The Owl Magazine | Winter 2018 by The Owl Magazine

Winter 2018

Melissa Ether idge "I've Come This Far " Th e Sh am an 's W ay

an inter view with Sham ans Linda Star W olf, Ana M ar ia Vasquez, and Dr . Steven Far m er

WELCOME There is nothing but silence All around my spirit. It whispers to me From its unspoken life. ?Come closer? ? ?Come closer? ? I lean into it, Longing. ~ excerpt from Scanning For Signal I love this prose because it speaks to our deepest desires to be in relationship. Right relationship with each other, the natural world, and more often than not - ourselves. In this issue we have insightful interviews and articles that all speak of being in right relationship. As you read I hope you find the connection your soul may be longing for.

MEET US

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Pat r icia Caggan ello Editor Patricia is an interfaith interspiritual minister and CEO and Founder of Sacred Stories Media, which includes book publishing, a telesummit, podcasting, The Owl, and an online learning division Sacred U.

Fr an n e Dem et r ician Associate Editor and Creative Coordinator Franne is an interfaith interspiritual minister, spiritual counselor and relationship mentor, holistic health practitioner, teacher, writer, photographer, and artist.

M egan Br ook s Assistant Editor Megan is a senior in college majoring in Advertising and Public Relations. She shares her editorial and design skills across many of the Sacred Stories Media platforms.

Cover photo of Melissa Etheridge by Debbi Del Grande

A Sacr ed St or y Spirit said this is for you. Seven years ago following a nudge from Spirit I offered Reiki energy healing to a woman with a severe limp. She gratefully accepted and when I was done, she pressed a ring into my hand, a simple silver band with a beautiful small red garnet gemstone. I tried to give her the ring back as I'd given the Reiki without expectation of payment. She whispered in my ear that in her Native American tradition, it was important to reciprocate. Her words were, ?Spirit said this is for you.? I accepted the gift as those words always shift me into receiving mode and I've learned not to argue with Spirit. Within a few weeks, I was at an outdoor picnic when a three year old girl came up to me and started talking as if she knew me. I got on my knees to be able to hear what she was saying as it seemed she was trying hard to tell me something important. Try as I might, I couldn't understand a single syllable. A bit later my little friend hopped up on the picnic bench next to me and handed me a ring with a detailed silver setting with a large tigers eye stone. I already knew better than to ask her any questions. I set it down on the table

between us, knowing that a parent would collect her and I'd be able to return it. When her dad came I tried to give him the ring. He said he'd never seen it before and it didn't belong to him, or his wife. I searched but the ring didn't belong to anyone there. I took it home fully expecting to get a call from a frantic owner but that call never came! I wore these rings all the time knowing that Spirit had sent them to me. I didn't know why, I simply trusted their presence in my life. About the same time the rings arrived, my right trapezoid muscle seized up. I'd tried massage, energy work, and chiropractic with no results. Finally, after three months of pain, I stomped my foot in frustration, and said to Spirit, ?I need help. Please tell me what's next!? Within a day I received an email from a local chiropractor, offering me sessions of his technique called Spinal Tuning in exchange for promoting his services on my web based radio show. When I first heard him describe his technique, my entire body had vibrated. I'd ?known? nine months ago that this technique had something to offer me, but I'd forgotten about it.

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Simultaneously a friend offered her process called Prana Mind-Body. My prayer had been answered. In the following weeks and months, I let my body guide me. I didn't have any memories prior to the age of eight, and through somatic body work, I remembered my core wound of sexual abuse and exploitation by my grandfather. Reliving these memories was hard ? to find stories about being sold for sex and stories of rape. My brain had known that keeping this trauma locked away was best because when I was ready, I would willingly allow it to emerge. These rings gave me hope and strength. The garnet gemstone supported my root chakra and sexual wounds. It helped me remain grounded because the next few years were all about excavating my past. The tigers eye stone provided courage to gain a deeper understanding of myself by balancing the solar plexus chakra. After four months of not working I re-opened my healing arts practice on a donation basis. A new client came in apologetic for not having any money. At the end of the day, I found a ring in my donation jar. I knew she had left this powerful ring with a Native American design and a small turquoise in the center. My throat chakra was now supported and my voice told long held secrets that needed to be in the open.

My spoken truth restored my innocence, my power, and liberated my body from the burden of silence. My truth validated and freed other members of my family. I learned to stand in my power and make bold requests rather than use my victim voice. I also learned to keep asking for things beyond what I thought possible, and definitely beyond what others thought possible! Having these stones and stories to share during the first year of my transformation were the evidence and reassurance that I was going to be more than ok. Spirit wove a cocoon of protection and safety around me. Could I have done this work without the rings? Yes. And, I'm thankful I didn't have to. They were instruments that reminded me to keep hope and wholeness as guideposts along my path. They also taught me to look for Spirit's hand in seemingly random gifts and experiences. After seven years my body vibrates to these two truths: Honoring my body, emotions, spirit, and brain in healing is the key to freedom from my past. Forgiveness of the unforgivable is possible and takes my heart to a whole new level of joy. Angela Rae Clark is a survivor of incest, sex trafficking, and rape. Her mission is to help others break the cycle of silence and reach beyond the pain. Visit www.angelaraeclark.com for more.

Th e Sh am an's Way Healin g f r om t h e An cien t s An interview with Master Teachers and Shamans Dr. Steven Farmer, Linda Star Wolf, and Ana Maria Vasquez on how ancient Shamanic practices can help heal our modern wounds. Wh at is Sh am an ism , an d w h y h as Sh am an ism becom e im por t an t again in ou r m oder n day con sciou sn ess? Dr . St even Far m er : Shamanism is the most ancient healing system in the world. The word itself comes from the Tungus people of Siberia. It?s been translated as one who knows, one who travels. One of the most interesting things is that up to 40,000 years ago, there's evidence for Shamanic practice on every continent. So, for our long ago ancestors

before we had hospitals and doctors to go to there would be someone in the tribe or the community that would be the go-to person. They would be the psychiatrist, the medical doctor, the priest? the shaman would encompass all of these different roles for the community. The primary purpose of the shaman is to mediate between the human community and the natural world. When the shaman detects illness in the community that means there is some imbalance between the

natural world and the human community. The community is taking much more from the earth then it is giving back. And so that imbalance has to be addressed. The way that the shaman discovers a way to mediate that imbalance is to through something called the Shamanic Journey. The second purpose of the shaman is as a healer. Healing in a few different ways, often through the enactment of sacred ceremony. A shaman creating or more accurately, bringing forth

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" Th e pr im ar y pu r pose of t h e sh am an is t o m ediat e bet w een t h e h u m an com m u n it y an d t h e n at u r al w or ld."

