sit and lean against a tree, taking in the energy of that tree and the area surrounding you.

While sitting with that tree, be quiet and still, and look around imagining all the things this tree must have seen in its life, sitting in this one spot and not going anywhere. Think of all the people and animals and seasons and plants this amazing tree has seen come and go, while it stands, quietly and peacefully, like a sentinel.

When walking on a trail, I often find two trees across from each other on either side of the trail. When I see this it feels like a doorway, a portal that these two trees are holding. If I am on that trail for the first time, I will stop and ask the two trees that make up this doorway for permission to pass into their woods. It feels like a gesture of respect for the forest and the energetic beings that live there.

I also like to share energy with the trees. To do this, stand in front of a tree and make sure the bottoms of your feet are completely on the ground. Put both of your hands on the trunk of a large tree, or you can connect with the branches and leaves of a smaller tree.

Imagine a flow of energy creating a circle between you and the tree. If you would like to open your heart chakra, feel the energy of the tree flowing into your hands, into your heart area, and up and out your third eye (between 60 | P a g e

your eyebrows), and back to the tree.

If you would like to bring more energy to your third eye, imagine the flow of energy coming from the tree directly into the area between your eyebrows, then down into your heart area. Next, feel the energy flowing down your arms, through your fingertips and back to the tree.

Once it gets to the tree, the circle continues as the energy flows from the tree back into your third eye.

You can do this exercise in many different ways. For grounding, I feel the energy of the tree come into the top of my head through my crown chakra. I then feel it flow down my body, out my feet into the earth, back up into the tree, and from the tree back into the crown of my head.

You can focus the energy flow on any part of your body where you would like to receive earth energy. The trees are powerful conduits for mama earth energy and this is a wonderful way to experience their gifts. While doing these exercises, breathe deeply and gently into your belly, and remember to thank the tree that is sharing its love with you.

RESPECT FOR THE PLANT KINGDOM There are many beautiful plants and trees offering us numerous flowers and gifts. Before taking a gift from a plant, try to remember to ask the plant first. It is a sign of respect for the plant kingdom to ask permission before picking or cutting something. When picking berries, or snipping basil, for example, I will thank the bushes and the plants for feeding me. I will tell them what I am going to do with their bountiful harvest, sharing with them the love and gratitude I feel.

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There have been times when I am harvesting herbs in the woods, and I will check in to make sure that what I am picking wants to come with me. There are times when I will hear a plant say that it wants to stay, and I honor that request. There is plenty for all of us, we do not need to pick everything that comes our way. It is good to leave some behind as a gift for mama earth, as well as allowing plants to re-seed for the next year.

If you find a plant that is rare, do not pick it. Use common sense and thoughtfulness before cutting a flower or picking herbs. Be sure you are not on private property or in an area where it is not permitted to harvest plants.

Footnotes: 1 http://www.hummingbirdremedies.com http://hummingbirdremedies.com/flowers_a.html 62 | P a g e

Chapter Seven CONNECTING WITH OTHER NATURE SPIRITS

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.� ~ The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint Exupery

STONES & CRYSTALS

When connecting with stones, a great place to start is where you live. Are you in an area that has mostly pebbles or large boulders? Are there river rocks where you live or large flat dessert stones? Is there quartz nearby? Notice and pay attention to all the different kinds of stones around you; their size, shape, color, and even the shapes they create together.

If you are walking or hiking and a stone catches your eye, take time and look at it. Do not remove the stone or take it with you unless you are given permission by the 63 | P a g e

stone itself. Ask if it would like to come with you and sit quietly to hear an answer. If the stone does want to be with you, put it in a place of honor in your home, on an altar or a sacred space. Show the stone, and all gifts from nature, respect for the medicine it brings you.

Crystals are very powerful energies to connect with.

There are many books on crystals and stones with helpful information on their properties for guidance and healing.

You can also find beautiful and interesting crystals in many shops. Before buying one, find the one that most resonates for you and ask if it would like to come home with you. You can do this silently, in your head, so that you do not feel selfconscious. This is a good practice as sometimes stones are not meant to go with us and then the energy is different.

Years ago when I was in a healing session with a client, a quartz shared with me that all crystals were once in liquid form, and they became crystallized in order to incarnate in this world and do their work here. This particular crystal showed me that humans were once in an energetically fluid form as well, and we crystallized to come into human form and walk our path, too.

Crystals are wonderful tools for energy work and healing modalities, as well as clearing and empowering the vibration of a person or place.

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FAERIES Being in the woods is the best way to connect with faeries. They love areas with some sunshine, but not burning hot; areas that have moss and ferns are good places to look for faeries. They are also often found near old trees.

In order to feel them around you, one must connect to subtle energies. Faeries do not generally make themselves known unless they choose to, and they are careful about who they allow to find them. I believe this is so they can keep themselves protected. Unfortunately, humans do not have a great track record for how we treat things that are fragile and magical, so faeries are wise to be careful about showing themselves.

I was hiking a trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway for about a month before finally meeting three faeries there. It was a beautiful day in late Spring, and while walking a trail that I know very well, I noticed a Pink Lady’s Slipper flower I had never see before.

These beautiful flowers from the orchid family can take many years to grow from a seed to a flower. They can live anywhere from 20-100 years, but usually only flower 1020 times. Because of this, Pink Lady’s Slipper is a very magical flower. They can be hard to find in the wild because people often collect them, though they are rarely transplanted with success. They need a special fungus in order to grow, and when removed from their habitat, they tend to die.

