Exploring the Colors of Love

So much has been written about Love. So many songs have been sung about Love.  Yet, people keep looking for it, trying to define it, and, yes, lamenting it! 

Love can encompass so many human experiences and can inform so many human activities and feelings; it is one concept that cannot be limited in any way. 

My Spiritual Guide, Saji, tells me that Love is the power that moves the Universe.  It's what the Universe is made from!

For me, Love has infinite dimensions and expressions!  Since I am an Astrologist, let me give you an example of the variety of ways in which Love can be expressed, according to the Zodiac. This particular list was written by astrologer Linda Goodman:

ARIES:  to teach... that Love is Innocence; and to learn... that Love is Trust.

TAURUS: to teach... that Love is patience; and to learn... that Love is forgiveness.

GEMINI: to teach... that Love is awareness, and to learn... that Love is feeling.

CANCER: to teach... that Love is devotion; and to learn... that Love is freedom.

LEO: to teach... that Love is ecstacy; and to learn... that Love is humility.

VIRGO: to teach... that Love is pure; and to learn... that Love is fulfillment.

LIBRA:  to teach... that Love is beauty; and to learn... that Love is harmony.

SCORPIO:  to teach...that Love is passion; and to learn... that Love is surrender.        
               
SAGITTARIUS:  to teach... that Love is honesty; and to learn... that Love is loyalty.

CAPRICORN:  to teach... that Love is wisdom; and to learn... that Love is unselfish.
                             
AQUARIUS: to teach... that Love is tolerance;  and to learn... that Love is Oneness.

PISCES: to teach... that Love is compassion;  and to learn... that Love is All.

This is just one person’s interpretation, but it illustrates the variety of expressions and feelings that the act of LOVE encompasses!  Since we carry ALL of these energies in our astrology charts, we can embody any and all of them.

Here’s astrologer Ffiona Morgan’s interpretation on how Love is expressed through the Houses in a typical Astrology Natal chart:

1st House: Expression of love by giving of the self.

2nd House: Expression of love by giving of possessions and talents.

3rd House:  Expression of love through words, the mind, education.

4th House:  through admiration and esteem, parents, or ancestors.

5th House: through romance, children, self-created art, and sex that includes romance.

6th House: through work, duty, and obligations.

7th House: through relationships.

8th House: through sensual sex, which is used as a process of tranformation.

9th House: through spirituality and God/dess.

10th House: through healing.

11th House: through friends and the joys of companionship.

12th House: through compassion for the lost and unfortunate.

The Houses show the area of life through which the energies of Love can be expressed.  And each House has many levels and nuances.

Other expressions of love include:

Love for country

Love for land, sea, wind, forest, etc.

Love for animals

Love for plants

Love for the Earth planet, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars....Space itself.

Love for artistic products: movies, paintings, songs, kind of music, etc.

Love for spiritual mentors and spirit guides

Love for activities, such as doing crafts, playing music, advocating for change, etc.

So........how do you know that what you are feeling is truly Love?  First of all, the act of loving makes you feel good; it feels like an expression of your inner joy, or joie de vivre!  Even in the midst of grief, you can feel good that “Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.”

You can also love someone whom you don’t even like!  The thing about love is that it accepts the loved one “as is.”  That doesn’t mean you have to spend any time with them or even give them the time of day!  It’s enough to know you are connected, deep down.  So you don’t send them any negative energies by speaking meanly about them.  You don’t pity them, because you have faith that they will learn through their lives here on Earth to use their free will for the good of all.

In fact, if you don’t like someone, or even if you hate them, there is a lesson there.  They can be your shadow-teacher if you learn the lesson!  They may be reflecting something in you that needs changing.  Or perhaps they are reminding you of yourself when you were a younger, more immature soul....and your lesson is to be patient and set a good example.  Maybe they are giving you a challenge which, in meeting it, sharpens you.  Or maybe your “revenge” is living well.  Who knows?  But once you learn the lesson, the path to love is as wide open as your heart becomes!

The Shaman-Artist Imelda Almqvist wrote a powerful piece about “Staying in the Place of Love.”  In her words, "Staying in the Place of Love is a blog about a vision that appeared in a recent dream, about asking The Divine Mother (as you understand her) to create a temple in your heart for her to lovingly tend to those people you cannot actively love or embrace just now.”

This is one way to express love to those we don’t exactly “like,” or those who we feel have harmed us or others.  We can also “bless” them with prayers like, “May (this person) be taught what he needs to know by his own greater self.”  “May (this other person) find what she needs to grow into her true self.”  You can easily think of your own blessings.  You can also use imagery; for instance, see that person inside a rose (or whatever symbolizes spiritual wisdom and goodness to you).  Then imagine an angel (or spiritual guide) taking the rose to a place of healing, wholeness and happiness.

"Love is a travel.  All travelers whether they want or not are changed.  No one can travel into love and remain the same."  –Shams Tabriz

Sometimes love grabs ahold of you and won’t let go.  And what a wild ride that is! 