a ceremony that will address an illness that somebody is experiencing. Do you f eel t h at Sh am an ism h as m ade a com eback t oday becau se of t h e n eed or t h e ills in m oder n day societ y? Dr . St even Far m er : Yes, although it's hard to say precisely how things emerge into our consciousness as a species particularly our collective consciousness. But anybody who's listening, anybody who's reading this, I'm

sure would agree that there is this energy called the collective consciousness. It?s what connects us as a species, though we may remain largely unaware of that connection . As for our ancestors, if you go back ten generations it?s easy to see how we are truly all related. We have 1024 ancestors if we go back ten generations. We have 1,048, 576 ancestors if we go back twenty generations! I think that?s astounding and

speaks volumes of how we are all related. On the other hand, in spite of so much divisiveness in the world, what I see is something emerging in consciousness, and that something is a deep, deep memory. Something our ancestors knew, which is the fact that we are all related and we are absolutely related to all beings. And we can collaborate with these different beings, the trees, stones, stars, moon, sun, and etcetera. I like what you said about the come back because at one time, this wasn?t given. We are a very forgetful species and have lost that

deeper sense of connection to the natural world. The good news is we're remembering. Now we're calling upon this deep memory which is why I think Shamanism in particular is important, because it accounts for the aliveness of the earth. The fact is we are so privileged to exist on this planet at this time and to go through this gigantic awakening process. Explain h ow t r an sf or m at ion is r eally t h e n ext oct ave of Sh am an ic h ealin g? Lin da St ar Wolf : Frequently when people think of Shamanism, they think of death and rebirth or symbolic death and rebirth. When someone seeks a medicine man, a medicine woman, a Shaman, they may be told they're undergoing a death and a rebirth process. This is a normal, natural thing. It's not bad. It may be scary, it may be painful, but it is not bad. It means something

major is going on and you're changing; you're shapeshifting. I've always been transforming my life, sometimes not very consciously, other times learning to do it more consciously. So, for me, transformation has really been the higher octave of shamanic healing. In my book ?Visionary Shamanism?I speak of the caterpillar that dies so that the butterfly can be born. That's one of the clearest examples of what it means to die to your own self in the way you've been and to make this rather somewhat radical shift. The caterpillar is not lost, it's still within that butterfly, but it looks like a new creature. It has a new way of doing things in the world. Instead of crawling around the ground, it?s flying and seeing things from a much bigger perspective. It has a different purpose. Rather than eating the leaves, when it eats it?s pollinating and

bringing beauty to the world. So, it's gone from being a consumer, to being one who's gifting back to the world. For me, I love the idea that transformation is the hierarchy of the feeling. Wh o ar e t h e an cest or s an d w h at pu r pose does it ser ve u s t o con n ect w it h t h em ? An a M ar ia Vasqu ez: We have different kinds of ancestors. We have our own personal biological ancestors; the ones of our lineage, our genealogy. But we've also got brother ancestry; the fact that we're all human. The ancestors in this larger context applies to all of us. As Steven said there has been Shamanic practices that have taken place on every inhabited continent since as far back as we know. This collective human consciousness of our ancestry is available to us. There's also the ancestors of different places; geological places, or geographical places.

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Where there is a certain kind of people, a certain line of people has come.

Speak in g of an cest r al m em or y, w h at is deep an cest r al m em or y?

The trees are also our ancestors. We know the old ancient trees know about our human lineage, and there is wisdom that they're sharing about coexisting.

An a M ar ia Vasqu ez: Deep ancestral memory is also known as cellular memory. There's more being passed in the DNA than what we have been aware of. We know now we have a larger number of strands of DNA than we realized before and this is where scientists are starting to believe that perhaps this is where ancestral memory or genetic memory is passed.

And so, we're not just talking human ancestors. We?re also talking of the stone beings, of the plant beings, and of the animal beings because we have shared this planet collectively for so long. And these collective memories are memories that we can tap into.

What we see as Shamans is people will feel a resonance to the

drumming or the rattles used because we have a deep ancestral memory of gathering around the stones, of gathering around the fires, and calling on the ancestors to help us move forward. When we connect with the ancestors, we?re able to connect to deep, deep wisdom that we in our conscious minds have forgotten, but that resides within us. And we're able to access not just the help, but we can overcome any of the difficulties that were passed down in our lineage. Part of our remembering this human

experience isn't about connecting just to our brothers and sisters here now in the sacred circle, but to the ancestors; those who are gone before us. And again, the energy of our ancestors is also in the trees, the mountains, and the animals. We are missing out on power, on wisdom, on the ability to expand beyond our wildest dreams when we leave out the ancestors. Explain w h y r h yt h m , sou n d, an d m ovem en t ar e im por t an t t ools in t h e Sh am an's m edicin e ch est .

" Sou n d... is in t er pen et r at in g ou r bodies as w ell as ever yt h in g else ar ou n d it ."

Lin da St ar Wolf : Rhythm, sound, and movement are vibration and frequency. Everything that becomes form has its origin in the invisible, or the non-manifest world. But in that non-manifest world which sounds like it's nothing, that nothingness is full of everything. It's that kind of energy. When we're using rhythm and sound and movement, we are focusing in on reaching into that invisible world. When we're plucking the string of an instrument, when we?re shaking the rattle, and when we're moving, we move and

shift the waves and the frequencies. When a Shaman is taking a rattle and moving it around your body, or drumming around your body it's not only making sound which is powerful, which of course reverberates in our ears, and in our bodies, and our cells in our bodies. But it's penetrating our body. It's interpenetrating our bodies as well as everything else around it. It's also rippling the universe around you and it reverberates out into the cosmos and it connects with other frequencies and energies.

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It's a way to signal your psyche, it's a way to signal your own D.N.A., and your own genes, and your cellular memory, and your ancestors that live within you. It's a way to signal the energies in the cosmos itself that are connected to those vibrational frequencies. It's a way to call to the ancestors who still can be signaled by those frequencies. Sound is one of the most powerful tools that I know of because it connects us to those frequencies. Wh at is a Sh am an ic jou r n ey an d w h at w ou ld t h e pu r pose of a Sh am an ic jou r n ey be? Dr . St even Far m er : A Shamanic journey is where the Shaman sends his or her consciousness into an area called non-ordinary reality, an area just beyond the veil. There is a universal structure to this non-ordinary reality. And that's where the shaman will work and communicate with helping spirits. They can

be human looking spirits, they can be spirit animals, they can be trees, stones, rivers, etcetera. There is a communication that goes on in this arena called non-ordinary reality. It?s important to journey with a specific intention, such as to receive some sort of advice, counsel, ceremony, for healing or divination, and to bring that back to ordinary reality. The journey can be done in a few different ways. One of the most common ways I use is drumming. The style of drumming and the rhythm of the drumming is very important. This is a commonality across cultures that use drumming to induce an altered state that allows us, or makes it easier to send our consciousness into this arena. Four to seven beats for seconds is the cadence. Clap your hands four to seven times a second and you get a feel for the

drumming that takes place.