Like faeries, Pink Lady’s Slipper flowers are beautiful and delicate and need to be appreciated and respected for their fragile power. This particular day as I hiked through the woods, a Pink Lady’s Slipper allowed me to see her. I 65 | P a g e

felt honored that she trusted me to sit with her. As I spoke with her, three female faeries came to me and began to share with me about these flowers. They told me about the area we were in and the relationship between the faeries and Pink Lady's Slipper.

I said to the Pink Lady’s Slipper that I was sad that she was alone and did not have other flowers like her around. She said, “Oh, I’m not alone. Look.”

Looking around I suddenly realized I was surrounded by five or six other Pink Lady’s Slippers that I had not seen up until that moment when they revealed themselves. I was so grateful to be gifted that connection with the flowers and the faeries.

If you would like to connect with the faerie kingdom, find time to hike in a wooded area. You do not need to go deep into the woods to find these magical creatures. It is important, however, to be patient and sit with the trees and forest If you are not able to be in the woods to find the faeries, there are ways to entice them to visit you where you live. Faeries love beauty and they are attracted to shiny, pretty things. You may hang a crystal prism in a window that creates reflected rainbows, and you may also set up an indoor fountain. Both of these are attractive energies for faeries. However, it is not necessary to buy things to entice them. Faeries are creatures of nature. Create a magical sacred space in your home or yard that has flowers and gifts that you find in nature.

Let the faeries know that you would like to connect with them, and give them time to get to know you. Bring them gifts of fresh or dried flowers and herbs, stones, shells or anything you find pretty. Honor them with your gifts and your willingness to let them come to you in their own time. When they are ready, you will feel them around you and create your personal connection with them.

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Chapter Eight THE AKASHIC RECORDS

Akashic Records: The akashic records (akasha is a Sanskrit word meaning "sky", "space" or "ether") is a term used in theosophy (and Anthroposophy) to describe a compendium of mystical knowledge encoded in a non-physical plane of existence. These records are described as containing all knowledge of human experience and the history of the cosmos.

They are metaphorically described as a library; other analogies commonly found in discourse on the subject include a "universal supercomputer" and the "Mind of God". People who describe the records assert that they are constantly updated automatically and that they can be accessed through astral projection or when someone is placed under deep hypnosis. The concept was popularized in the theosophical movements of the 19th century and is derived from Hindu philosophy of Samkhya. It is promulgated in the Samkhya philosophy that the akashic records are automatically recorded in the atoms of akasha ("air" or "aether"), one of the five types of atoms visualized as existing in the atomic theory of Ancient India. ~ Wikipedia online

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“Study the past if you would divine the future.” ~ Confucius

Standing in the kitchen of my friend’s house, he asked if I had heard of the akashic records.

I said, “No, what are they?”

According to him, the akashic records were a collection of information encompassing the lives of all people, past, present and future. One could see the past or future experiences of every human through these records.

The akashic records held the collective conscious of each person who had ever lived, was currently living, and all those who will live in the future.

Accessing these records had a catch. The ability to access the akashic records had to be transmitted to you by an Akashic Master who had already obtained this knowledge.

According to my friend, if you worked with the akashic records without training and without receiving this transmission . . .

“What would happen?” I asked.

He could not say, exactly, as he dramatically sipped his tea. He had been warned it might be bad.

I was intrigued by the concept of the akashic records.

I was not intrigued, however, by the $1,500 price tag for the multiple workshops that were offered by the “Akashic Master” my friend had heard of.

I spent the next few days wondering about the 68 | P a g e

akashic records. They seemed so untouchable and mysterious. Researching online allowed me to gain a better understanding of what people believe the records to be. I do not remember finding any information regarding the pox of bad-luck that might befall a person who connected with the records without training and “permission.” I decided to go find these records in spirit world and see for myself.

I had been working for some time with a beautiful, sleek and powerful black jaguar guide. He would often shape-shift into human form and then become a jaguar again. He is the same guide who empowered me to connect with my first plant totem.

Sitting on my bed and journeying into spirit world, I found my black jaguar guide and asked for his help. I told him I wanted to know more about the akashic records and how to work with them. I asked him if I could learn to access them and if it was alright for me to do so without training.

Black jaguar started walking and let me know that I was to follow him. We walked into a jungle, where we often go in order to do work in the realms.

Deep in the jungle, he led me to a small set of steps leading down to a platform. Though not yet able to see the akashic records, I intuitively knew that they were on this platform. In order to step onto the platform, however, I would need to open a red velvet rope in front of me. This red rope was just like you see at the entrance of chic nightclubs. This struck me as funny, especially since I had been told there was VIP-only access to these records.

I stood at this velvet rope, not sure if I should open it or not. My jaguar guide does not move his mouth when speaking to me, so I “felt” him ask me if I was ready to meet the akashic records. Because of my friend’s warning about the necessity of training before accessing the records, I was a bit nervous and hesitated.

I asked, “Am I ready?”

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Black jaguar asked, “Are you?”.

I said, “Yes, I am,” though I really had no clue if I was worthy of this endeavor.

He motioned to the rope with a nod of his head. I unhooked and opened the thick red velvet rope and stepped onto the platform. Because I can be a stickler for detail, I remember hooking the rope back once I had stepped through. I then turned and faced the akashic records.

I knew, intuitively, that I was seeing and experiencing my own version of the akashic records, and that they could look different to other people. This understanding has since been confirmed as I have empowered clients to access the records and witness their personal version of them.

Each person’s idea of the records is similar, however, our visual pictures and symbolic representations of them are a bit different according to the individual.