The great writer William Shakespeare said, “Don't waste your love on somebody, who doesn't value it.”  But he also wrote this Sonnet 116:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
 Admit impediments. Love is not love
 Which alters when it alteration finds,
 Or bends with the remover to remove:
 O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
 That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
 It is the star to every wandering bark,
 Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
 Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
 Within his bending sickle's compass come:
 Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
 But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
 If this be error and upon me proved,
 I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Truly, if love is what we ARE, what we are made of, we cannot be other than love.   

The Witch and Lawyer Phyllis Curott (who wrote a great novel about Love called “The Love Spell”) reminds us in her video (How to Cast a Love Spell) that all great Love spells start with loving ourself!

The Teacher and Healer Jesus (who I believe to have taught Pleiadian knowledge) said we need to love others AS WE LOVE OURSELVES, not more than we love ourselves.  And loving ourselves sometimes means we need to have strong boundaries and keep our energies from harm.  And yes, I do believe this is what we are here (in the 3rd dimension) to learn.  As as we move into the 4th and 5th dimension, the sense of Self-Love becomes even greater.  And AS OUR SELF-LOVE blossoms, we are able to love our friends and family all the more.  And we can also RECEIVE the love of our friends and family more joyfully and easily. 

Here are some affirmations (written by the great Teacher Louise Hay) about this important foundation of self-love in our life:

Deep at the centre of my being there is an infinite well of love.

I now allow this love to flow to the surface.

It fills my heart, my body, my mind, my consciousness, my very being, and radiates out from me in all directions and returns to me multiplied.

The more love I use and give, the more I have to give, the supply is endless.

The use of love makes me feel good; it is an expression of my inner joy.

Yes, I love myself, therefore I take loving care of my body.

I lovingly feed it nourishing food and beverages.

I lovingly groom it and dress it and my body lovingly responds to me with vibrant health and energy.

I love myself, therefore I provide for myself a comfortable home, one that fills all my needs and is a pleasure to be in.

I fill the rooms with the vibration of love so that all who enter, myself included, will feel this love and be nourished by it.

I love myself, therefore I work at a job that I truly enjoy doing, one that uses all my talents and abilities, working with and for people that I love and love me, and earning a good income.

I love myself, therefore, I behave in a loving way to all people for I know that that which I give out returns to me multiplied.

I only attract loving people in my world for they are a mirror of what I am.

I love myself, therefore I forgive and totally release the past and all past experiences and I am free.

I love myself, therefore I love totally in the now, experiencing each moment as good and knowing that my future is bright, and joyous and secure, for I am a beloved child of the universe and the universe lovingly takes care of me now and forever more.

And so it is.

As for being partners-in-love, it is important that self-love does not get trampled in such a relationship.  The poet Kahlil Gibran wrote:  "Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls."

Can both partners in a love relationship find their individual inner-power AND their power with each other?  I believe so, as long as they don’t drain each other.  They both need to get their power from within and from their own connection with All-That-Is.  The relationship of love and power is important.  Writer and Shaman Lynn V. Andrews wrote a book about the interaction of these two qualities (“Love and Power: Awakening to Mastery”) and concluded:

“The power to rebuild what is broken is born from love.  Always.  Power and love are mates. They live together in deep appreciation and support of each other.  Without that marriage, there may be force, but there won’t be happiness.  There won’t be fulfillment, nor the joy and freedom you are looking for.  When you waken to the power of love in even the simplest aspects of your life, you begin to grow.  Then you stop fighting yourself."

Healer Anne Jones specializes in healing the heart with love.  Here’s one of her videos (Healing a Shattered Heart) that will show you how to heal the heart in the event of heartbreak, grief, or heartache.

Love starts with loving ourself and ripples out into the world.....changing ourself, each other, and (eventually) everything!  If you feel you can’t love more than yourself right now, try loving a plant, or a pet.....that will be enough to get the love flowing....

“Most people know intuitively that when you fall in love, the world is full of magic. What they don't know is that when you discover the universe is full of magic, you fall in love with the world.” 

                 ~Phyllis Curott

"It is time to redefine power, to expand our concept of what being powerful really means. True power is love. It is not power over someone. It is everyone, all of us, standing together in a circle, building power side by side.  As I build my power, I create a mirror, a reflection of power that you can use to build your power…I inspire you and you inspire me; and together we create a world of healthy, interdependent, creative people."

                ~Lynn V. Andrews

It is said that we are in an Ascension at this time on this planet.  Love changes our vibration and leads us into something new.  We joyfully dance to the new beat of PlanetDrum!  The HEART is the bridge to the 5th Dimension, but only if we are grounded from the earthly dimensions.  Being grounded comes from loving the Planet and experiencing Nature in a positive way.  A simple way to ground ourself is to touch an element, hold a stone, feel the warmth of a fire, immerse in water, savor the scent of something we enjoy.  Feel the energy of our bodies rooted to the Earth and open to the Sun, Moon, and Stars.  Once we are grounded, we can safely open our hearts, and in this way, open to being a channel for Universal Love. 

“The desire of the fifth dimension is to get deeply involved in your feelings and to serve as your center and radiate love to you and all other things.