It?s been proven scientifically that if you listen to this kind of a rhythm for at least 12 minutes you will go into an altered state. Your brain waves are actually slowed down to a theta rhythm which is four to seven cycles a second as measured. It?s so interesting to me that four to seven cycles per second; the theta rhythm, which is a deep, deep state of altered state of consciousness is induced by this four to seven beats per seconds. I think what?s fascinating is that this is another example of how science is increasingly crossing the bridge into shamanic and spiritual realities. Though I most commonly use drumming or rattling there are other ways to induce what Michael

Harner, author of Way of the Shaman, calls the Shamanic State of Consciousness. Other ways are dancing, chanting, singing, breathwork, and the use of shamanic plant medicines,? though I would caution anyone using a plant medicine to journey to be sure you have an experienced and reputable facilitator to assist you. Th e n on -or din ar y r ealit y is t h is space w h er e t h e h ealin g pr ocess can t ak e place? Dr . St even Far m er :

No, not really. Non ordinary reality is the starting place for healing. What?s required is the practitioner returns with the information on how to proceed with the healing. For instance I'm preparing to work with a client. Will my usual conscious mind

necessarily know what the best Shamanic treatment is? So, I start drumming or rattling to induce the altered state that facilitates sending my consciousness into non-ordinary reality accompanied by my power animals. And there, I'm taken to a teacher that will indicate to me what's needed for this client. And I will be given specific information and direction. Then I bring that information back to ordinary reality and offer this to the client. If they agree with the treatment, then I will proceed . Wh at is Sh am an ism in t h e m oder n w or ld, an d w h y w ou ld som eon e con sider im plem en t in g Sh am an ic pr act ices? An a M ar ia Vasqu ez: Shamans around the world have realized that our ancient wisdom is necessary for us to come back into living on this planet in harmony. So,

we need to get the information out. But we also need to retain the sacredness, and the way that we hold the information, and the way that we share the information, and the way that we practice that which we want to honor. We're learning to become alchemists in our life today. We are these infinite beings embodied in these human forms and in this density and we're learning to shape shift the energy. That's what Shamanic practices help you do. It helps you connect and collaborate with all of life force energy; the animals, the plants, the trees, the ancestors, the unseen realm of the higher vibration. It allows us to work with whatever is being presented to us in our life in a new way, so that we can create the magic in our own lives and we can stand in our power. Together we are coming into our own knowingness and living from our heart space.

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If you are ready to go further and embrace life with h ear t , spir it , an d a f ew pow er an im als along the way join

Th e Sh am an's Way

Feb 5 - M ar 2 Includes 3 Modules of Powerful Content FREE for YOU!

Click Her e For M or e In f o on Cou r se! Ana Maria Vasquez, Multi-Sensory Animal & Nature Intuitive, has been an educator, trainer & coach for more than 20 years in various areas of personal transformation. She is a natural energy reader and she lifts the veil between what?s happening in the 3D world and the energetic patterns behind it. intentiontraining.com

Linda Star Wolf has been a visionary teacher and shamanic guide to thousands of people over the last 35 years. Star Wolf is the Founder and Co-Director of Venus Rising Association for Transformation, a 501c3 non-profit organization, and the Founder and President of Venus Rising University for Shamanic Psychospiritual Studies. shamanicbreathwork.org

Dr. Steven Farmer is world-renowned author, teacher, Shamanic Practitioner, and Soul Healer. He is the author of several best-selling books and other products, including Earth MagicÂŽ, Earth MagicÂŽ Oracle Cards, Animal Spirit Guides, Sacred Ceremony, Power Animal Oracle Cards, and Children?s Spirit Animal Cards. earthmagic.net

?I wonder if t he snow loves t he t rees and fields, t And t hen it covers t hem up snug, you know, w it h 'Go to sleep, darlings, t ill t he summer comes aga

- Lew is Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Th

t hat it kisses t hem so gent ly? h a w hite quilt ; and perhaps it says ain.'?

hrough the Looking-Glass

?I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.? - Michelangelo We are taught that practice is about getting better at something - doing something over and over until we get it right. But practice is about practice - chipping away at anything that obscures our true purpose and passion.

In these interviews, I talk with people who practice something they love. They teach us that every time we practice, we catch glimpses of our inner angels and begin to set them free.

By Victoria Price

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Photo credits: Marty Conley, Angeline Gosselin, Bridget Burke

Melissa Etheridge is one of rock music?s great female icons. She?s also been a close friend to me for twenty five years. I?ve always been struck by how much she loves what she does ? making music, performing in front of audiences, stretching herself musically and as a performer, and mostly connecting with people and making a difference in their lives. As a cancer survivor of almost fourteen years, an advocate for the LGBTQI community, and a political and environmental activist, her life?s work has profoundly affected and improved the lives of people around the world. Over the past decade, I?ve watched her find more joy in her creative and personal life than ever before. So when she graciously took time away from the studio to chat, I was eager to find out what practice means to her. Vict or ia Pr ice: I wanted to talk to you about practice because I see you keep pushing yourself to grow as a musician, a performer and a person. I know that has to come from practice, because the thing that has really changed my life has been to practice the things that are hard every day ? and through that practice not see them as so hard any more. So I wanted to ask you. Why didn?t you just sit and rest on your

many well-deserved laurels? What made you want to keep getting better? M elissa Et h er idge: That?s just it. It dawned on me about fifteen years ago, when I had certain amount of success, the things that we thought were the endgame ? Oh, I want to sell million records ? and then you sell six million. You?re on the charts. Oh ? that was just a marker. That?s not my life. That?s not go home and stop playing the game. And that?s when I realized that life is a practice. Life itself ? everything I do every day. Yes, I?ve discovered a certain spirituality ? and it?s a practice every day to work it.