If you prefer to connect with the akashic records on your own before reading how they appear to me, please skip ahead a few paragraphs and you can come back to read how I see them at a later time.

When I turned to look upon the akashic records, I was thrilled, and then a bit underwhelmed when realizing I was not going to be overcome by fire or eaten by a giant sphinx.

What I saw before me was a beautiful and intricate lectern made of light, that held upon it a large book made also 70 | P a g e

entirely of light. The book was open and I gazed at it for a moment.

Not quite sure what to do, I introduced myself to the akashic records. I told the records my name and that I would like to learn how to work with them. After saying this, a flowing river of light rose out of the book and began to pour over me. Once the light had fully engulfed me, I was gently lifted up and pulled into the book.

Deciding to dive in head first, I went into the light and then found myself in a yard walking toward a house. I was a bit confused as I realized that I was not in my body.

Looking out through the eyes of someone else, I looked down to see that I was in a male form. I did not recognize this body, yet it felt safe to be here, so I continued to walk toward the door of the house.

Seeing through his eyes, there was a small yard with a few toys in it, and it was a warm, sunny day. The house and the toys were from the 1950’s or 1960’s era, and it was a very simple, middle-class home.

The man walked into the house and called out to his family, letting them know that he was home. He bent down to hug and kiss his daughter, and said hello and kissed his wife. They then sat down to dinner.

This was someone else’s reality. I was in this male body, seeing through his eyes, and he did not know that I was there. I was not doing the talking, even though I was in his body and could hear him having a conversation with his family while they ate dinner.

The experience was very exciting and completely surreal. It felt like this journey only lasted a few minutes, but it could have been much longer according to earthly time.

The records shared with me that this was practice for connecting into the life experiences of others. I was being downloaded directions and trained in how to work with the records.

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When I felt that it was time, I left the man’s body, removed myself from the story, and returned back through the book of light to stand once again in front of the akashic records. Black jaguar and I left the same way we came; through the velvet rope, up the stairs, into the jungle and back to my portal in order to come back to the earthly realm.

I continued to connect with the akashic records regularly. Black jaguar guide would lead me to the stairs in the jungle, to the red velvet rope that enclosed the book of light.

After practicing stepping into random and peaceful lives, I asked the records to show me previous lives that I had lived. It was during these journeys into my previous lives that I truly began to learn how I was to work with the infinite akashic records.

During one powerful journeying experience with the akashic records, I found myself running through the woods in the body of a young Native American woman. I soon realized that she was being chased.

By this time I had learned, through practice with the records, how to come into a lifetime in someone’s body and then step out of their body energetically so that I, as myself, could watch the story. Stepping out of the person’s body empowers me to see the entire story from an objective viewpoint and gather more information.

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When I stepped out of her body, I saw that she was being chased by a group of white men. There were seven or eight of them, some of whom were carrying rifles while others had dogs.

The young woman started crossing a river that came up to her waist. Crossing this deep river slowed her down so that the group of men were able to get close enough to take aim at her with their guns.

After firing a few bullets that missed her, one of the men shot and hit her in the right shoulder blade, causing her to lunge forward and fall into the water face-first. I am not sure if she was shot a second time. The information that was intuited to me is that she was exhausted, and the combined trauma of the chase and the bullet wound were just too much. She did not die from the gunshot; she actually died from drowning as she was not able to pull herself up out of the water and keep going.

The story of this young woman resonated with me as I had experienced consistent issues with pain in my right shoulder blade area, specifically where she was shot. Up to that point, I also had a fear of drowning, which I did not understand since I am a capable swimmer who loves the water.

Watching this drama unfold was very upsetting. I ran over to her and pulled her out of the river so she would not drown, and carried her body to the river bank. I was furious at the gang of men who had chased her with dogs and shot her in the back.

As I laid her on the ground on her back, I heard someone speaking to me. It was the akashic records, and I heard very clearly, “That is not how it works.�

The records explained that I was not there to save her and it was not my responsibility to do so. I was told that my work was to forgive the men who had chased and murdered her, and to allow her life to end the way it was meant to.

Sitting next to her lifeless body, I did not know if I 73 | P a g e

would be able to do what was being asked. Holding her and crying, I very reluctantly took her body back to the river and placed her gently in the water, face-down, as I had found her.

Her body lay in the water, and gently her spirit rose up and hovered above me. She thanked me for being with her when she died so that she did not die alone. Smiling sweetly, she was leaving her body in peace instead of exhausted terror. I felt so much love for her in that moment as the tears streamed down my face.

I turned and saw that the group of men who had been chasing her could see me. They did not seem to see her spirit body that had risen from her earthly form. This was my first past-life journey in which I learned that I could be seen by other people in the vision.

The men were kneeling in awe and fear, and seemed to perceive me as an angel. I decided to embody this perception in order to speak to them, and I saw myself as a beautiful and bright angel of light. (Shape-shifting in spirit world is natural, allowing us to change into any form we can envision).

I lovingly told the men that they were wrong to have murdered this young woman. They were crying and asking for forgiveness, and I realized that healing was happening for them as well as for my past-life incarnation as a young Native American woman. In that moment, the akashic records showed me that healing can happen for all parties involved in a past-life story.

I could feel that the hearts of these men had changed, and they said that they would no longer murder Native Americans. Two angelic beings came to the young woman and accompanied her spirit peacefully on to the next phase of her journey.

This past-life experience deeply affected me. I learned that we are not always called to change the story. If someone dies, they are meant to die. It is not necessarily our 74 | P a g e

place to change the actual event. The revelation is that even though we don't stop an event from happening (even one that we perceive as traumatic), we can empower and heal the energy surrounding that event. By doing this, our pastlife self experiences peace, even while dying, instead of fear, panic, anger or other stressful and negative emotions.