“I am the dimension of your heart, and if you remain intensely centered in your bodies responding to all things that are drawn to you, I funnel waves of love through you, so that you have endless energy to offer kindness to all the beings in your world. If you stay completely grounded in the sacred space you occupy with your heart open as a conduit into the center of Earth, you will be in samadhi with me. I am the center of all nine dimensions that you access. When you are centered in your body and connected to the center of Earth, my energy funnels through the fourth dimension and flows directly into your heart. When this river of love flows into you, the four dimensions above myself begin to flood your awareness. The more you hold your heart open while you are grounded, the more you feel the subtle vibrations of the higher dimensions.”

  ~from The Pleiadian Agenda: A New Cosmology for the Age of Light by Barbara Hand Clow

As we enter (dancing, singing, drumming, smiling, letting go) into the 5th dimension, we know that love is magic, and love is joy.......as the Byrds sang:

I found all the surrounding
Who showed me the joy that innocently is
Just be quiet and feel it around you

And I opened my heart to the whole universe and I found it was loving....

-- Fifth Dimension by the Byrds

By:  Peggy Andreas

Path of the Sacred Thief

RAVEN was a great Thief who stole the Moon and the Sun from the Sky Chief, and brought them to the sky above Turtle Island.(1)                    

    A powerful and wealthy aristocrat, who was also a Sky Chief, owned the Sun and the Moon.  He kept them in boxes in his house.  After a nasty crash into another tree in the dark, Raven was very angry.  “Who does this Sky Chief think he is that he can own the sun and the moon, and keep the rest of us in the dark?” he cawed with righteous indignation.

                                 – Larry McNeil’s retelling of Northwest Native American myth

Raven’s “righteous indignation” or “anger” describes his FEELING that a boundary has been crossed by Sky Chief.  This boundary has to do with what is NEEDED for the Raven, and for the world he inhabits.  Sky Chief doesn’t have to live in the world below, so he really doesn’t care what happens there.  So Raven decides to DO something about it!

In the story, Raven transforms himself into a spruce needle which falls into the Sky Chief’s daughter’s water bucket.  The Sky Chief’s daughter drinks the water, and swallows the spruce needle.  This causes her to become pregnant with Raven’s spirit!  When Raven is born, he is white.  His grandfather (the Sky Chief) dotes on him.  Eventually, Raven gets his grandfather to show him the Sun and Moon, which Raven snatches immediately and flies out the smokehole in the ceiling, getting all colored black (with soot!) in the bargain.  He then places the Sun and Moon in the sky so ALL can enjoy them.

When Raven becomes black, he is marked as Shadow for all eternity. “In Native teachings, the color black means many things, but it does not mean evil.  Black can mean the seeking of answers, the void, or the road of the spiritual or nonphysical.” (2)  Black is the color of the soil, the color of Silence, the color of Wisdom, the color of the Night.  Black is also a symbol of Raven’s “smudging.”  In Native American lore, smoke carries blessing and communication.  Ironic, isn’t it, that Raven was marked by the darkness, even as he brought light into the world?

Many Native American traditions speak of “the black road” that represents “the mind.”

    Our life journey starts in the far southwest corner of the first cycle. The road from east to west, we believe, is the intellectual, mental road, the linear road. This road is called the black road. When we live only in our mind, we create emotions from our thoughts that can be very dangerous. When we are disconnected from our heart and only live in our linear mind, we cannot see in a holistic manner. When our heart is not connected to our mind, we lack clarity and insight. This can create fear, anger, hatred, jealousy, and can also destroy our self-identity and spiritual-identity.

                                              – Marilyn Youngbird, “What is Medicine?”

A Thief is a Shapeshifter...and that shift comes from the power of the Mind!   When the mind is wounded, it shatters into a million pieces.  The Path of the Sacred Thief heals the MIND by searching for every last piece and fitting them into some kind of Whole.  In other words, the Path of the Sacred Thief links up the MIND with the BODY, SPIRIT, and SOUL.  Perhaps, the mind IS the link between the body, spirit and soul!

Mind is represented by the Moon, which waxes and wanes, becoming more white or black, stealing the light of the Sun as its own.  The Moon has special magnetism for Wolf and Coyote, other animals associated with the Sacred Thief.   One story describes Coyote thusly: “Coyote himself was lazy and always looked for the easy way to obtain his wants and desires. He never told the whole truth about anything.”(3)

    Coyote is often a teacher by counter-example as he employs base human traits including lying, cheating, and sexual misconduct. He is also a master at physical transformation. The frequently foiled Coyote, who interfaces with humans and transcendent deities, is often credited with human creation as well as human evolution consequent from his treachery.”                                    

     ---Michael Eldridge

Some other animals associated with the Path of the Sacred Thief are Ant, Weasel, Rat, Wolf, Cat, Squirrel, Wolf, Raccoon, Crow, Rabbit, Fox, Mouse, Dolphin---animals that are attracted to humans and often steal from humans and “collect” objects out of curiosity, fascination and desire.  Some might call these “power objects.”  What the Sacred Thief really wants is POWER; yet it seems to take a long time for the Sacred Thief to realize this!