Then I started to get excited about this idea about ? wait a minute, if I just show up and practice certain things every day, after a while I will master them. That?s what a genius is. Sure I?m a genius on stage because I?ve been on stage since I was 11. I?ve practiced this so hard and I?m really good at it. So that is the difference. About ten years ago, I started playing lead guitar. I thought ? Since my job is getting in front of people playing music, why don?t I practice my guitar playing every night in front of people? So it?s a bit high flying in the sense that I crashed and burned a couple times. But you let the audience come along with you and we all have a good laugh at it and move on. If you don?t take the learning part of it too seriously, but instead think ? I?m just practicing today, and it?s not a make-or-break thing. I?m just practicing. Well, now I?ve been practicing for ten years and I?m damn good. I?m so good that I can get up and do it. And ten years when you?re older, it goes by really fast! So now I?ve been practicing for ten years. But practicing is just about changing your habits. It?s a change of mind about how I live every day. Every day is just a practice. And when you get into that practice mode, it helps you. Like yoga. Yoga is, I think, the best example. Because you never reach peak. Yoga is just a practice ? and

then you stretch a little bit more every day. And that?s what I consider life to be ? all of life. We just practice every day. VP: I?ve always been struck by how much you really seem to love performing. It always looks like you find genuine joy in it. M E: Oh God yes! Of course I could think about the things that I dislike about it. I could think I don?t like all the travel maybe. I could think about that. But it?s a choice. You make a choice. I thought ? Okay. So this is a good means of financial security for me, so why don?t I love it while I?m doing it? And then really enjoy those things. Practice the ways to love it every day. What am I going to be grateful for? What am I going to love today? I?m going to love that I?m in Ohio. Isn?t this amazing? I?m going to practice loving where I am every single day. VP: Did some of this shift happen during your illness? M E: Oh yes. That experience ? that life-changing slap in the face of ?what life is? ? really made me dive into spirituality, religious theories and all kinds of isms. Even into quantum physics. I really started seeing the consequences of everything, and understanding things more deeply. I think that when this happens to performers, especially people who get famous, because fame is mirage. It?s

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"I have lived more in the last fourteen years than I did in my whole 43 before that." Melissa Etheridge

Photo credit: Bonnie Moret

this funny thing that people think ? If I get that, I?ll be happy. That?s not the answer, and it just complicates things. So when you realize that, then when you have a health crisis or something else that stands you up and you look at death, you go Wow! I choose to now purposefully live my life like this. That was thirteen ? almost fourteen ? years ago. And it has made my life richer. I have lived more in the last fourteen years than I did in my whole 43 before that. VP: I grew up looking at people who had everything and were still deeply unhappy trying to navigate that public/private split of fame. That?s a place where practice and mastery in daily life can make a difference by keeping you present. How has practice helped you navigate fame? Because you?ve kept reinventing yourself in a way that feels really organic. Not here?s this year ?s comeback tour. M E: It?s all about ?yes. . . and?. If you have a philosophy of ?yes. . .and?, you don?t have to negate anything you?ve done. You don?t have to look back and think now I was down and now I?m coming back. It?s always ?yes . . . and?. Everything happens for a purpose. So you go yes this happened and now I?m moving on to this. Also practice can make you humble ? and humility is important because it gives you a place to go. It enables you to dream the dream. And the dream is what?s going

to make you happy. Then the practicing of the dream every day ? that?s where the happiness lives. It doesn?t lie in the materialization of the dream. It lies in the practice of it, the journey of it, every single day. Practicing helps everything. I can?t emphasize enough what a difference it makes in your life. VP: Ken Wilber calls it transcending and including. We do keep evolving, but you can?t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Sure you have to keep tossing out the stuff that no longer works, but you are still including everything that happened in the journey as part of the whole. M E: Oh I love Ken Wilber. It?s all about ?yes. . .and?. VP: For people who struggle to create a practice, how have you created yours? I think that there?s always a small part of us that hopes that one day maybe we won?t have to practice anymore. M E: Well, yeah. Your practice will get you perfect at some things ? and then you understand that it?s all about the practice, not the mastery. Once you master something, you?ll find there?s always something else to master. Even mastering practicing is a practice. Like I practice yoga. That keeps me understanding about the practice. Because if I?ve stopped practicing for a while, I lose my elasticity and range of movement. So you want to keep going. And you receive enough from all of the

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steps along the way to where the practice becomes not just a big long staircase. You have these plateaus. Oh look at this, I did it! Now I get to go up those stairs. And you want to keep climbing. VP: Do your practice your instruments every day? M E: In a way I do, but I don?t call it that. Because such a large amount of my time is spent on the stage, I call that practicing. I?m just doing it in front of people. Especially when I was stepping up my guitar, I practiced my scales. I practiced fundamentals. And that?s the thing ? practicing fundamentals in any sport, in any musical discipline, in any sort of creative discipline ? you practice the fundamentals. So if you apply that to life, you practice the fundamentals of life. I practice eating a salad every day. That?s a fundamental. I need to get a salad in me every day. I need to get certain fundamentals in me every day. I need my 10,000 steps so I need to take my hike every day. You practice the fundamentals. So, yeah, my life is a practice. VP: I wanted to have this conversation with you because practice has been such a lifesaver for me. By creating my daily practice of joy and then sharing it, I have been able to show up to my own life in a totally different way. But when I was little, I never wanted to practice. My parents gave me piano lessons and I never stuck with it because it was too

hard. Now I think what an opportunity wasted. So what would you say to a young person who says practice is hard. M E: Well, I would say yes . . . and then I would ask them what their definition of hard was. Because it?s their thought about what hard is that is getting in their way. Because what if you view hard as the exercise, hard as the joy? You do it so that next time it won?t be so hard. Then I would point out other things they?ve done that were hard, that are easier now that they can do them. And then point out that they can look at it this way ? Look, it used to be hard for you to walk, and now you don?t even think about it. VP: I think about it in terms of video games sometimes. Kids understand in video games that they only way they get to the top level is to have mastered all the other levels. And they love how hard that top level is. But in life not so much. M E: Exactly. I?d ask them ? Why is it so easy to do this over and over and over until you get it right and get to the next level? Through video games we have recreated what our own human experience is ? we?re all just trying to get up to the different levels. VP: Another thing I?ve heard from kids is that practice only helps you get better at something you?re already good at. So why should I bother? I?m never gonna be Melissa Etheridge.

M E: Well, I would say that practice starts in your mind. If you think that way about it, yeah, it?s gonna be really hard. So I would just start with the practice of thinking more positive thoughts. Because if you hate practicing, you?re not going to get good at anything. It?s all about the attitude. And so often it?s when you finally let go of that negative attitude, that?s when the ease comes in. That?s when it gets super easy. Because so much of it is all about the mind. VP: Looking ahead, as you think about practice both in your musical and personal life, and however those

overlap, what path are you walking today forward? M E: At this point, because I?ve been practicing for so long, that now I know when I come up with something ? like let?s take the drums. Right now I?m in the studio, producing my next album myself. I?m doing everything. I?m playing the drums too? and it?s really fun! I knew I had to do that when I heard myself think, ?Oh I used to be a good drummer, but I?m not a good drummer anymore.? As soon as I started hearing those thoughts, I thought, ?Shit, this means I?m gonna have to do this. This means that?s where I?m headed. Of

Y"Your practice will get you perfect at some things ? and then you understand that it?s all about the practice, not the mastery. " Melissa Etheridge

Photo credit: Debi Del Grande

course I?m gonna play drums on my next record because I need to move through this because of my beliefs.? So often your own belief system leads you exactly to what you need to be practicing next. That?s how life leads us to our next practice. We are always being led to the ways we need to keep practicing life. And that is such a beautiful thing.