When we return to our past-lives and shift the energy from fear to love, from anger to forgiveness, from a negative energy to a peaceful, positive energy, we heal ourselves as well as those around us in that story. The ramifications of this are huge as it empowers all those in these past-life events to heal and shift their lives, which in turn heals the lives of their succeeding generations. This creates healing through their lineage up to the present and even into the future.

As we heal the energy around a past-life experience, we positively shift the energy that we carry into the rest of that lifetime, and our death in that past life, as well as our continued spirit journey after we die. This heals the energy we pass on to our children and future generations, as well as our continued lifetimes on this planet.

We are empowered to shift negative energy in order to create energy that is peaceful and loving, and that is the energy now carried in the collective conscious of all of us.

This is big healing! We are shifting the energy of the 75 | P a g e

collective conscious as we shift our own energy, in any lifetime. The more we empower the collective conscious energy to be full of love, peace and gratitude, the more we are empowering all humans and other beings on this planet to heal. This empowers beings in other realms and other lifetimes to heal, too.

When we create healing in our past-lives, including forgiving ourselves or those who have trespassed against us, we allow ourselves, as well as our trespassers, to experience healing. All people, in all times, are able to make their own choices about whether or not they choose to heal. No one can be forced to heal. Each individual must choose healing for themselves, and there are beings in other lifetimes that have not chosen healing. They did not choose to shift their energy and we can not force them to do so. We all have freewill.

In each journey with the akashic records, I discern if it is necessary to let myself be seen by the other people in the vision. With practice, you can learn to let yourself be seen by some and remain hidden to others, even in the same experience.

When I allow myself to be seen while working with the akashic records, I am perceived by the people in each past-life journey according to their culture and the beliefs of the time period in which they are living. Therefore, the men 76 | P a g e

in the woods chasing the Native American girl saw me as an angel, as that was how they had been taught to understand these kinds of visions in their particular culture. I presume they understood the biblical concept of angels, so that is how they were able to explain my unexpected appearance.

When I have appeared to people in previous lifetimes, I can tell by the reaction of the people in the experience that I have been perceived as a Goddess or God, an other-worldly oracle, and even as a ghost or apparition. They will sometimes ask me if I am an angel, a sorcerer or witch, and at other times people have talked to me as their ancestor.

People in past-life journeys generally regard me as a benevolent being of light. I certainly choose to bring benevolent, compassionate and loving energy to all those I connect with in these journeys.

I have often wondered if the people of the past who have seen angles or various other-worldly beings were actually seeing people like myself who have come back in time to create healing. When I see myself in spirit world I do not look like I do in this earthly realm. I am able to shapeshift with ease in the spirit realms, and I perceive an otherworldly glow of light around me at all times, much like what one sees in paintings of angels.

As I have continued to work with the akashic records I have experienced different visual experiences of the records themselves. I still see the book of light, however I no longer need to open a red velvet rope or to find my black jaguar guide in order to find the records.

There is nothing barring the way of any of us who choose to connect with the gift of the akashic records. The records can work with anyone who comes to them seeking guidance.

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Now when I go to the records and ask for information, I have all sorts of interesting and different experiences. I can tell the akashic records the name of two people to find out their past-life history and I instantly get a reaction from the book of light. If the two people have very passionate energy in their past-lives together, I might see huge flames rise up out of the book. If their story is not so dramatic, perhaps just a flicker of light will rise up. The records will let me know instantly what kind of energy we will be working with depending on the client.

Once I see what kind of energy we are working with, I enter into the past-life journeys in all sorts of different ways.

There seem to be as many ways to enter these stories as there are stories to enter. Sometimes I still dive into the book to get to the past-life. At other times I have found myself engulfed in flames or light and carried somewhere. I have walked around the book of light and into a past-life, as well as walking up stairs, down stairs, or through tunnels and passageways. I have even taken a client with me energetically (empowering him to see it in his mind) as we walked through a long hallway of doors, and I let him tell me which door we were meant to enter.

Entering a past-life is always different, too. It feels very much like time travel. I close my eyes and wake up in a new reality. Generally I walk, fly, float, swim, dive or in some other way make my way from the records to the 78 | P a g e

lifetime I am called to see. I have found myself in woods, water, homes, market places, battlefields, riding a horse, in a field looking at a castle, as a man, as a woman, as a teen or a small girl or boy. I have even arrived in the bodies of other creatures besides human beings, and that is always an incredibly interesting experience. I can arrive anywhere at any time that I am meant to be in order to empower healing.

Once I reach a past-life it usually takes a minute or two to deduce where I am and what person I am meant to follow in that lifetime. I once found myself in an Egyptian marketplace and had no clue which of the hundreds of people there was the person who was the past-life incarnation of my client. I called in my personal guides and asked them to help me find the person I was meant to follow and they led me to her.

Now that I have experience with the akashic records, I am able to lead a client to energetically accompany me into their past-life journey so they can bring healing to that experience. This is done by helping the client to visualize what I am seeing in their head as well. I always ask the records if I am to bring the person with me and the answer is usually yes.

Working with clients who have active imaginations is always fun as I find that they are able to easily visualize the story and see it with me. Some of the people I work with are able to do much of the journeying for themselves, and I offer support and confirmation of what they are experiencing.

It is vital to empower clients to be present in their own past-life story. I can find the lifetime in which we are called to do healing, however I can not create the healing for that person. Each person must heal themselves and I create the container and hold energetic space for this healing to happen.