Like the Sacred Clown, the Sacred Thief gives us a mirror; but instead of seeing ourselves in the eyes of the people who love us, we see ourselves in the eyes of the people who hate us, or (at the least) people who do not understand us, or who want to steal our power.  This is a different kind of mirror, a dark mirror.  Yet, it is good to honor the Darkness. “We all have a dark side; never forget that it is the darkness which defines the light. . . By honoring the dark side, you destroy her power over you. Then she can’t take you.”(4)

What exactly is a Thief?  A Native American might consider the White European Invaders thieves because of the way their Chiefs broke treaties and took over lands, pushing the Native Americans onto “reservations,” or worse.

Conversely, a common insult in present-day White America is to call someone an “Indian Giver,” meaning that the person gave you a gift and now wants it back.  This came from the Europeans’ misunderstanding of a Native American cultural tradition--that of expecting gifts to be shared among all, and periodically re-given.  Native Americans were also considered thieves if they decided to drive out the White settlers, or simply because they existed in a place that the settlers coveted.  Plus, they had a different concept of ownership, and did not understand the concept of “property” in the way of the European.

There are many examples where the epithet of “Thief!” was thrown at each of the groups involved, or at individuals caught in the crossfire.  What we know for certain is that the world of the American Indian changed drastically with the coming of the European Explorers, Colonists and Exploiters.  In some Native American prophecies and stories, it is said that this was meant to be.  The white strangers were very very different; but both races would learn from each other.  To many Native Americans, the White invaders were the long-lost younger siblings who had returned, but had not yet learned a vital lesson, the KEY to living upon the Earth.

    The "white intruders" brought much change to Indian people. Who is to say that it was not meant to be that way? Yes, all of the North American continent has been taken away, except for about two percent that American Indians still have that they call their homelands. The American Indian almost disappeared with the buffalo when less than a thousand buffalo were left by the turn of the 20th century, and only 225,000 Indians had survived the deadly new diseases and more than one thousand wars. But life was hard; it was never meant to be easy -- not for anyone! Perhaps, that is what all of us must learn for the 21st century. That we should not waste our natural resources and that we should value the natural environment, or else we will destroy ourselves.

    --Donald Fixico, Thomas Bowlus Distinguished Professor of American Indian History and Director of the Center for Indigenous Nations Studies at the University of Kansas

Indeed, it could be said that the indigenous people of Europe originally held values that were very similar to the Native American values.  In fact, the concept of “I own this land” is a relatively recent concept in the evolution of human culture all over the world!  The concept of Boundaries seems itself to have been stolen in this era of Corporate Ownership of natural resources!

Thieves, like children and certain animals, love to steal things that entice them.  Children (especially very young children) are natural Thieves.

As children, Sacred Thieves are likely to have experienced ongoing situations where their personal boundaries (both physical and emotional) are routinely crossed.  Sometimes it is their own families that cross these boundaries; sometimes it is someone outside of the family.  Sometimes this boundary-crossing is semi- or completely unconscious; it amounts to ABUSE nonetheless.  Because of this experience, young Thieves become confused and have a difficult time (as they grow) getting clear about their sexual, emotional, and relational needs.

    When we visited the Boston Aquarium several years ago, we saw sharks swimming in the big tank alongside all sorts of exotic, much-smaller fish. "How do you keep the sharks from eating the little guys?" my son asked one of the keepers. "We just make sure the sharks are very well-fed," she answered. Like fish, people usually only try to steal what they can’t come by honestly.  Most of us are pretty good at examining ourselves for things we don’t like, ought to change, could improve on. A lot of us are not as good at routinely asking ourselves, "What do I need?" and then allowing ourselves to answer in full. Feeding oneself is one big step toward eliminating the tendency to prey on others, but you can’t feed yourself if you don’t know what you’re hungry for. Self-examination has for centuries been recognized as a useful spiritual practice. Adding a regular assessment of one’s own needs to the practice could be the beginning of understanding the boundary between oneself and others. When we know what the limits are, we can find healthy ways to connect with each other.

                                 – Elizabeth A. Horst

Taking what is not yours because you lack the ability to provide for yourself implies the need to learn Self-Respect. A Thief moves into the Sacred dimension when she starts to get in touch with her own identity, to know herself inside and out, especially her thoughts and feelings.  She must learn to recognize what it FEELS like when one of her boundaries is crossed.  Once she knows her TRUE feelings and desires, she can finally go after what is TRULY hers!  In order to love herself, a Sacred Thief must first KNOW herself.

Realizing that she has been abused, that somebody has stolen precious bits of her identity, can be a bitter pill to swallow.  It takes courage, strength and steely determination for the Sacred Thief to ferret out the unresolved events in her life and deal with them one by one.  There will be anger and many other emotions; but they will be HER emotions and nobody’s else’s!

As soon as she knows herself, she knows that somehow, someway, things must CHANGE.  No more abuse, no more crossed boundaries, no more mistreatment.