Photo credit: Craig Bryan

Victoria Price is an inspirational speaker and the author of the criticallyacclaimed VINCENT PRICE: A Daughter?s Biography. Victoria's blog, Daily Practice of Joy, chronicles her journey back to joy from a lifetime of workaholism. Her new inspirational memoir, The Way of Being Lost: A Road Trip to My Truest Self, will be released by Ixia Press/Dover on February 14, 2018. Photo credit: Bridget Burke

T H E POW ER OF RESI L I ENCE By Rev. Karen Osit Every day, I heartbreakingly step into the world of trauma, abuse and neglect. A foreign world to me for most of my comfortable upper middle-class life. A world that only caught my attention from time to time in a sensational news report. Certainly, I knew that abject poverty existed. I knew that drug addiction wreaked havoc on the lives of all those it touched. The truth is however, most of us simply have NO idea of the harsh reality of these worlds.

Most of us do not know the anguish of a frightened 4-year-old left alone to care for a hungry baby brother whose diaper has not been changed in two days. Most of us have not known the fear of a powerless 7-year-old watching his father beat his mother unconscious. Most of us have not lived with the long-term debilitating physical or cognitive effects of drug withdrawal at birth. Sadly, over the last 14 years, I have seen it all, and this world has become all too real. Fortunately, reality has its rewards as well.

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National Adoption Day is a day when I am privileged to witness some of those rewards. It is often my favorite work day of the year. It is the day I get to sit in family court and watch children be adopted into their new ?forever family? as it is called. For some, the experience is filled with total joy and excitement. For others, it is bittersweet. This year, as I watched some of the children whose lives have touched mine in profound ways, as I witnessed the smiles, the happy tears, the hugs, I thought a lot about the word RESILIENCE. The dictionary defines resilience as the ability to recover, to bounce back. Resilient is a word often associated with children. But what if it is not resilience that decides if a child will break the cycle or repeat the cycle? Many of these children have no back to which to return. What if going back is the wrong direction? As I pondered these questions, I reminded myself of the following article written by Jack Riemer of the Houston Chronicle that I read many years ago. It has stayed with me ever since. "On November 18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, gave a concert at Lincoln Center. The entire process of simply taking his place on stage is an arduous one. Having polio as a child, he has braces on both legs and uses two crutches. The audience knows this and they are happy to sit quietly and wait until

he begins to play. On one evening, after the first few bars, it became clear that something was wrong. One of the strings on his violin broke. He stopped for a moment and people thought he would need to choose a new violin and go through the long difficult process all over again. But he didn?t. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra began, and he played from where he had left off. He played with such passion and such power and such purity, as they had never heard before. Of course, anyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. I know that and you know that, but that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that. When he finished, there was an awesome silence in the room. And then, people rose and cheered, doing everything they could to show how much they appreciated what he had just done. He smiled, wiped the sweat from his brow, raised his bow to quiet us, and then he said, not boastfully, but in a quiet, pensive, reverent tone, ?You know, sometimes it is the artist?s task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.? What a powerful statement that is. I have never forgotten it. I remind myself of this story often and those words are never far from my consciousness. I have come to believe this is crucial, for

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you, for me, for all those children who do not allow their potential to be stifled by their own broken strings. And for all those who refuse to let labels define who they are or what they can achieve for all those who keep on playing! Some may believe they cannot move beyond their limitations. Itzhak Perlman is not one of them. The 12-year-old abused and abandoned young girl I have watched mature, now in a loving family and in college, studying to be a pediatrician is not one of them. And so, perhaps one of our goals in this wonderful yet uncertain world in which we live is to make music of our own kind, to craft our own story? at first with all that we have, and then, when what we have feels inadequate or broken? with w h at w e h ave lef t !

Rev. Karen Osit is an ordained Interfaith Minister and holds a Masters Degree in Therapeutic Counseling. She served as Dean of Student Finances at One Spirit Interfaith Seminary and works for the Mental Health Association of Westchester County. She worked as a crisis counselor with Project Liberty for two years, counseling the families and victims of September 11. Karen has an active wedding ministry and is poised to launch a new short-term counseling service, ?? JUST A PHONE CALL AWAY?. Karenosit.com

By Franne Demetrician A dear friend of mine, who recently packed up her life and moved across the country, shared that her move was inspired by a feeling of being stagnant where she was. She felt the need to ?shake things up?, and her way to do that was to accept consulting work in a location she loves, not really knowing how the move would impact her future but with a deep knowing that it was what was needed for her to shake off that energy. It took tremendous trust and courage and I?m in awe of her on both scores. I?m fortunate to have in my life a number of friends who have made this sort of courageous leap of faith. In various ways they each have made the choice to say ?yes? to a call from the ethers that says, ?Take a step in the direction of your dreams?. And in various ways they have. One friend lost her husband of 58 years to cancer.

After a suitable time of readjustment she made the decision to sell almost all of her belongings and her home and move closer to her children and New York City so that she could live in a way that brings her the most fulfillment and joy. Two other friends have left solid worldly work ? paycheck every week, health care, holidays, the usual benefits that go along with secure employment ? to pursue self-employment as small business owners. They have had the courage to step out of the comfort zone of steady work to follow their hearts and share their gifts, despite of the rocky terrain and uncertainty of being an entrepreneur. And two others have thrown off their lucrative corporate cloaks; one in favor of writing books and traveling the backroads of America, the other founding a publishing company that offers its readers the opportunity to expand their consciousness and authentic selves. All

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of these women have said a resounding ?YES? to the impulses of their hearts and have shifted the stagnation (or whatever word they would each apply to the urge they felt to shift) by changing their lives. And they all did it in a big way. In reflecting on these courageous and inspired women I made a connection to something that, while on the surface, looks unrelated, I realize is actually very much so. Last winter I was very ill. As a result of malabsorption of nutrients, strong medications and trauma my hair became extremely brittle and unhealthy and began to fall out. In full disclosure, I am a Leo and my hair is my crowning glory. I take great pains to keep it long, healthy and glossy. So you can imagine the horror (too strong a word? Not to me.) at finding handfuls of hair in the shower. No treatment was helping and the poor condition of my long tresses was crazy-making. One day, after yet another failed expensive treatment claiming to restore my hair to its proper glory, I decided it needed to be ?cut back?, much the way gardeners cut back trees and shrubs to encourage new, fresh growth. I?ve worn my hair long for many years and this choice was drastic on the surface. Yet the impulse arose from a need to free myself from the stagnant energy of my illness, which was evident in my hair. I felt that I needed to take a giant leap to cut off the unhealthy hair ?thus leaving behind

the trauma of my illness and making room for new and healthy growth. This was the way I would ?shake things up? and make a choice for healthy change. As a result I changed my look and energetically ? metaphorically ? and physically let go of the months of isolation and illness of last winter. I feel lighter. I feel fresh. I feel new. I feel shifted. And I?ve made space for new, fresh growth on every level. What have I learned? It doesn?t take drastic measures like some of the women I described earlier, or even cutting off beloved tresses, to encourage growth. Sloughing off stagnant energy can come in a variety of ways that only requires some focus and intention. We can sage smudge or simply open all the windows in our homes allowing the crisp winds of winter to move through and cleanse our spaces. We can take an Epsom salt bath and allow the minerals to loosen and remove the toxins from our skin and body. We can create cleansing rituals using these and other methods to remove old stagnant energy from our midst, ?cutting back? what doesn?t serve and making space for what does. We can take one or two baby steps toward something our heart desires. All of these things create energetic shifts, some subtle and some not so subtle. And, as we all know, Shift Happens and that?s what keeps us moving. Until next time.