It is not completely necessary, however, it is helpful for people to feel the emotions of the past-life experience in order to connect and create healing. It is a delicate balance 79 | P a g e

of connecting with the emotions of the experience, without getting too caught up in the trauma and drama of the story.

It is important to experience it as a story in order to not get overwhelmed and feel too upset to shift the energy.

Past-life work is like watching a movie that you get to interact in when you choose. Watch the story playing out in your mind and feel the emotion of the scene. If a part of the story feels upsetting, remember that you get leave the theater, so to speak, and that it is not actually happening to you now.

The inevitable question I get: Is this really my pastlife? People want to know if it really happened to them, literally, or is it a memory from the collective conscious? My answer is yes and yes. Yes, it is literally a past-life that happened to you, and yes, it is totally symbolic and a story from the collective memory to which we are bringing healing.

It is not necessary to know if we have literally lived the past-lives that we experience with the akashic records.

When we heal the energy around these events, we experience healing in our lives today, especially in our personal relationships. There will be healing shifts within our immediate families as well as any romantic relationships. This work can heal energy with anyone we are having challenges with. It can also empower people to 80 | P a g e

let go of unexplained fears and step into their personal power with courage.

Past-life work is not about changing what happened, rather, it is about healing any negative or traumatic energy around the event. It would be presumptuous and egotistical, a type of playing God, to go back and change the actual event; doing that could have far-reaching negative effects on many people.

Working with the akashic records is about going back to an event, whether it is literal or symbolic, and empowering the energy around that event to be love instead of fear or hate or anything besides love. The event happened in Divine Order and we do not shift Divine Order.

Healing the energy around these past-life events empower all subsequent lifetimes and generations to be in a flow of loving energy, clearing stuck energy that was not flowing in that particular lineage.

Past-life work with the akashic records is about healing our current incarnation. Working with our pastlives is one way to help us be healthy in the present moment.

Spending all of our time in past-life stories can take away from being fully present in our current journey. Balance is important in all things, including healing work. We go back to the past to create healing in the time that really matters, the present.

Just as we can work with past-lives in order to create healing, we can also go into the past of our current life and help ourselves heal. This is done in very much the same way as working with past-lives, the only difference being that we are working with ourselves when we are younger.

Also, some of the people from these past stories might still be alive.

When working with your past, be sure that you are now comfortable looking at situations that might have been uncomfortable at the time. You do not need to re-live a situation that felt traumatic. If you choose to work with 81 | P a g e

something from your past that could be frightening to you, ask someone to be with you so that you can feel safe and supported. Remember you can always ask your guides to be with you as well. You never need to go on a journey alone.

You may ask the akashic records to take you back to a situation from your past that is in need of healing, or you may simply pick a memory you would like to heal and let the records take you there. Find your way back to that situation and find yourself as a child in the story.

There are a number of ways to bring healing to events from your past. You, as your adult self, can go back to you as a child and create energetic protection around your childhood self. Again, this does not change the event or stop it from happening, however, it does shift the energy as you are now surrounded in love and light while it's happening.

If you decide to heal an event from your childhood, be sure that you feel ready to sit with the situation. At any point that it seems too emotionally overwhelming, find your way back from spirit world. If you do not feel ready to sit with the event yet, give it some time and use other techniques for healing. You can also contact a qualified person to help you who has experience with assisting others in healing childhood issues. Do not force yourself to step into a memory that you are not ready to be with. Take your time and be gentle with yourself in all healing experiences.

When I have gone back to heal past events, I find myself as a child and I hold myself as the event is happening. My childhood self does not know consciously that I am there necessarily, nor does anyone else in the story.

I hold my small self close and tell my childhood self how loved I am. I say all the things into my ear that I would have wanted to hear at that time, especially any good things that I did not hear as a child.

I see my childhood self surrounded in a bubble of love and light for protection and I forgive the other people in the story if I feel wronged by them. I have gone back to 82 | P a g e

certain events from my childhood and I have been able to see the pain in the other person who was in the story. As a child I could not see how wounded the other people around me were. However, when I go back to see that event now, I can clearly see the bigger picture. This does not invalidate my pain or make it alright that they did hurtful things, and yet it does empower me to forgive more easily.

You may stay through the entire event and continue to share loving energy with your childhood self until the story is finished. It is not necessary, however if you feel inclined, you may interact with your childhood self, as well as the other people in the story. Be prepared for what you get, because it has been my experience that some people in our current life are not necessarily ready to make the shifts that we are making. It is alright for others to transform at their own pace. Keep your focus on bringing love and forgiveness to the situation and do not be attached to wanting the other people around you to make dramatic shifts.

With this in mind, be very discerning about sharing this work with the people who were at the event that you went to heal through akashic records. For example, if you went back to an event with your siblings or your parents, be very thoughtful if you choose to share this experience with them. Everyone has their own interpretation of an experience. Each person has their right to that interpretation. You have the right to bring healing to any event that felt less than loving to you.

Discernment is key in this work, so be mindful of who you share with and what you choose to share. This practice is about healing yourself. Do not be distracted by trying to heal others. It is not your responsibility and you can't do it.

Each person can only heal themselves. Focus on healing your past, and allow that loving, healing energy to allow others to shift in their own time.

Bring that loving, healing energy to your present life.

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The present is what is important. We bring healing to events from our past in order to move forward and live our lives fully, in the now.

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Chapter Nine HOW TO WORK WITH THE AKASHIC RECORDS

“Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.� ~ Paul Boese

There are as many ways to work with the akashic records as there are people doing it, and each way is perfect.

