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Author: Alexandra

Sacred Space 2017 – Days 1 & 2

Opening Ritual

The Opening Ritual is scripted just about the same every year, as its primary purposes are to 1) awaken the egregore of the conference, 2) invoke Djehuty and Athena, the patrons of the conference, and 3) ward and sanctify the space.  The main thing that stuck out to me this year was part of Gwendolyn Reece’s invocation of Athena: Let us be useful.  It reminded me of my own budding work with Athena Columbia, a local cultus of Athena as Patroness of the District of Columbia and Protectress of American Democracy. (For more info, see my devotional tumblog.)

Workshop: 5 Herbs for the Hedgewitch, by Tintalle Foxwood

Tintalle Foxwood is a clinical herbalist who works out of her home in Baltimore, MD, and is part of Orion Foxwood’s temple and tradition of Faery Seership.  She presented this workshop on 5 herbs (plus one extra that jumped in) that can help build the spirit-mind-body connection, in order to keep occultists healthy and grounded in their mundane lives while still able to do their spiritual work.  Her six herbs were Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus), Milky Oats (Avena sativa), Linden (Tilia spp.), Ashwaganda (Withania somnifera), Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica), and Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata).  She picked these six herbs because they can all be grown and harvested sustainably, they are generally safe for most people to use (barring allergies), they have a history of traditional uses, they have scientific evidence-based uses, and the plant spirits were willing to be part of her program.  She talked at length about nervines and adaptogens generally (most of the herbs are one or the other), and then spoke on each herb specifically, giving uses for each.  I was somewhat familiar with Stinging Nettle and Passionflower, but her workshop gave me more ideas for the use of even those two familiar plants!  At the end, we each had the chance to blend an herbal tea out of those six herbs, plus a number of extras that she’d brought as flavor enhancers and “backup dancers”.  I blended a tea for Glasreo, to hopefully help on days that work fries his brain a bit too much.

Ritual: Ogma and the Voices of the Tree Ogham, by Raven Edgewalker

Raven Edgewalker is part of the Reclaiming tradition and has worked very closely with the trees of the ogham for twenty or so years.  At the ritual, she began by casting a circle calling on the trees to stand guard around us, and honestly I think it was the most comfortable cast circle I’ve ever been in. (Frequently I feel more cut off and claustrophobic than protected inside of Wiccan circles, which is why I tend to prefer druidic rituals!)  After an invocation to Ogma himself, the ritual was reflective, based on questions drawn from four ogham trees: Birch, Oak, Hawthorn, and Blackthorn.  Birch asked, “What are you beginning?” Oak asked, “What in you is strong?”  Hawthorn asked, “What do you fear?”  Blackthorn asked, “What do you wish to protect?”  We answered in our hearts, and then gave our answers to those whose eyes we met as we moved within the circle.  At the end, having found our answers, we raised energy to bless ourselves.  It was a very enjoyable ritual, and I gained a number of important insights.  Additionally, it cemented for me that it is time for me to start my ogham journey.  I purchased a set of staves from Raven (check out her etsy shop!) later that weekend.

Ritual: Oracular Seidhr, by Scott Momhern and Becky Sheehan, assisted by Laurel Mendes

This was my second time attending this ritual.  Previously, Laurel Mendes and Diana Paxson had taken turns being seer and guide; this time Scott and Becky were the seers, guided by Laurel.  I did not ask a question this time, either, but Glasreo did, on the topic of his personal path and growth that I won’t share here.  Highlights included this business advice from Odin, paraphrased: “Tell them what you need to – which does not mean tell them everyhing.  You can best serve them by doing your work well, whatever it is.”  As other questions were asked, I found myself in journey space, talking to Hela about our coming work together.  I gained some insight into why I find her so comfortable to talk with, and learned that deathwork is also within the realm of my healing work.  Freya also talked to me about oracular seidhr, and volva-ship, though she cautioned that it’s not a good idea to begin that work while pregnant, as I am too close to the edge already. I imagine we’ll discuss that more come summer.

Workshop: Guardianship and Trance Possession, by Raven Fitzcarraldo Mohnkern

After the mishap and my successful possession last year at the Conjure Dance, Glasreo and I both thought it would be a good idea to attend this workshop.  Raven is a member of the Universal Temple of Spirits and has been a guardian at trance possessory rites for about twenty years.  Guardianship, as she explained, means protection of the human attendees, moving energy into/out of people as needed, holding sacred space, and keeping the mundane world from interfering with the rite.  UToS is a polytheist pan-pantheon tradition, but they borrow some terminology from ADTs, including the use of Horse/Rider to describe possession.  At their rites there is a team of Guardians and attendants, and because it is a fairly small community, they tend to know which human is likely to be possessed by which spirit and what the human’s needs and boundaries are, as well as the spirit’s expectations, but Raven emphasized the need to express your own boundaries and any allergies, etc, to the Guardians whenever you are at a trance possessory rite.  She used the car driving metaphor to explain different levels of possession: sometimes, you’re driving and there’s a spirit outside the car.  Sometimes they’re sitting in the back seat.  Sometimes they’re sitting in the front seat, navigating.  Sometimes, the spirit is driving and you’re in the passenger’s seat, navigating.  Sometimes you’re in the backseat, watching.  And sometimes you’re bound and gagged in the trunk and have no idea what’s going on. That last one tends to be the kind Guardians need to keep the closest eye on, and is often the most obvious during a ritual.