The Sacred Thief makes changes by “bringing in the new.”  Paris Soulier has done some fine work on “Soul Groups,” and he counts “Thieves” as necessary to the balance of all things.  He calls Thieves the “Innovators of the Universe.”(5)  His observations on the “Thief Soul Group” include these:

    Thieves work best with that which is NOT, rather than that which IS.  By their very nature, Thieves work against the crystallization of society by constantly challenging reality and finding alternative methods for performing action.  If there is a loophole, an escape clause, or a back door anywhere, you can bet a Thief will find it.

    Thieves love to see what they can get by with.  They tend to be on the cutting edge of society; bringing in that which is overSHADOWING and disseminating it to the rest of the soul groups.

    You can tell who your Thief friends are; they are the first ones on the telephone to you with the new gossip or news.  Thieves are the first to try any new innovation or gadget.  While the other groups are saying “it can’t be done,” Thieves say, “Yes it can.”  They don’t know the meaning of the word “No.”

    Among the various soul-groups, Thieves have the fewest boundaries of all, if any.  Consequently, they may relay to you extremely embarrassing or intimate personal information, and be surprised at your mortification or shock.  It’s best not to trust a lesser-evolved thief with intimate secrets.  Thieves are the last to learn the meaning of “mine and thine,” be it physical objects or shared thoughts or feelings.

    Thieves are some of the most joyous beings to have around.  They naturally gravitate to comedy, performing arts, written word.   They are very verbally talented.  They love word play and twisting around meanings.

            – Paris Soulier, The Wizard Realm: Thief

I would add that Thieves are also great Samplers of other peoples’ music, lyrics, and art.  Many Thieves have become great Channellers of metaphysical information.  Thieves are often Romantic Charmers who make successful “con men” or “con women.”  Thieves are the “Players” of the world, and they are very aware of all the varieties of “games people play.”  They can also be artists like the Surrealists, Impressionists, and Cubists, who destroyed convention in visual art.  Iconoclast writers such as Allen Ginsberg (poetry) and James Joyce (fiction) also operate in the Sacred Thief style of innovation.

The Path of the Sacred Thief is all about KNOWING OURSELVES, warts and all, and ACCEPTING OURSELVES (even our shadow-parts that we hide from others), with love.  Once we do this, we can simply take our power when we come upon it, because it is part of our own essence.  And we can also let other people have their own mistakes, and let them have their own power, and love them for it.

    In their dreams the old ones saw that the Indians would go through a very bad time, that they would lose their spirit, that they would be split up into many parts by the different kinds of religion of the white men.  Like the white men, they would try to find what these strange people call success.  But one day the Indians would begin to wake up, the old ones told me.  They would see that those white people who chased after personal pleasure left behind the truly important things in life.  The Indians would see that their people in the old days were in tune with something far more wonderful, the Spirit of Life.

    And you must realize that this is not all the old ones saw in their dreams.  They saw that just when the Indians seemed to be all becoming like the more foolish white men, just when everybody thought they had forgotten about the ancient days, at that time a great light would come from the east.  It would come into the hearts of some of the Indians, and they would become like the prairie fire, spreading not only love between all races, but also between the different religions.

    And in that day, all the little circles will come under the big circle of understanding and unity.”(6)                     

Remember Raven? Raven was filled with “righteous indignation” when he realized that his boundaries were being crossed.  He decided to take what was HIS.  Yes, the Sun was his!  The Moon was his!  He was really the Shadow-Self of the Sky Chief, birthed through the Sky Chief’s daughter, which represented his own female side.  He was really the Sky Chief in disguise and incarnated into the world, so that he would learn from his own experience.  But he didn’t know it, until he acted to “right the wrong.”

Eventually, the Thief becomes The Sacred Thief by realizing her own identity as both Creator of the World and Savior of the World.  She does this first by being herself, and secondly, by being not-herself!  That is, she claims her own identity, but she does not cling to it.  She sets her mind free, unbound, unattached.  She knows the peace of clarity and the joy of true being.  She sets her boundaries, but allows herself to let go, to transcend those boundaries when the time is ripe. She feels her feelings, but does not carry them around with her; she releases them when she has learned what she needs to learn.  She embraces the paradox: When we let go, we know that we are all connected.

Identity is not a “thing;” it is a ongoing process of awareness. The Mind can link us with All-That-Is if we relax and simply “be.”  When we are not grasping and holding on to things, we “default” into our true identity, a process of awareness connected to the essence of all beings and all creation, ever-changing and ever-new.

The Sacred Thief epitomizes not only the transformation of the Mind, but the spiral process of Consciousness evolving itself!   It has been said that Conscious awareness is the next frontier of knowledge, and the Sacred Thief likes to learn new things.  The Sacred Thief (dark as she is!) becomes the Deity of Light by finding Illumination, taking it for herself, and bringing it, THROUGH herself, to the people.

It seems to me that there are more people on the Path of the Sacred Thief at this time in our world than any other!  I don’t have to wonder why.  The Path of the Sacred Thief brings the NEW into the world....in fact, brings in the NEW WORLD itself.  The Thief thinks; the SACRED THIEF thinks “outside the box.”  The time is ripe for such a feat!