This chapter will share how to connect with the records so that you may access your past-lives as well as connect with your past in this current lifetime. It is best to practice shamanic journeying before accessing the akashic records.

Once you feel comfortable creating energetic protection and you have created a portal into the realms, as well as found your sacred space and at least one spirit guide, then practice working with the records. *Sit comfortably in a quiet place. *Breathe gently into your belly a few times to center and ground your energy.

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*When you are grounded and your mind is calm, create energetic protection and see a bubble of light surrounding your entire body. *Find your portal into spirit world and enter. *Find your sacred space within spirit world. *Once at your sacred space, ask a guide that you work with regularly during shamanic journeying to come and be with you. *When this guide arrives, ask him or her (or it) if you may meet and learn from the akashic records. If your guide says no, ask why. Our guides know if it is in our best interest to work with the records. Find out why you are being told not to work with the akashic records, and what you can do in order to be ready to access them. *If your guide says yes you may meet the akashic records, ask your guide to please take you to them. Your version of the akashic records can look however you choose.

It may be a large book of light, a library with different volumes sharing previous lives, a temple, or anything else you can imagine. *Once you arrive at the akashic records, if you encounter a guide there, he or she is the Record Keeper. You may introduce yourself to the akashic records, or to the record keeper if you meet one. Let the records know that 86 | P a g e

you would like to work with them. *Ask to be shown the lifetime that is in your highest and greatest good to be seen at this time. You may also tell the records a challenge you are experiencing, and ask the akashic records to take you to a past-life that is connected to your current challenge. Another way to work with the records is to give them the name of someone you know and ask to see a past-life that you shared. *Let the akashic records, or the record keeper, take you to that particular lifetime and watch what happens there. You may go alone or take your guide with you. Do not attempt to change the events of that lifetime. However, if you feel ready to bring healing to the situation, you may do so by bringing love and peace to yourself in that lifetime, as shown in the previous chapter. You may also bring forgiveness to others in the story, or to yourself if needed. *Once you have seen what you needed to see, and brought love to any energy that was in need of healing, leave that lifetime and come back to the akashic records. Thank the records for working with you. Come back to your portal and leave spirit world. Remember to close your portal door. *Journal about your experience. Drink water and nurture yourself as you feel called.

When experiencing past-lives, the akashic records will show you what is in your highest and greatest good in that moment. At times, this is a past-life story that feels positive 87 | P a g e

and uplifting. There are other lifetimes, however, where we might see events that are frightening or traumatic.

Generally, if you are choosing to heal something, it often leads back to an event that was perceived as traumatic.

The trauma we experienced can create an energetic wound that we carry from lifetime to lifetime.

If you are in a past-life shamanic journey with the akashic records and you encounter a situation that feels frightening or traumatic, you are always able to leave. The records only take you to what you are able to handle, and it is important to remember that it is not happening to you in this moment. Whatever you see is a story that you are watching. You can walk away from the story at any time.

You do not need to stay and create healing if it feels emotionally overwhelming.

If you do encounter a past-life that feels too intense, you would benefit from finding a qualified person who can walk with you through the story of that lifetime and give you support. Find a person who has experience with healing work and the akashic records, and let them guide you into this experience.

The akashic records are one avenue to empower healing in your life. If you do not resonate with the work of the akashic records, healing can happen in a different way.

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Chapter Ten DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT

“Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.” ~ Albert Einstein

It was a gorgeous spring day and I was leading a Shamanic Journeying workshop. One by one the participants were sharing what they had experienced during their journeys.

There was a man at the workshop who had been quiet during the afternoon. He was overweight and dressed completely in black. He looked tired and unhappy. After everyone else had told of their experiences during their shamanic journeys, he finally decided to speak up.

“I didn’t see anything,” he said. “Everything seemed just really dark all around me. I kept looking but I couldn’t see past the darkness.”

“Would you like to know what I saw for you?” I asked. While participants are journeying I will psychically get information for each person. I often share with the class what I saw when we are finished.

“Yes, what did you see?” he asked.

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“I saw lots and lots of spiders all around you. These spiders are helpers for you, and they are here to help you write.”

He looked away and it seemed he might start crying.

“I want to be a writer, but I haven’t been writing for a long time,” he said quietly.

“Well, they are here to help you get back to writing,” I said.

Since it was a small enough class, I offered to sit privately for a moment with each participant. As I came around the circle to this gentleman, I sat with him quietly.

He was lying down and I was told to put one hand over his heart and another over his third eye. As I did so, I saw that he appeared to be surrounded by something dark. In his energy it looked like he was wearing a large dark cloak that covered his entire body.

I shared with him the visual of the dark cloak and he said he could feel it and it was very heavy. I asked him if he was ready to take off this cloak that was wearing him down, and he immediately answered yes, he was more than ready.

As I kept my hands on his heart and his third eye, Spirit ran energy through me for some time, empowering him to clear this energetic cloak of darkness. When he was ready, he gracefully let it go from his energy field. It was a beautiful healing to witness.

Having just experienced a large clearing, I encouraged him to drink plenty of water and rest for the remainder of the day. It is important that we take care of ourselves after clearing stuck energy and creating shifts in our energetic field. I reminded him that spider medicine was with him to help him with his writing. Spider wanted him to journal and write freely, without worrying about what others thought of it, or if they would even read it.

Two months later he came to another Shamanic Journeying workshop and I was amazed at the difference in his energy. He walked in the room with a smile on his face.

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He had lost some weight and was wearing blue jeans and a light blue polo shirt. His energy was light and friendly and it was as if he was a different person.