Love is a fruit in season at all t imes, and w it hin reach of every hand. Mot her Teresa

WisdomKeeper s A r ecur r ing visit w it h one of t he wor ld's w isdom t r adit ions.

Explor e w isdom f r om Suf ism.

Th e Il l u m i n a t i n g Pr a c t i c e o f Z i K R By AnnMarie "Zhati" Agosta ?And they are the ones who remember God while they are sitting, and standing, and lying down on their sides. They meditate on the creation of the heavens and the earth, and they cry out, ?O Lord! You have not created this

without meaning or purpose! Limitless Glory to you, O Beloved One! Please save us from the fires of separation!? Quran 3:191 Zikrullah is the Arabic word that means ?Remembrance of God?. The highest ideal of every sincere Muslim is

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to be in a constant state of ?zikr ?, to always have the name of Allah on one?s lips, and in one?s heart. Like every teaching from Quran, this revelation contains many levels of meaning. The outer practice of zikr consists of chanting the Divine Names of God in community, in the Circle of Remembrance. In the Sufi tradition, the form of communal zikr is a sacred ritual that can be traced back to the early origins of the Prophet and his companions. When asked by a disciple, ?What is the quickest path to enlightenment??, the Prophet Muhammad responded, ?Chanting La Illahe Illallah?. La Illahe Illallah. There is nothing other than God. Other than God, nothing exists. Everything is God. Nothing is not. When we live in this constant awareness, standing, sitting, lying down. waking, sleeping, active, and at rest, then we are conscious with every breath that we are never separate from the Beloved and we are in a state of zikrullah, of remembrance, and of Haqq, or Truth. This state is known in contemporary spiritual thought as ?non dualism? or ?oneness?. In Sufism, we refer to this as ?Tawhid? - the Unity of All that Is.

The communal zikr traditionally takes place in the sufi lodge, or dergah, where the dervishes and their teacher, the Shaykha or Shaykh, sit in a circle of sheepskins on the ground. The sheepskins symbolize the perfect submission of the sheep, who even as they are being led to sacrifice, submit themselves willingly and peacefully to their destinies. This model of perfect submission is one of the meanings of the word ?Islam?, which means ?Surrender to God?. If one is in a state of constant remembrance, then surrender to one?s destiny becomes easy. The human mind is hard wired for duality. We see things as this and not that, male or female, night or day, good or bad. We want this and not that. But God is present in This AND That, and when we surrender our will to God?s will, we can let go of our preferences in favor of what IS. One of the great Sufi saints was a man by the name of Ibrahim Adham. Before he embarked on the path of Sufism, Ibrahim was a great king? the Sultan of Belkh in Afghanistan, who ?gave up crown and throne for the sake of Love?, to become a ?faqir ?, a poor dervish. While he was the Sultan, Ibrahim built a majestic mosque, atop many magnificent marble steps. After traveling for many years, Ibrahim returned to what was once his

kingdom, and entered the mosque that he had built. However, he no longer appeared as the great Sultan. This wandering faqir, disheveled and in tattered rags, looked suspicious to the guards at the mosque, and they grabbed him by the feet and dragged him violently down the mighty marble steps! As his head slammed against the first step, Ibrahim cried out, ?O God, why did I build this mosque atop so many steps?? But as the pain began to sink in, and his head began to bleed,

Ibrahim entered into the state of zikrullah, and remembered that Allah is present in all experiences and by the time this blessed saint hit his head on the last step he exclaimed, ?O God, why didn?t I build this mosque atop more steps?? The greatest saints are those who remember, even in the most painful or frightening of times, that God is everywhere, in the heavens and the earth, in the feast and in the famine, in life and in death.

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The Sufi belief is when we forget this Truth, we fall into illusion. We begin to believe that we are separate from God, that our problems and the problems of the world are more real than Reality Itself! This illusion of separation is the true fire of hell that is spoken of in the Quran. All suffering, micro and macro, is born of this original illusion that we are separate from our Source. And it is this suffering which also brings us back to remembrance; the metaphorical slamming of our skulls back to the realization that Only God is here? . Here, in helping hands rebuilding a country after a hurricane; here, in voices raised in peaceful protest and

solidarity in the face of tyranny; here, in the sweat of brows working to restore balance to our Mother Earth; all of us singing the eternal song of zikrullah La Illahe Illalla.

Rev. Annmarie "Zhati" Agosta, LCSW, is a psychotherapist specializing in spiritual psychotherapy and LGBTQ issues, a senior dervish of the NurAshki. Jerrahi Sufi Order International as well as an ordained Interspiritual Minister. She is founder of Authenticity Psychotherapy in East Brunswick, NJ, and is a speaker on the topics of Sufism and LGBTQ gender issues. Visit authenticitytherapy.com

I t is love t hat br ings happiness t o people. I t is love t hat gives joy t o happiness. My mot her didn' t give bir t h t o me, t hat love did. A hundr ed blessings and pr aises t o t hat love. ~Rumi

L o n gi n g t o W r i t e? I t ?s T i m e t o L et Yo u r So u l Sp eak D eb r a L an d w eh r En gl e Years ago, when I was working on my first book, I desperately wanted to express a voice that was truly mine. I wanted to share a point of view, telling stories from my own life that I knew would be meaningful to others.

say. ?Will this be the year you share your message??

In short, my soul wanted to speak, and I wanted to give it a voice.

1. Th in k abou t t h e u n iqu e exper ien ces an d per spect ives t h at h ave h elped sh ape you . Look back through your journal or make a list of the 10 most impactful moments or conversations in your life. Ask yourself these questions:

This soul desire to write always makes me think of a quote by Arnold Patent: ?If you genuinely have something to say, there?s someone who genuinely needs to hear it.? I love that quote because it doesn?t say you have to have 1,000 readers or a huge Twitter following or a big publishing contract in order to write. It says you get to have a one-on-one conversation between your heart and the heart of someone who needs your voice, your message, your healing and inspiration. A soul connection. The deepest and most profound reason to write. If you feel called to put your words on paper, you may find that desire waking you up in the middle of the night or speaking to you at unexpected times during the day. ?It?s a new year,? it might

If you?re hearing that inner calling, this is the perfect time to start. Here are four ways to give your soul a voice, beginning today.