And it is on behalf of the suffering that the Sacred Thief acts.  Her own suffering is the catalyst that convinces her that CHANGE is necessary!  Her sacred task is to CHANGE that suffering by bringing something NEW into the World.  She brings in something NEW by thinking outside the box.  She’d never be happy in a box, anyways!

    Too many of us are trying to keep a tight grip on things that are out of our control. This is like trying to grip the water flowing in a river. Put your hands into the river. If you try to get the water by grabbing it and clenching your fists, it goes right out of your hands. If you relax and open, gently cupping your hands, the water flows into your palms. By relaxing, opening, and trusting, we can hold onto more of what is precious to us. By letting go, we actually allow more of the mystery of life to come in for us.

                            --Leslie Lobell             

By:  Peggy Andreas


FOOTNOTES:

1.  Haudenosaunee word for North America:

“Turtle Island = The symbol for North America, also referred to as Mother Earth, is a turtle.  The thirteen plates on the turtle's back represent the thirteen moons of the year, showing a connection between the Mother Earth and the Grandmother Moon.”

2.  Jamie Sams and David Carson, Medicine Cards, St. Martin's Press; Rev Bk&Crd edition (July       30, 1999.

3.  Weagle, Coyote and the Cry Heard 'Round the World

4.  Zoila Gutierez,  Jaguar Woman by Lynn V. Andrews, 1985, Harper & Row, NY, pg. 47.

5.  Paris Soulier,  Wizard Realm: Thief

6.  Eyes of Fire, Warriors of the Rainbow (Strange and Prophetic Dreams of the Indians) by        William Willoya and Vinson Brown, 1962, Naturegraph Publishers, P.O. Box 1075, Happy Camp, CA  96039.

Path of the Shaman

The Path of the Sacred Warrior heals the Spirit.  The Path of the Sacred Clown heals the Soul. And the Path of the Shaman heals the Body. The Body? Haven't most of us been conditioned to believe that the Body is somehow inferior to the Spirit, to the Soul?

America's Elders--the Native Americans--have always taught that the Body, our personal connection of substance and spirit, is sacred. An ancient song of the Salish Women's Society runs:

    Who cannot love her Self cannot love anybody.

    Who is ashamed of her body is ashamed of all life.

    Who finds dirt and filth in her body is lost.

    Who cannot respect the gifts given even before birth

    Can never respect anything fully.(1)

A Shaman's Path begins with her own Body and involves the generation, control, storage, channeling, exchange, and release of energy. Principles recently "discovered" by modern scientists have been known to Shamans since ancient times, for example:

    Entrainment ("If two rhythms are nearly the same and their sources are in close          proximity, they will always lock up, fall into synchrony.")(2);

    E=MC2 (the interchangability of energy and matter); and

    Wave/Particle Theory (Energy can travel in either waves or particles).

A Shaman perceives her Body as a luminous cluster, a sacred act, a whirling act of power and beauty. Exploring her Body, she becomes a specialist in vibration, harmony, and balance. Curious to bridge other dimensions, her awareness reaches out like a lightning rod. When that awareness is illuminated, her own Body grounds the energy and releases it into the Earth so that it does no harm.

Some scientific principles have not yet caught up with shamanistic knowledge, for instances, the principle of Gravity. A modern-day Shaman puts it this way,

    "The earth is calling to you. It has something for you. This great creature upon which we live wishes to give you its energy to empower your life. Westerners shun this gift. They call it GRAVITY and think it's a force that wants to pull us down to the center of the earth. Instead, be like a tree, sinking roots down into the earth's magnetism. Reach out with your branches and leaves for light and air from above!"(3)

The image of a tree is a great model for Shamans. A tree is a very efficient energy-being. It uses every bit of energy and wastes none. The wood of a tree is a conductor of energy from both below and above; and as such, is often used by the Shaman to conduct her awareness upon journeys of discovery. A drum, made from hide stretched over wood, becomes "the shaman's steed." Gourds, rattles, and other rhythmic devices can also be used as energy conductors. The Shaman tunes into the rhythm and rides it to other worlds! Then the rhythm brings the Shaman back to this, her beloved Earth.

    "Like a living tree, the shaman is rooted deep within the earth, reaching and growing into spirit."(4)

Shamans heal themselves (and serve as a healing catalyst for others) in three main ways:

    1. Removing blockages in the energy flow;

    2. Balancing and centering; and

    3. Attunement and harmony.

Shamans are described as having keen intelligence, a perfectly supple body, and an energy that appears unbounded. Their memory and self-control are above average; and their bright eyes reveal a shy cunning. Often, their inner power advances with their age; and they display great strength, flexibility, and stamina throughout their elder years. As Old Ones (a term used with utmost respect by Native Americans), they can perform amazing acts of balance and agility. Often, they are splendid artists (especially abstract/mystical art), musicians, dancers, poets, singers, craftswomen who use their art to bring the spirit to earth. All these qualities proceed from years, even lifetimes, of suffering, sacrifice, and impeccable effort.

