How do we find authentic community in this time of internet and virtual world realities? This is a question posed to me over and over again in my practice and in my own day to day awareness. The truth of the matter is we can say anything we want online and in a time where life is so transient, many folks are just plain reluctant to get too "attached" or maybe too scared to move into trust...

I've discovered inside myself this impatience with the idea of home and community. I grew up in a place where one rarely left town.. It's incredibly difficult to leave a space and go out into the world to learn and grow. There is an innate and deep knowing of this in my birth community. I have lived in CT longer now than in the land where I began this life trip and I have been looking for "home" the entire time. When things got uncomfortable or difficult, I would uproot often quickly to the next chapter. I have since had an aha! moment strangely simple... "Home really IS where your heart is"! I know that sounds overly simplistic but wow, since I have settled into this realization and just stayed present, I get shown where I have community growing from seeds I planted years ago. Settling into our Sandy Hook home in the forest has taught me so much about change and seasons and growth and patience.
 
My husband and I decided to go looking for community out on the road Summer 2018 and while we did not find a place we would like to settle into elderhood in, we did find a common unity with other travelers. In a nutshell what we saw and learned about community was that for us it starts with letting go of our "safe" zone or as my dear one put it... "We were letting go of the edge of the pool in the deep end". The second part of our journey into community was to let go of judgements and to trust. Over and over our experience on the road taught us that we would be taken care of. That our needs are always met. Wait a minute... what? Yeah there is something deeper at work here... 

So here we were looking for community and finding a unity in the unknown. Hmm. There's a mind bender. What if there were ways of communication we aren't totally aware of? What if, we really are connected in a way that precedes language? What if, when our thoughts go out of "I need___" there is a response somewhere in the universe that puts us exactly in the right circumstances to fulfill that need? This was the magic we experienced on the road and continue to experience and try not to block.

So try it.. put out your wishes. keep them simple at first and clear and wait for a lovely surprise because it hardly ever shows up in the way you might expect!

It  becomes  an  aspect of daily  prayer  to call  to  the directions morning and night. For me, I have always felt the most honest way to start has been in the East, honoring the rising sun, new beginnings calling the light into my being. You can imagine how difficult, after years of doing the directions in this way around the Sacred Wheel, I started an advanced course on the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition based in Peruvian wisdom with don Oscar Miro Q'uesada. Let me just say, don Oscar insisted that we follow his directions to the letter but also gave us room for our authenticity. As was familiar to me, the Peruvian way was to start in the South and so as I sat at my newly consecrated Mesa (earth alter) for the first time, I looked at the stone I had consecrated for the South which represents the physical body and all things of the earth. I have carried this particular stone from a young age from my first journey experiences in the woods behind my family's home. It felt so appropriate for this to be the first stone I placed on this new Mesa which was/is for my own healing, rather than for others. This is the direction we call pacha mama in this Pachakuti Mesa Tradition. I studied this stone that just a few years ago, I had retrieved from my favorite journey place in the woods. I had travelled to upstate NY with my son to see family and show him my sacred places. We had found the spot with some difficulty, since it was on someone else's land and the land had changed so much that it felt like a dream that I had even been there. At last, under a basket of roots, we found her. We picked her up and left behind a worry doll and an apache tear in her place and trekked to all of my favorite spots on the land. My son couldn't understand why this was where I played when there was such a steep grade here and plenty of flat land down below. (I giggled inside at his comments, at the same time a little sad that he didn't share my enthusiasm.) In my childhood imagination, this stone had been a beautiful crystal, much like the crystals that now grid my home. Now, as my son commented, it looks like a "clump of mud". How perfect to represent the physical and the direction of the South. 
I called the South and accidentally used the name for the West almost three days in a row before realizing I had done it "wrong"! Back to consecrating and now I am on track with my Pachakuti Mesa. Each day begins with sacred remembrance  aka re-member-ance and so why not start in that place of earth and the physical since here is where our first experience in this plane of existence lies. That place is the South... the physical... connecting to the below through the earth herself, and to the sacred serpent who travels the deep dark spaces where we love to hide. This calling it in, has brought me many lessons in humility bringing up all of the flaws I love to hide and providing an aspect of good humor to those around me. I have learned to laugh at myself, rather than be ashamed or embarrassed. And so it is with much love that I move to the West where I place a shell and connect with the sacred element of water and the moon and watch how the flow of my life changes with the honoring, bringing in the energies of whale and dolphin and their playful sounds into our sound healing. Also honoring the mothers and grandmothers of all time in a sacred way asking for their wisdom to be with me throughout my day. Moving then to the North where I place a feather, connecting with the sacred element of air/wind and feel myself lifted and expanded, bringing in the energies of Eagle and Condor and their lofty flight and powerful wings that use the air for inspiration and to carry our prayers to the heavens. Also honoring the ancestors and all who have come before us asking that their knowledge and support be with me through my day. Turning then to the East where I place a candle, the place of the sacred element of fire, the rising sun, that burns away all that does not serve us and fuels our passion to urge us on our path, connecting with the energies of the jaguar and cougar that bring a certain stealth and grace to our sacred walk. Also honoring the light beings that light my path asking them to help me see myself and all around me with greater clarity during my day. Finally I come to the within where I place a beautiful crystal, honoring the light and anchoring myself as a column of light connecting earth and the heavenly realms, asking that I remain a willing vessel to this light and carry and shine it out throughout my day. In this way, I am remembering who I am and who I am becoming, keeping it with me throughout my day. Much love to you all on this wonderful hot late Summer day! Many blessings for your own remembering.
The above was written nearly a year ago and I am unsure why it did not get published... As I look back over the time since I wrote this blog, much has happened in regard to the animals related to the directions. When I was working intensely with the South, we had little baby snakes show up in our house... yes IN our house! I would be in the kitchen or living room and sliding across the floor would be a little snake that we would have to carry outside. I had to get clear with the spirits that I was calling in the energies of the sacred earth serpent not actual snakes! In the West work I went on a whale watch and had a beautiful experience with my mom, dad and sister watching those beautiful beings appearing again and again near our boat. In the North work I had a very magical experience with eagle. In the East work I had the opportunity to track a huge mountain lion near a friends property and while I never actually saw her, I felt her and left some tobacco in her paw print as a gift to her sharing her energy without harm. Recently, I had a very magical experience with a black bear. He or she came within about 5-6 feet of myself and my dog. Looking directly at me as if to say, "yes, I'm here for you," I felt completely calm inside, thinking , 'wow, I wonder what happens next'. With that thought, my dog barked and off the bear went into the woods. I happened to be eating my breakfast on my back deck at the time... maybe he/she thought I might share?
Blessings to all and I hope you have a magic filled day. Remember... the magic is within you..