What special expertise do I have? What life lessons have I learned? What have I overcome? What mantra or philosophy do I live by? These questions will help you focus on experiences or teachings that have helped make your life better. And here?s the thing: If they?ve made your life better, they?ll do the same for your readers. 2. Ask you r self , ?Wh y do I w an t t o w r it e?? Now answer straight from the heart, without thinking or analyzing. Understanding the reason you want to write is a critical step in honoring

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your soul?s voice. And on the days when you feel stuck, it will motivate you to keep going.

started on the difficulty of letting go in life. Those chapters were honest, raw and real.

Here?s an example of how powerful your ?Why? can be: I?m mentoring a woman who is writing about a year she spent in Paris when she was 22 years old. She faced some life-changing challenges in that year, so she?s writing the book as a memoir of her spiritual growth during that time.

?This is your book,? I told her.

Because she had so much to write about, the memoir seemed daunting until she became clear about who she was writing for and why. ?I?m writing this,? she said, ?so my nieces will know they can find light even in dark situations.? Bingo. Those words came straight from her soul, and they?ve guided her writing ever since. 3. Wr it e f r om your h ear t an d sou l, n ot som eon e else?s. This may seem obvious, but we sometimes default to other people?s stories or ideas because sharing our own makes us feel vulnerable. This happened a few years ago when a writer asked me to mentor her, and she sent me a couple of chapters of her rough manuscript. Her book, intended as a leadership guide, was a compilation of other people?s voices, not her own. When I asked if she was writing anything else, she hesitated, then sent me sample chapters from a book of essays she?d

Even though it took courage to share some deeply personal moments, she did it, and that book has gone on to inspire readers and give them comfort when they run into difficult times, too. 4. Ask you r spir it gu ides w h at you r sou l w an t s t o expr ess. In my experience, our creative muses are actual spirit guides. They?re not figments of our imagination or mere symbols of creative thought. They are mentors and creative companions who will work with you thoughtfully and intentionally as you write. I firmly believe that when you ask for help from your writing guides, you?ll get it, making your writing easier and more focused. So the next time you sit down to write, close your eyes, ask for assistance from your guides, and pose this question: What are we writing about today? Now open your eyes and begin, trusting that what comes into your heart and mind will be a message only you can share as you let your soul speak. Debra Landwehr Engle is a spiritual teacher and the best selling author of The Only Little Prayer You Need. Click Here for Debra's popular Writing A Book That Matters online courses. They are available at Sacred U until Feb 28th.

PART OF THE SOLUTION By Ji m H er ber t Hardly a day passes these days without a male celebrity or politician caught in the cross-hairs of controversy related to sexual misconduct. Each time the list grows, I experience a strange mix of emotions. Disgust and anger that for years some men have felt that they have a right to treat women as prey that they can hunt and use for personal pleasure. Deep sadness for the millions of women who have had their lives marginalized because they lived in fear, shame or guilt with a societal system that has been trained to ?look the other way?. Great joy knowing that a darkness that has existed for millennia is finally being called into the light as the

imbalance between male and female energies begin to heal and return to balance. Looking at the growing list of the accused I notice that many of them look an awful lot like me: white males over the age of fifty living for years in a privileged situation. I can?t help but pause, reflect, and ask myself whether I am part of the solution, or part of the problem. The answer to that question is: ?I?m not sure.? I want to be part of the solution. I would never treat anyone regardless of their gender like a piece of property or prey. And the next question I ask

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myself is: ?What can I do differently to be part of the healing and restoration of balance?: When I trust my intuition the answer from my higher self is a timeless one; "Every action you take and every choice you make determines what role you play in the unfolding story of the Universe.? I?ve learned that one does not initiate significant change by casting a wide net, but by creating a small ripple of the waters in their own life. When a ripple is created it will always continue to spread. And with that thought, yet another question comes to mind: "Will I keep writing the same story, or do I have the confidence, conviction and courage to be part of the new story??I?m willing to put in some good effort and see what unfolds. About eight years ago, I made a derogatory post about a hockey player during a game. I thought he was a whiner and a cry-baby, both words that I would not use in the language I use today. The post showed a picture of a fancy high-heeled ladie?s shoe with a hockey skate blade attached at the bottom. On the photo I added an unflattering caption. Some of my wife?s friends took exception to the post and called it misogynistic and in poor taste. At the time I had no idea why they would have

felt that way. I thought this was ?normal? behavior for guys ? complaining about referees, hating opposing players, loving their own. We just talk that way in the locker room and at the bar, but not in real everyday life. That was years ago and I?m proud of the many shifts and changes I have made in my beliefs about equality and human rights since. I spend much of my time working with other men helping them get comfortable with their emotions. I encourage people to see vulnerability as a beautiful sign of strength, not as a sign of weakness. I look forward to the day when each one of us understands that there is a natural and organic masculine and feminine energy that flows through all of us. That day is coming sooner rather than later in my mind. In ancient times men and women sat side by side in positions of power and responsibility. It has only been over the last few millennia that male insecurity and ego have thrown the energy out of balance. I believe that humanity is ready to change. I no longer think it is perfectly normal to post a picture of a high heeled skate to levy an insult at a male hockey player. But, does that ensure that I have become part of the solution instead of

the problem? Am I part of the ripple effect that is the healing between the masculine and feminine energies on our planet? Not yet, but I?m working on it. A few weeks ago, a male customer came into my place of work and wanted to show me something. He produced his cellphone and showed me a video of people indulging in sexual activity. ?That was at my office party at my office overseas.?, he said. I didn?t look at the video nor did I encourage him in any way, but I also didn?t ask him to stop or enlighten him with my perspective. And there have been other examples in my life where I didn?t offer my perspective on ?locker-room? talk. It?s easy to look at the news and condemn the men who are being called out for blatant sexual misconduct against women. Perhaps some men find a false sense of peace in the fact that they would never do anything like the things they hear about. It?s even become a bit trendy to be politically correct in the way men speak about and act towards women. The simple fact is that it isn?t enough. Until men start speaking out we are just putting a band-aid on a worldwide plague. I?ve done a lot to change the way I see things. Now it?s time to take it to the locker room and see what happens there. It might not always be

easy, it might not always be comfortable, but the truth is that there are millions of men who feel the way that I feel now. They simply need to know that it?s okay to feel that way. When we as men collectively learn to open our own hearts completely that ripple will become a tidal wave of change.

