Let It Be
When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
That song has been with me all week. On Tuesday it popped into my head
and no matter what I did, I kept hearing it. Now I’m not complaining
about having Paul’s wonderful voice in my head, but it wouldn’t
go away until evening. Then Wednesday night another person mentioned
the song during a Shaman ceremony. I kinda already thought it was a
message but I knew for sure at that point. See, like almost everyone
else in Michigan, I am having money issues this month. I had money issues
last month. I’ve had to pay bills with credit cards that already
had a balance. And all I’ve been able to think about is how much
I owe, how much I make, how can I make more money. When your mind is
so occupied over a stressful thing like this, you cannot move forward,
which is a catch 22 because in order to deal with the issue and make
more money, you need a clear head.
There will be an answer, let it be.
The Goddess has many forms and one of them is Mother Mary. When the
Christians came into power and forced everyone to convert or die, the
Goddess survived in the form of Mary. The church tried to leave her
out of the story, but the people were used to having a feminine deity
and worshipped her as the Holy Mother. The Goddess speaks to many in
this form and who knows, maybe She really likes the song. Anyway, I
took it as a message from Her that She is with me and will help me through
this.
And when the night is cloudy,
There is still a light that shines on me,
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be.
So if you are stressed and worried, take a listen to this song and
let it comfort you. If it makes you more comfortable, replace Mother
Mary with the name of your deity. Don’t like the Beatles? Then
listen to your favorite comfort/inspirational song and......let it be.
Oh, yeah. One more thing. Mercury is retrograding again on Sunday,
April 18 at 12:06 PM EST. Read my January
2010 newsletter to find out what this means and how you can survive
it. Mercury goes direct again on May 11 at 6:27 PM EST.
Sacred Fire Ceremony
As I mentioned above, I was at a Shaman ceremony this past Wednesday,
which was the actual day of the dark moon. I am taking Shaman classes
at The Sacred
Sage. The teacher is Phoenix Honka, a very gifted Shaman. If you
are in the area and are interested in shamanism, I highly recommend
her as a teacher and guide. She and Roxane (who used to own Mystical
Resources) were holding Sacred Fire Ceremonies at Roxane’s
house before she moved to Arizona. Rox was back in town and they had
access to the house so they held another ceremony. I was unable to attend
in the past but this time I was able to make it.
Phoenix has taken the traditional sweat lodge ceremony and converted
it to a sacred fire ceremony. It was an amazing experience. The group
of people had wonderful personal energy. We drummed and sang and spoke
our truths. It was very transformational. I can honestly say that the
next day I felt different. I still feel different. Altho I did not consciously
get any message or answer during the ceremony, I know I now have the
answers I was seeking. Very powerful stuff.
And it is the elements that brought this power forth that I will speak
of.
It was the night of the dark moon. A very powerful time for
transformational work. The moon is hidden from our sight on this night
as it transforms from one cycle to the next. I have heard that some
do not think the dark of the moon has as much power as the full moon,
or that the energy at this time is dark in a bad way. They are wrong.
The dark moon has just as much power as the full moon, the power is
just different. And dark does not mean bad. It means hidden, as in secrets,
thoughts, the subconscious, and all the things that rarely see the light.
This is the best time for inner workings, those of the personal nature,
especially when trying to banish unwanted behaviors. There’s a
key word....banish. To make hidden. To take those negative thoughts
and behaviors, feel them and the hurt they cause, then to send them
away out of our conscious and subconscious minds where they cannot effect
us anymore. The energy of the dark moon will help you do this more eff
iciently.
Next we had fire. THE element of transformation. Fire burns
away everything to leave ashes behind, and from those ashes new growth
appears. Fire is the creative spark that takes the idea from your mind
and puts it into the world. Fire doesn’t appear in nature, it has
to be made. There is always air, water and earth, but fire has to be
created. If you pile some wood and sit around it, fire will not appear.
But if you light a match...magic. If you acquire the knowledge, sitting
on your couch won’t get you that job. But if you send out resumes
and go to interviews..... magic. This is the lesson fire teaches us.
We were connected to earth through our feet and some of us sat
on logs. There was, of course, air all around us. And a stream
runs through about 10 steps from the fire pit, there was our water.
So we had the four elements in our sacred space. All four elements in
balance and in harmony.
And we had spirit. We had the spirit of Phoenix, who led us
only as much as she needed to so the transformation could take place
for each of us at our own pace. She offered guidelines and let us go
with whatever came to us. She went through her own transformation right
along with us. We had the spirits of each and every one of us, shinning
with our own personal light. In the comfort and safety of the four elements,
our spirits were free to express ourselves, to feel, to share, to help
each other. Our individual lights shone brighter than the fire.