Mentioning the change I could see in him, he smilingly acknowledged the intentional shifts he had been creating in his life. He had been writing since the last workshop and said it had helped him gain clarity about many things that he had been feeling confused about. He was once again enjoying writing and feeling incredibly motivated on his creative journey. During the course of that afternoon workshop, he journeyed and saw many things, connecting with his guides and receiving gifts. It was a remarkable transformation.

About two months later, I was again emailing out invitations to a Shamanic Journeying workshop, and I sent one to this man. I received an amazing reply from him, telling me why he would not be able to attend the upcoming workshop.

He shared with me that he had quit his “awful job” and left his “unhealthy relationship” and “finally moved up to New York City to be a writer.” He was incredibly excited and doing really well. He was sorry he could not attend the workshop, and appreciated all he had experienced in the previous classes.

I feel strongly that he continues to do well in his new endeavors. He is a wonderful example of how doing something different can change your life. For this man, attending a Shamanic Journeying workshop was something different; beginning to journal and write again was something different; and then it led to even bigger shifts in his life. Moving to a city where you have always wanted to be, in order to live your dream, is definitely doing something different!

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Everything you experience in your life, you have called into being in order to step into your personal power and achieve the growth necessary for your evolution. Since we ultimately call in all that we experience, it is wise to be present and conscious to what we are creating. When we are aware of what we are creating, we are able to intentionally manifest what we desire. When we are unconscious of what we are creating, we can end up feeling like victims to what we unconsciously manifest, and our life is not what we want.

In order to be conscious of what you are creating in your life, you must be aware of your thoughts and where you put your attention. What do you focus on? Where are you putting your energy? Are your thoughts generally positive and uplifting or do you habitually focus on the negative? How do you talk to yourself? Are you mentally beating yourself up with guilt and shame?

Shamanic journeying is one way to gain clarity on where much of your focus is and if it serves your highest and greatest good. You spirit guides can help you shift your thinking from lack, sadness and fear, to abundance, happiness and courage. You will receive their guidance when you sit with them regularly and are open to what they teach you. Now that you have the tools to do this, you are well on your way to creating and sustaining a vibrant, healthy life that you enjoy.

“Change your thinking and you change your life.� ~ Norman Vincent Peale

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When I sit in a private session with a client, we will often get very specific information as to things they can do to shift a situation they would like to change. Almost always their guides will give them exercises and practices they can easily incorporate into their life in order to gain clarity and open themselves up to joy, freedom and possibility.

These exercises can be as simple as taking an Epsom salt bath, finding time to meditate during the week (even for ten minutes), taking walks, journaling, or writing a letter to someone you are learning to forgive. These are practices that can easily be incorporated into even the busiest schedule. Many times, however, when I meet with a client again, they have not done the exercises and feel frustrated that nothing has changed.

If you want something to be different, you must do something different. If you want your life to change, you have to do something different. Do anything different.

When your guides give you simple practices that will help you heal your life, do them. If you usually get up at 7:30 a.m. and feel that you do not have enough time in your day to meditate, get up at 7:15 and sit quietly for ten minutes. If you usually drive the 1.5 miles to work, and you would like to get more exercise, get up early enough to walk to work instead.

If you have always wanted to be a writer and never tried it before, start journaling. Want to be a runner and you’re out of shape? Start walking around your neighborhood and get those juices flowing. Want to garden but don’t have a yard? Start growing herbs, flowers, and cherry tomatoes in pots in your home.

There are many simple things a person can do to create change. Your life is like a river and it is flowing in whatever direction you put the majority of your energy. As you create changes in your life, even seemingly small changes in the flow, eventually the “river” will get the idea 93 | P a g e

that your energy is going somewhere new. Soon the course of the river that is your life will begin to shift in this new direction.

Your amazing life is a very large river, so creating a big shift in the flow can take time. Often, people will start making little changes, and when the bigger parts of their lives do not shift immediately, they will lose heart and give up. Keep up with the little shifts and in time you will experience much bigger changes as well. Lasting change begins with small steps that grow into larger and more profound shifts. Begin your changes with goals that might bring you a bit out of your comfort zone and daily routine, while still being realistic.

What are some small changes you can make in your daily life to begin creating bigger shifts? Take a few minutes to make a list of things you seek to create in your life.

Choose one thing from your list, and write one thing you could do this week to empower yourself to create this. Do that one thing for at least a week.

On week two, choose a second goal from your list and figure out one thing you could do to manifest this goal as a reality. Add this one thing to the first thing you are doing, and make time for those two small changes in your daily life.

Week three, add another small shift to the first two changes. You can continue this process, letting go of things once they have shifted. You can also work with one or two things at a time without adding more until you are ready.

For example, if you would like to start exercising, you could make time to take a walk daily, or every other day, for one week. If you would like to learn a foreign language, on week two, you could sign up for a class, or begin listening to CD’s that teach you how to speak another language while taking your walk. Then you have two practices you have added to your daily life that create energetic shifts.

Once you begin creating subtle changes, you will notice how other things in your life, that may not even seem 94 | P a g e

related, effortlessly begin to change and shift in positive ways. You have empowered the flow to move in a direction that you choose, and you are therefore consciously creating your life.

Sit with your guides on a consistent basis and you will find that the answers you seek become more clear each time you meet with them. Practicing shamanic journeying is how you learn to connect with them and hear them. The more you practice connecting to your spirit guides, the easier it will be to hear guidance even when you are going about your daily routine. Eventually, you will be able to talk to your guides and receive help without sitting down and doing a shamanic journey. Your guides are with you always and they are available at all times.