Jim Herbert is the Chief Joy Officer of spiritual empowerment coaching business named Emerging into Joy. His projects include grief acceptance workshops, storytelling skills development programs and men's healing circles as well as professional speaking and coaching. Jim encourages individuals to embrace their emotions, to reframe their limiting beliefs systems and organically move with the natural currents of their lives. You can contact Jim at jameshenryherbert.com.

Let me be Seen. Not in a way that?s Pleasing. But in a way that?s Honest, Fr ee, Radiant. Scanning For Signal

ACTION ON TH E GROUND H ow to h el p.

While it is February one can taste the f ull joys of anticipation. Spring stan at the gate with her f inger on the la Patience Strong

he nds atch.

RIGHT ACTIO 2007 Activist Tarana Burke created the M e Too movement to let young women of color who survive sexual assault know that they are not alone.

2017 Actress Alyssa Milano turned the phrase into a viral hashtag asking victims to share their stories with

#M eToo

$390 .0 5 billion Amount American individuals, estates, f oundations and corporations contributed to U.S. charities in 2016

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ON IN ACTION 1.5 million volunteers in India have set a world record by planting

66 million trees in just 12 hours A middle school in Texas was afr aid that they wouldn?t have enough father figur es for their

?Br eakfast With Dads? event. They posted asking for at least 50 men to come to the event so they could give mentor ship and suppor t to the young students. Over

600 men fr om all backgr ounds, r eligions, and r aces showed up for the br eakfast.

The Stone Beings as Messengers Accessing Wisdom of the Ages by Ana Maria Vasquez As we tune into the messages coming from the Stone Beings, we are reminded of how to heal ourselves and in doing that, how to heal the planet. This is Divine Guidance.

vibration create a powerful vortex and is one way we can collaborate with the Stone Beings for manifestation.

Wh at Ou r An cest or s Kn ew Abou t t h e St on e Bein gs?

Patience with and acceptance of change is one of the biggest messages coming from the rocks. Given that the age of the Stone Beings is in the millions, they can remind us about perspective over time.

Our ancestors may not have known that the primary composition in most rocks is the elements of quartz & silica, but they understood their power. Today quartz & silica are used in modern day technology as conductors and amplifiers as they have the ability to imprint and transmit vibrations. This feature allows rocks to be conduits for imprinting and amplifying frequencies and intentions. For ages, our ancestors have gathered around stone circles. Around the world people have created stone circles, such as Stonehenge, Avebury, Nazca and others. These gatherings of rocks and stones in specific configurations demonstrate a knowingness about the inherent energetic transmission abilities of the stones. Stone circles that have been imprinted with a particular

M essages f r om t h e St on e Bein gs

When we need strength and stability, the rocks can be our guides. We can call on the Stone Beings when we need the ability to withstand anything that comes our way while surrendering to Divine timing. In addition, each rock has been imprinted with galactic creation energy. As you spend time connecting with the Stone Beings, you utilize your clairesenses to intuit the messages coming from the rocks. It is a subtle flow of energy that reveals the messages from the rocks. This requires us to slow down in order to receive the messages.

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Ask Fir st ! In our excitement to connect with the Stone Beings, we often forget our manners.We pick a rock and that?s it.Maybe we put it in our pocket to take home and add to our collection. We don?t bother to ask if the rock is interested in collaborating with us. Of course, it?s never done maliciously, and yet it?s very selfish of us not to ask permission first. Does the rock want to leave its home and the ecosystem it is accustomed to?

We can hardly be blamed for this intuitive attraction to the rocks, stones, and pebbles. Each one is an actual piece of our beloved Mother Earth. However, as we expand our awareness, we come into a new relationship with the Stone Beings that brings with it depth and respect. We are shifting from doing things to nature, to being in collaboration with nature.The deeper our respect and relationship with the natural world, the deeper the revealing we receive from them. Embracing ALL Life Force Energy on this planet is crucial to our expansion.

Exer cise t o Con n ect w it h t h e St on e Bein gs -Find a stone or boulder that you can sit upon (asking permission first) -Connecting your tail bone to the rock surface to initiate the flow of energy or your bare feet on the surface of the rock -Be curious -What draws your attention as you connect? -What are you seeing? What are you hearing? What do you smell? -Where is your attention drawn? -How do you feel about all of it? -Write or draw in your journal to channel the experience through into the 3D -Thank the rock for the alliance and return to visit often!

Scan n in g For Sign al A book of prose and short writings that welcomes seekers; seekers of connection, seekers of spirit, seekers of knowledge and experience. It is a multidimensional text in that it is an interactive endeavor ? young men and women engage with not only the words on the page, but also all who have picked up the book before them, in a space of seekers, suspended in time and spirit.

Enjoy our excerpts and Find Your Connection So many hearts Locked away In our time. Password protected. Perhaps the rare seekers Should get a tattoo Of a WiFi symbol. Just so we know Who is open For connection And scanning for signal.

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It?s not that I never wanted to be here. I just never asked. And now I have all this stuff to do. And you never told me how.

I want to know my soul. I want to feel my connection with the birds, To live in the sunrise and sunset of each new day. I want to break open with emotion, For love to permeate every fiber of my being. I want to fully express the ache in my chest And the lump in my throat. I want the salt from my tears To clear the mist that shrouds my ability to see. I want to breathe the air of my ancestors And be in communion with all that is. I want to remember. I want to know my soul.

If I fall in love Will you dive in and save me? I?ve waded in before, Just ankle deep. Enough to see Love Is much too wild To find one?s way Alone.

Break me. Help me. Set me into freedom, Into motion. Stop me. Still me. Help me be free From my pendulum Of Thoughts

As my side is brushed

And

By those I pass,

Words.

I feel the pain

Keep me.

Of a thorn

Hold me.

Long forgotten.

Don?t let me fade away.

I grab hold of it, and Slowly, Gently,

Every thread

Help it out.

Is woven

The pain was

Through my heart

My friend.

And through yours.

The passersby

Be mindful

My silent saviors.

What strings you pull. For what you think is yours, Is ours.

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Wait for the day You are so happy that You see everything in sparkling gold. You see your purpose for existence In every flashing of your sight. Then live that beautiful day, Every day, For the rest of your beautiful life.

The authors of Scanning For Signal are seekers themselves, and the book they have created is largely a collaborative, but also personal, action of seeking. Rev. Patricia Cagganello, Rev. Kiah Abendroth, Evan Corey, and Kaitlin Abendroth, through their personal writings, reach out to those who are scanning for signal. Click Her e f or Scan n in g For Sign al

Wh er e Lear n in g Is Exper ien ced

Click on Cou r se Car ds f or M o

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or e In f o an d FREE Con t en t !

Click Her e f or M or e f r om Sacr ed U