There was also music. Specifically drumming. And some rattles.
Drumming is very important to the shamanic tradition. The vibrations
of the drum go deep into every fiber of your being and bring back memories
you didn’t even know you had. Memories of the earth when it began,
memories of the secrets of the universe and the stars, memories of all
the knowledge that was ever known and will ever be discovered. Drumming
helps you access this deep inner knowing. Drumming puts you in an altered
state and in this altered state answers become clearer, dreams become
real, and the impossible becomes possible.
We each tossed lavender into the fire, an offering to the elements
that surrounded us. Gave our gratitude to the fire and the four
directions. Thanked Phoenix and each other. Never underestimate the
power of gratitude, being grateful lifts the spirits of others and yourself.
It costs you nothing but is priceless, so be generous with your gratefulness.
Put all this together and ...... wow. You have a very powerful ceremony
and very powerful results that stay with you.
Oils to Aid Transformation
So, what herbs/oils to discuss this week? I was going to discuss fire
oils but I think transformation is the key word today. I’m
not talking about transforming into something like a animal, which would
be cool. No, I’m talking about transforming you; your habits, your
behaviors, your career. Aromatherapy can help you achieve this by creating
a scent that reminds you of who you want to become whenever you smell
it. You can make a candle with the scent which you can burn whenever
you are working on this issue. You can make a soap with it, scent your
skin cream, or create a perfume so the smell is with you all day. If
you do a spell to help you, you can anoint the candle you use and yourself
during it.
According to Magical Oils by Moonlight, transformational oils
are:
-
bay
-
hollyberry
-
myrrh
-
peppermint
-
rose
-
rosemary
-
spearmint
-
vervain
-
violet
So now we want to create a transformation blend to help us transform
something in our lives. My first advise is go with what oils you have
on hand. If you don’t have any on the list, then look up the ones
you do have and use some associated with strength, courage, success,
any of the qualities that will help you transform.
Let’s say you have them all. Ok, go with what smells best to you
because if you don’t like the smell, you won’t use it. I happen
to like peppermint very much, so I would start with that, or spearmint.
When looking up rosemary, I see that it also helps with strength, confidence,
courage, endings, and release. So I would add that for sure. Bay is
another good one for endings, but also overcoming opposition and good
luck. I don’t have bay, but if I did I might add it. Myrrh has
similar properties along with being restorative and uplifting, which
would help keep your mood up during the process.
I try to keep my blends simple. So I would start with peppermint or
spearmint and add rosemary and myrrh to it to see how it smells. I actually
got up from the computer to put those oils together and realized I don’t
have rosemary. The mints are much stronger than the myrrh, but I think
spearmint goes better with myrrh. So I would either go with a spearmint
myrrh blend or look for some complimentary oil to add.
It's that easy. Experimentation is the key word. Some oils smell great
on their own but put them together and wheww...open a window. So I don’t
waste oil, I usually start by gathering the bottles of oils I think
I want to use. I take the caps off, being sure to remember which is
which, and hold them together and take a whiff of the combined smells
from about 2 inches above the bottles. If it might be ok, I then will
put a drop of each on either a test strip if I have any, or a piece
of card stock, like a business card or index card that I’ve cut
into strips (ok, some expert perfumer is reading this and shaking
their head, I know ). Anyway, if I think it might be an ok blend
after I sniff this card, I start blending in a clean brown bottle, being
sure to keep notes of how many drops of each oil goes in. I cannot stress
this enough, keep notes. You may want to create it again
and nothing is more frustrating than have a blend you love but can’t
remember what went into it.
Once you have your essential oil blend the way you like it, you need
to decide how you are going to use it. If you want to put it in a candle
or soap, then it is ready for use. If you want to anoint a candle for
a spell, you can use just the oil blend also. If you want to wear it
then you need to put it in a carrier oil. You can add a little
jojoba to it, or sweet almond oil or other carrier oil you have. Whereas
you can use olive oil as a carrier oil, you cannot use canola or corn
oil. Best to use a carrier oil you purchased along with your essential
oils to be sure it is skin safe. You can also add it to your skin cream
after a shower. Just put a little skin cream in your palm, add a few
drops of your blend and rub your hands together to blend it and smooth
on your skin.
As you breathe the scent it will help you as you transform your life
into whatever you want to make of it.