Shamanic journeying is a form of prayer. We sit and connect with Spirit through our totems and other beings of light. During our day we can speak to Spirit, through our guides, at any time and receive answers. It is also important to find time to sit and intentionally connect with our guides when we are fully present and not distracted by other things.

As with anything, the more you do something the easier it gets. Shamanic journeying may seem challenging at first, and only through practice can you learn to trust yourself and your journeying experiences, and really enjoy 95 | P a g e

the full power of this practice.

Be patient with yourself. Allow yourself time to grow and heal. Remember to love yourself. You are perfect and divine. You are loved and you are love.

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Chapter Eleven GRATITUDE

“The universe loves grateful people. The more grateful you are, the more you get to be grateful about.” ~ Louise L. Hay

Let me see the Truth about myself, no matter how ____________ it is.

How would you fill in the blank of that sentence?

Take a moment and sit with that. Find a piece of paper and write out the above sentence. Then fill in the blank with all the words you can think of that you would put in that space.

When you are finished, look at the words you have chosen. Are they negative or positive? Are they uplifting words about how fabulous you are? Or are they words like “bad” or “awful”.

I capitalize the word truth in this quote in order to show that it is a universal truth, and not simply something we have decided to believe about ourselves that may have no actual basis in truth whatsoever. The Truth about 97 | P a g e

yourself is so amazing and fabulous and wonderful and beautiful, and yet we can find it so hard to believe that. We are often in the habit of just assuming that we don't measure up and that we need to change ourselves a lot in order to really be amazing and beautiful and powerful.

The Truth about ourselves is so big and bright and powerful that it can often seem frightening to fully acknowledge and live into who we truly divinely are!

“The fastest journey to loving oneself is to look for things to appreciate everywhere you look. The vibration of appreciation and the vibration of love are identical vibrations.� ~ Esther Hicks

Take another piece of paper and make a list. This list will be all the qualities you admire and appreciate in others.

Think of at least one person, living or dead, that you really admire. If you can think of more than one person, that works too. Think of all the things about these people you appreciate and that you would like to emulate. Write down all the things you can think of that makes them so great in your eyes.

Really take your time and write each and every wonderful thing you can think of about that person. If you can only think of a few things, add another person and write all the amazing things you see in them. Write at least a full page of qualities you admire in these amazing people.

Do not turn the page until you have finished doing this exercise. When you are finished, read ahead. It is important to finish the exercise first.

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“Offer a vibration that matches your desire, rather than offering a vibration that keeps matching what-is.� ~ Esther Hicks channeling Abraham

Once you have finished your list of all the wonderful, fabulous and amazing qualities you appreciate in the people you admire, take a pen and write at the top of the page: Traits and Qualities I Appreciate and Admire In Myself!

Because, every single thing you have written on that piece of paper is who YOU truly are. Every other person on this planet is a mirror for you. What you see in that person is simply a mirror for who and what you are. So, when you see these amazing qualities in another human being, you can only see them because they are being mirrored back to you.

They are within you to begin with or you would not be able to see them in others.

This is not an exercise to simply boost your selfesteem. This is Truth. Anything you can see in another human being is a mirror of what you also have within you.

Now. Not when you get smarter or older or richer. All these traits and qualities are within you right now, at this present moment, and you do not have to do anything to become these qualities.

If you see beauty in someone, this is because you, too, are beautiful. If you see anger in someone, it is because you have anger within you as well. Look around your life at all the mirrors surrounding you and let them teach you about yourself. Let those mirrors show you where you are beautiful and bright. Learn from those mirrors where you choose to grow and heal.

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Take this list of qualities that you admire and appreciate about yourself and put it up somewhere in order to remind yourself daily of how wonderful you really are.

“Let me see the Truth about myself, no matter how beautiful it is.� ~ Macrina Wiederkehr, quoted in A Grateful Heart, edited by M.J. Ryan

Take a chance and see how beautiful you really are.

Allow yourself the gift of seeing the Truth about yourself, as amazing as it is. Let the world see you, too. We really need you to be your authentic and awesome self. We need you to step into your personal power and live your life in a big way. We need you to heal yourself so that we can also heal.

We need you to be a mirror of all the wonderful qualities we have within ourselves, too.

Thank you for having the courage to be your authentic beautiful self. Thank you for empowering the rest of us to do the same. Thank you for being willing to take a chance on how amazing you are in order to love yourself, so that the rest of us can love ourselves as well. Thank you for healing this planet with love, starting with self-love. Thank you for being you. We are truly glad you are here.

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“There is a power inside of every human, against which no earthly force is of the slightest consequence.” ~ Neville, philosopher

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” ~ Dalai Lama

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Notes

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.� ~ Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

Bloom Post is a Shamanic Intuitive Healer who is passionate about healing and empowering each of us to remember who we truly divinely are. Bloom writes books, leads Shamanic Journeying and Energetic Protection workshops, and speaks to groups, as well as seeing clients in private sessions. She also teaches Plant Spirit Medicine classes at herbalism schools in the southeast and is currently working toward her Doctorate of Divinity in Metaphysical Studies, with a focus in Spiritual Healing.

Clairvoyant and clairaudient since childhood, she has studied across the U.S. and India. Bloom is a Reiki Master Practitioner and received her Yoga Teacher Training Certificate in India in 2005.

Bloom lives and loves in Asheville, North Carolina, where you can find her hiking in her beloved Appalachian mountains. You can learn more about her work at www.bloompost.com or contact her by emailing bloompost@yahoo.com.