The Learning Curve & Curve

 

The Learning Curve & Curve

New technology is always coming online so there always seem to be things popping up that need to be updated. It is challenging sometimes when an app you use every day suddenly gets updated and you have to change the way you use it. The learning curve that keeps on curving. In relatively recent years it has become easier for people to work from home, for artists to sell their work directly to the public, for writers to publish their own book, find your way to new places with a voice guiding your navigation, the way credit card and other types of payments are made, the ability to create and distribute a newsletter like this efficiently and economically. There had to be changes made to my website and newsletter to adjust to the fact that most searches are now done on phones and tablets. Now the growing use and popularity of podcasts and videos. As these have been emerging, I have frequently been invited to be interviewed on these kinds of formats. I say yes to everyone who asks. It's fun and a good way to get ideas out there and meet new people. At first, all of the interviews I did were on audio formats. Now, I have had the opportunity to do two new ones using video. One of them is Light Talk with Dana. Dana Knoetgen has a series of interviews with healers and people engaged in metaphysical and spiritual endeavors. The session I recorded with her is not up yet, but will be this month. Meanwhile you can check out her series and I will let you know when it is posted. Click on this link to see Dana's You Tube show The second one was an interview I did with Chris Mathieu for his next documentary Doors of Perception that will be about connections between spirit guides, past lives, near death experiences, contact experiences, shamanic journeys, dream states and meditation. His previous documentary Occult Louisiana can be seen for free on You Tube, so this link will take you right to the trailer for this. The session we recorded will be part of the next movie, not the last one. He expects it to be available by November or December. I will let you know when that one is done. But you can see Chris's earlier work by clicking this link. Click on this link to see the movie trailer on You Tube Enjoy the videos and if you are interested in doing a podcast or video or anything like this feel free to ask me because I always say Yes! I always love hearing from you, so if you feel like sending me a note, calling or coming to see me, please do! If any of you has any idea you would like me to include in my newsletters, I will consider all suggestions. Have a wonderful day!

Creating Higher Vibrations

 

Creating Higher Vibrations

Next month, August 9-11, there will be a weekend of sacred chant, and if you have never participated in such a thing, the music itself transforms and uplifts the spirits of those who are there. So when I found out about this event, I felt like it was a good way to spend the weekend of my birthday. Music all weekend. What a great way to celebrate! I will be there offering reiki healing and readings for people who are in attendance who might also feel that they flow of the music is opening the flow to other energies, and combine healing with live music. I will be sharing the tent with McKenna DeRue, who apprenticed with me for a full year. There is a photo of us below. McKenna now has her own practice, but we thought it would be fun to do our work in the midst of waves of music and in festival settings it can be fun to share the space. The web address is listed above to get a look at the complete program of events. One of the joys of an event like this is that you can experience chant from many different traditions, so you can discover new music as well as old familiar sounds. In addition to vocal harmonies, there will also be sessions with singing bowls, flutes and drums, so you can experience the joys of sound in various ways that all contribute to healing and peace of mind. Music has always been part of my life. I have played in bands, led drumming circles, sung in various chant circles and done shamanic drumming to help people access spiritual visions, as well as guided meditations. In all of these forms, I have found that music can open up pathways to other dimensions. Traditions all over the world have developed music for spiritual practices and this event will let a person sample a lot of different kinds in one place, in one weekend. We all have favorite music and types of sounds, and we can enjoy that while also experiencing something new and different. And that can lead to adding something new to your own spiritual practices. These kinds of music are for everyone to participate in, rather than going somewhere to watch others perform. One of the magnificent things about this is that a person can let go of any feeling of not being the best singer. It is when all those present join in together that a beautiful bigger sound is created. I have seen people who had thoughts about themselves not having a good singing voice let go of those thoughts and have fun joining in making a joyful sound. The organizer of the event is Kimberly Braun, who is on the board of IANDS (International Association for Near Death Studies, who I met a several years ago when I volunteered to help at their annual national conference). She is offering a discount to those of you reading this newsletter. Ticket sales are through Eventbrite. Here is the code: FLYER24  For a 15% discount. In many spiritual traditions hearing is the sense that is closest to spirit, so that is why music is universally used as a tool to communicate with spirit. Another saying is that when we are praying, we are talking to spirit and when we meditate, we are listening to spirit. So when we are singing in a chant circle we are both singing and listening at the same time, in alternating waves. Notice how chant uses call and response rounds to do this. A saying in some African traditions is that the three things spirit likes best are drumming, dancing and singing. Listening opens up new ways to experience music and the music brings us new messages from spirit. I can tell you from having done a lot of this that you will find yourself enveloped in a very special feeling from having participated feeling that the music has enlivened and energized your entire being. I have sung with a number of the presenters on this program in years past, and they are excellent singers, musicians and leaders. What new messages could you get from spirit by adding more music to your life? Use a tool that you always have with you. Discover the magic in your own voice. I always love hearing from you, so if you feel like sending me a note, calling or coming to see me, please do! If any of you has any idea you would like me to include in my newsletters, I will consider all suggestions. Have a wonderful day!

Seeing in the Dark

 

Seeing in the Dark, Part 2

My last article prompted a request for clarification from a couple of readers, so here it is. Shamanism is as old as humanity, and from the beginning, shamans have used both psychedelic stimulants, such as herbs and mushrooms, and sound as tools for spiritual journeys. What is a recent development is that Colorado now recognizes psychedelic assisted therapy as a legal business, and by all accounts this is a method that is helpful to many people for healing. I mentioned that for only one simple reason. Since that is a new development, it is getting a lot of attention to the subject of shamanic journeying and healing. That prompted me to think of a healng practice that I had not done for a while, shamanic journeying. Both methods are shamanic methods, just different. Shamanic journeying helps many people find peace, healing and guidance from spirit that are not psychedelic assisted. The method I use, which is shamanic journeys driven by drum beats or shaking rattles are simple, repetitious beats, the rhythm itself propelling the journey. The beats are not songs or attempts to make music in the ordinary sense. The beats form steps, like staircases, which the listener can follow into different dimensions to meet spirit guides, ancestors, past lives, animal totems and get information and healing messages through these visions encountered on the journey. The drumming or rattling themselves are done without any other type of musical accompaniment or spoken words. That sonic pathway is short and intense in duration, lasting from 15- 30 minutes. Immediately following the sound participants return to present consciousness to discuss what they experienced and we help them get clear meanings and messages from these experiences. So let us say that a group wants to get together and experience this type of shamanic journey. By the time we do one round with the drum and one round with the rattle, with discussions in between, that would comprise about a 3 hour session. Perhaps 4 hours if the group is larger, just to give you an idea of a time frame. During the session, only the leader is doing the drumming or rattling while all the journeyers are reclining. When the sound stops, the leader then facilitates the discussions among all the journeyers to derive the most value from their experience. The leader can help identify additional meanings and messages from the journeys through the recognition of symbols and guidance from spirit. At the present time, my home office is not adequate to host such group activities, so it will be necessary to do them in the homes of the host journeyers. The photo above shows the tools I use to conduct the shamanic journeys; smudge, fan, drum and rattle. I always love hearing from you, so if you feel like sending me a note, calling or coming to see me, please do! If any of you has any idea you would like me to include in my newsletters, I will consider all suggestions. Have a wonderful day!