    "As shamans, the women in many tribes perform in all ways that male shamans are known to. They perform healings, hunting ceremonies, vision quests and the guidance for them, acts of psychokinesis, teleportation, weather direction, and more. In the various tribes according to each one's custom, the shaman also creates certain artifacts--clothing, baskets, ornaments, objects to be worn in pouches or under skirts or sewed into belts. She officiates at burials, births, child naming and welcoming into this world, menstrual and pregnancy rituals and rites, psychic communication, manipulation of animals, metamorphoses or transformations. She does much of this through dancing and chanting, and a large part of the method, symbols, significances, and effects of her shamanic efforts are recorded in the stories she tells, the songs she sings, and the knowledge she possesses. Much of this knowledge she transmits to others in ways that will be of use to them, and much of it she keeps to herself, teaches in formal settings to her apprentices, or shares with other shamans."(5)

Acquiring shamanic power involves a kind of death/rebirth experience. It involves letting go of the self, eliminating habits that make up the personality, dispensing with the "self-dialogue," getting out of the way and letting the universe do the talking. When the Shaman traditionally dies to herself, she is born into the larger community of the Tribe of the Cosmos as a representative of Earth.

    "Essentially, a woman's spiritual way is dependent on the kind of power she possesses, the kind of Spirit to whom she is attached, and the tribe to which she belongs. She is required to follow the lead of the Spirits and to carry out the tasks assigned her. Native American stories point to a serious event that results in the death of the protagonist, her visit to the Spirit realm from which she finally returns, transformed and powerful. After such events, she no longer belongs to her tribe or her family, but to the Spirit teacher who instructed her. This makes her seem 'strange' to many of her folk."(6)

Seeking the Body's wisdom, a Shaman continually centers herself fin her womb, her belly, or her solar plexus, NOT in her head. The lower center brings her to a better foundation from which to move. It also anchors her runaway thought processes and brings her to an attunement with the Body of the Earth. In order to use her own energy efficiently, the Shaman must become flexible, fluid. To do this, she must confront the blockages of fear stored in the Body. Her task is to melt the blocks of fear with the energy that she generates; indeed, the word "Shaman" literally means "to heat oneself."(7)

As the rigid form is consumed, the flowing form is released; this is the meaning of transformation. It is a return to the liberating simplicity akin to the primal nature of wild animals, young children, and our earliest Earth-ancestresses. Freedom comes from letting go and learning to trust in one's Body to find its own vibration, balance and harmony.

    "I find myself happier and happier as I get older. I am simply freer of conditions. This entails making voluntary sacrifices. Sacrifice comes from the words 'to make sacred.' My shamanic life is a whole life of making sacred, seeing everything as sacred. . .Even garbage is sacred."(8)

The initiation of a Shaman is no easy affair. However, as one budding Shaman was told, "The most beautiful jewel is tempered in the hottest fire and dipped in the coldest water."(9)

    "Power is strength and the ability to see yourself through your own eyes and not the eyes of another. If a person has power, as women do, and she doesn't use it, power will sit within her and have no place to focus. It is then that power becomes twisted and evil. It can turn against the person who has called it. If a person backs away from her power (for example), she will develop back problems and all sorts of physical ailments."(10)

A person may be a potential Shaman if conditions such as these exist in her life: Her birth is peculiar, special in some way. Perhaps it is difficult, even traumatic. As a child, she experiences some element in her life that sets her apart from other children. She may simply be left to herself, or there may be disabilities and restrictive situations. She feels somehow different than the norm. Sometimes there are long illnesses, fevers, seizures, even brushes with death. Because of this isolation, or simply because she is gifted, she comes in touch with a subtle world that is foreign to most of her peers, and her psychic talents flourish. Importantly, she also misses out on vital portions of the acculturation process, leaving her to feel that she doesn't quite fit in.

At a certain point, the psychic energy peaks almost unbearably. If met with hostility or abuse (as usually happens in a world that lacks understanding), the potential Shaman may turn the energy in on herself, or outwards, becoming hostile and abusive to others. Some conditions such as Multiple Personalities, Mental Retardation, Dyslexia, Sexual Disorientation, Hallucinations, Hebephrenia, Schizophrenia, and Delusions can be the result of this "twisting" of the psychic flow. Sociopathic or psychopathic behavior, addictions, behaving in a such manner that one is literally "crossed-off" by society--all these can become the path that leads to the shamanic initiatory crisis.

This is not to say that an initiate cannot receive help. If she is sincere in her desire for healing, she will find the proper catalysts and midwives for birthing the Shaman in herself. In the ancient tribal ways, she could find an experienced Shaman in her own community to explain what was happening to her, and ease her way a bit. This older, wiser one would give her exercises that would train her to control the degree and timing of "opening the flower of her awareness."(11) These might include instructions in meditation, lucid dreaming, self-hypnosis and visualization, recognizing energy fields, practices with sound and color, ritual-making, sand-painting, crafts of various kinds, trance-dancing, etc. She would also be taught how to protect herself from unwanted psychic and physical intrusions.

Techniques such as purifying, blessing, boundary-making, shield- making, and acquiring guardian allies would be part of such instruction. Grounding techniques would be stressed as the initiate worked with plant, animal, and rock medicine.