Salt is, shamanic-ally speaking, working with the foundation of life itself, the building blocks so to speak. Himalayan salt's colloidal nature allows each salt molecule to be inter-connected through molecular vibrations.  This salt is said to be the purest salt available essentially uncontaminated with any toxins or pollutants.  Quite often this salt has been hand mined and washed in an environment that is pristine.  Himalayan salt is over 250 million years old that has been exposed to high tectonic pressure surrounded by ice and snow high in the mountains.  When observed under a microscope, this salt has a perfect crystalline structure. Cube or octahedron in shape we can see the shape of the great pyramid if we stand it on a point! This is potent energy! 

In the field of energy healing, we use salt as a means to purify and I have never been disappointed in its power to cleanse and release, protect and heal. It also in its shape reflects the medicine wheel and its directions (East, South, West, North, Below, Above and Within).
So let's take a closer look at what we are working with in the Saltana Cave and see why we all love being in that healing space.

Salt has the power to melt ice... so we use it to remove cold energy from our field and our bodies. It also has a drying and curative effect and so we also use it to move damp energy from our systems. All combined with its powerful geometry and the minerals it possesses, and that's not all!! 

Our body does not need to metabolize the crystal salt in order for its energy to enter directly into our cells. Salt has a very unique property. As opposed to other crystalline structures, the atomic structure of salt is not molecular, but electrical! Guess what? Quartz crystal that is activated as in sound vibration, also has electrical properties!!! It's called Piezoelectricity. And it is the same kind of electricity that our bones, our DNA and various proteins generate under applied pressure.

So imagine, All of this combination of healing sound vibration and piezoelectricity , combined with spiritual intention, The beauty of the pink Himalayan salt and its minerals and electrical properties with sacred geometry! Here you have the possibility of purification and of creating a new way of being in the world. 

Yes we do love our sessions in the Saltana Cave! 
Until next time... honey in the heart, thank you thank you thank you! 

Clearing the lineage of distortion

Many of us, if not all,have vibrational distortions which may manifest as drug abuse, alcoholism, eating disorders, lack mentality, rage, depression and so on.. that are inherited through our lineage and that sit in our DNA through time and that we, if we do not clear, pass on to our children.
At times, these distortions are so enmeshed in our energy systems that it is very difficult for us to clear on our own.
This where a healer can help you to facilitate your own clearing, only if you are ready and willing.

What to expect

I will use many tools to assist you in this process. You can sit in a chair or lie on a massage table fully clothed and with pillows for comfort. I may light sage or other scented herbs like Palo Santo or cedar. The first part of the process is about getting to a light trance state where you are comfortable and yet fully present as to what is going on.
I may use sound for this or it may be a guided meditation. The second part is zeroing in on where this distortion is located for you and we will clear that area. I generally use herbs, water and prayer and sometimes sound (crystal or Tibetan Bowls or voice or combination) during this part of the process. I would assure you that you are in charge and if anything does not feel correct in the moment, you are allowed to speak up at any time and we can shift the process so that you are comfortable.
We will work with both sides of your ancestry so please allow for that. We work until we are finished and time is usually 90 minutes or so.. Sometimes quicker..
With all of that being said, sometimes other blocks are in the way of this work and need clearing first.. I keep an open mind and heart for the work that spirit has called you to in that particular moment. The session may turn around in an unexpected way to an event in your childhood or birth and I will always honor that and ask if you are ready to look at this and release it or not.

Self Care

There will be homework... This is an ongoing process for you. One of the most common homework assignments would be to build an alter to your ancestry and offer your gratitude for the work that has been done and the healing that has happened.
This should include objects gifted you by them and pictures as well as gifts from you such as fresh flowers stones...   DRINK PLENTY OF WATER

How you can prepare.. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER

Keeping an open mind and heart about the process is very important...
Before sleeping, invite any ancestor willing to speak with you into your dreamtime, state your intention of clearing this distortion from the lineage for them, for you and for all future generations. With out holding any preconceived ideas ask to be given any clues about where this distortion may have come from. Pay attention to your dreams.