In modern times, however, the help may come from strange directions, indeed. For example, the contemporary Plains Indian Shaman, Tayja Wiger, was born into an extremely hostile, abusive urban environment with no exposure to tribal ways. Society called her blind, crippled, retarded, insane and delinquent. She was institutionalized in reform schools and mental institutions.

All this time, she prayed for healing. The psychiatrists didn't understand her Shamanic tradition (which she often expressed subconsciously), but they did help her to find the time, space and resources that she needed for her to be able to heal herself. Her intense focus on self-healing propelled her through the dark tunnel of fear and anger to a place where she could let go, in love, trusting the Universe. Now, she is sighted, physically sound, intelligent, sane and working as a Shaman; "healer, ordained minister, counselor and laughing friend of theLight."(12) Her story is an inspiration to us all!

Tribal people believe that becoming a Shaman is a matter of destiny; and that if a destined person resists becoming a Shaman, she will become more and more immeshed in her own problems. The story of Sky Woman, a Shaman of the Ojibway Tribe, illustrates how a womon who courageously responded to a crisis embraced her own shamanic destiny. Born into a family that was disturbed by violent parental disagreements, Sky Woman fled from this chaotic situation at 9 years of age and wandered in the northern woods for a long time until a search party found her. Among her rescuers was an old womon who loved her and took care of her, and became her adopted grandmother. They lived together happily for many years until one day, the Grandmother got very sick. Sky Woman was afraid. While she took care of her Grandmother and watched over her, Sky Woman fell asleep and had a dream. She dreamed someone gave her a rattle and other things Shamans use when they heal, and said to her, "Try this on your grandmother. She might get better." When she awoke, Sky Woman made a little rattle and started to do the things the dream showed her. When she finished, the old womon seemed brighter. Sky Woman kept on with her work until her grandmother was up and around. Then, other people heard about her and came to her for help. She became a travelling healer.(13)

Following her inner guidance, Sky Woman later remembered that in her youthful wanderings, she had been guided and instructed by her Guardian Spirits for her life's work. Her loving compassion for her Grandmother was what catalyzed her own transformation. Her Spirits guided her but SHE CHOSE OF HER OWN FREE WILL to follow them.

Modern-day Shamans have learned from the mistakes that Shamans of the past have made. Keeping what works, they've thrown the rest away. They have let go of arrogance and embraced simplicity.  They are not afraid to frolic and have fun. They have made a commitment to serve the life-force; they draw strength and unity from that commitment.

It has been said that the first Shaman was Grandmother Fire. She is the true ancestress of all Shamans. It also has been said that the first Shaman invented sex. The Shaman is self-erotic, in love with her own Body and with the Body of Earth. She heats herself, burning off the dross, centering herself in her own luminosity. She radiates well-being and self-confidence. Her leadership emerges out of a passion for life and is sustained by balance.

The Shaman's heat is a centerfire around which a community naturally gathers. Her heat is engendering; and her own gender can hold and transcend the tension of opposites, giving her the ability to operate with success in whatever world she finds herself. Just by being, a Shaman gives comfort by proving that change is possible.

    Healers state that it is love that heals, yet it is so difficult for many to release the fear and anger that lodge in the subconscious mind in order to be able to ACCEPT that love. Now it is time for all of us to cleanse our lives, then turn ourselves inside out for all to share.(14)

    Love is a word for transformation. And there are many beings worthy of our love. It does not have to be a man you seek. When you say, 'I love you,' you are saying, 'I transform you.' But since you alone can transform no one, what you are really saying is, 'I transform myself and my vision.' I am always living in the lodge of love and I share it with you.(15)

By:  Peggy Andreas


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FOOTNOTES:



1. Daughters of Copper Woman by Anne Cameron, 1981, Press GangPublishers, Vancouver, BC, p. 62.

2. Planet Drum by Mickey Hart and Frederic Lieberman, 1991, HarperCollins Publishers, NY, p. 17.

3. Movements of Magic by Bob Klein, 1984, Newcastle Publishing, CA, Pg. 8.

4. In the Shadow of the Shaman  by Amber Wolfe, 1989, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, MN, p. xiii.

5. The Sacred Hoop by Paula Gunn Allen, 1986, Beacon Press, Boston, MS, p. 207-8.

6. Ibid., p. 257.

7. Shamanic Voices by Joan Halifax, 1979, E.P. Dutton, N.Y., p.3.

8. Ruth Inge-Heinze, in  Shapeshifters: Shamanic Women in Contemporary Society, 1987, Viking Penguin Inc., N.Y., p. 62.

9. Leilah Tiesh in Shapeshifters, p. 36.

10. Agnes Whistling Elk in Flight of the Seventh Moon by Lynn V. Andrews, 1984, Harper & Row, San Francisco, p. 130-131.

11. Channeled from my Spirit Teacher, "Butterfly Woman."

12. Birth of a Modern Shaman by Cynthia Bend and Tayja Wiger, 1987, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, MN, p. 8.

13. The Shaman: Patterns of Siberian and Ojibway Healing by John A. Grim, 1983, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, p. 121-125.

14. Bend and Wiger, p. 6.

15. Agnes Whistling Elk, in Flight of the Seventh Moon, p. 156.