Raven gave a run down of basic Guardianship rules: 1) always be watching (you have to learn by experience what to watch for, but erratic behaviour is a good start), 2) when someone is possessed, your job is both their safety and the safety of the entire ritual, 3) use whatever senses you’re good at to discern what kind of spirit is present and whether it’s going to play nice with others,  4) research and get to know as many spirits as possible so that you know their personality and preferences, 5) get to know the human attendees as well as possible, including their boundaries and limitations, 6) learn to use your body to catch people without anyone getting hurt, 7) take breaks when you need them, and 8) carry a tool kit.  In that tool kit, she recommended things for helping bring spirits in (like spirit beads and devotional objects), things for helping kick spirits out and grounding the human (like florida water, salt, and iron), and utilities (like bandages, flashlights, and lighters).  If the rite doesn’t have attendants to take care of the spirit once it has possessed a human, then that’s a Guardian’s job, too – keep things like alcohol, food, and tobacco on hand. She ended with a couple of things everyone could do to help trance possessory rituals go more smoothly: things like keeping track of your friends, catching them if they stumble, waving over a Guardian if you need help, and making sure others know their boundaries/limitations.  Water is also helpful, she said: just about everyone who has a possessory experience, even if it’s not very “intense”, will need water afterwards.  I think Glasreo has a lot to think about (even though possessory rites aren’t really his “thing”), and I certainly need to think about how to keep myself safe as I work more closely with Bast and Sekhmet.

That’s it for Days 1 & 2.  Here are Days 3 & 4!

It’s Sacred Space Time Again!

This is going to be a really fast little update, because it’s time for Sacred Space Conference again and we’re in a flurry of activity preparing for it, over here!  It’s always a great time and a great chance to stretch what we know and what we do to even greater heights.  The conference itself is held in Hunt Valley, MD, every March and is hosted by the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, a group of local Wiccan covens.  They aren’t the only group represented at Sacred Space, however: ADF druids and Troth Heathen Kindreds are well represented, and there are always quite a few solitaries of various paths amongst the attendees.

Sacred Space is also the place that the dream of Serendipities first started to become a reality, so it’s our own little new year in some ways.  Last year, I gave a short overview of all the workshops and rituals I attended and I’m planning on doing the same again this year, so look for that next week after we get back!

The Etsy shop will briefly be on hiatus while we’re away – I’m not shutting it down, but I will be putting up a notice that normal turn around times will be extended.  One more quick Etsy teaser: I’ve acquired a new tarot deck!  And it’s a beauty… stay tuned for a new listing some time this month!

My Reiki Classes: A Reflection

As you probably know, I taught two Reiki classes in February: a I and II class on the 19th, and a III (Master) class on the 25th.  Both classes were small: 3 students for the first, 2 for the second, but I think that was a good thing for me, where I am right now.

It was the second time I’d taught a I/II class and I think it went just as well if not better than the first time, despite me no longer having the backup of other Reiki Masters (besides my husband, Glasreo).  I streamlined the notes last time, and this time I added a few things but mostly stuck to the outline from before.  Both classes together plus the attunements and several breaks took about four hours, and I think that’s probably just going to be how long it takes to do that class.  We had a little bit of practice time at the end and I think everyone went home satisfied with the progress they’d made.  The only thing I think I’d want to do differently is to have posters of the Reiki II symbols made so that they can be up on the wall.  And I may want to put page numbers in my notes so I can tell my students which page to find things like the hand positions on without having to look myself, or telling them to read the whole book.  I’m using William Rand’s manuals, the same as I was given when I was taught, and I do like them, but I don’t follow the flow of the book exactly in my class.  I did forget to print the certificates ahead of time (whoops!) and will now have to mail them, but that’s not the end of the world.

My first time teaching the Reiki III class was a bit stressful, because I was unable to finish my preparations the day before due to an emergency personal matter, but I think I made the best of it and my students were very understanding when I occasionally lost the thread and had to find it again.  Those notes will need some more streamlining, but I am confident that I gave my students enough information to succeed, and I will of course always be available to them for mentoring or further study.  The III class also took about 4 hours, because I included a review of I and II to make sure everyone was on the same page.  I think including a review was a good idea, because it allowed us to talk about our personal strengths and weaknesses when using Reiki. I may also want to expand my ethics section a bit, after having an amazing ethical discussion at the Soul Retrieval Workshop. Afterward we had another short practice section (one of the students brought their spouse to be a guinea pig). For this class I also used but did not exactly follow William Rand’s manual, and I think another poster of symbols would be useful.  I also need to take a closer look at the manuals – it seems the new edition has changed a few things, which I found out as I was teaching!  I didn’t give the Master students their certificates yet – I’ll mail those once they finish their “homework” and pass an attunement on someone else!

So far I’ve been keeping my classes to friends and acquaintances.  In the future I’d like to expand by word of mouth some before I go fully public, and if I continue teaching at my house the classes are going to have to stay small for now.  My goal is going to be to have one of each level each quarter, but as I am currently pregnant and due to give birth at the beginning of May, I think next quarter is probably out!

As always, if you’re interested in a Reiki class or a Reiki treatment (or even Reiki attuned healing jewelry) please contact us (or browse the Etsy shop)!

Divination for Beginners

As per usual, this is all just my opinion, based on my experiences, and your mileage may vary. I don’t claim to know everything about divination (how could I?) but I thought making a post discussing various methods might be helpful for beginners, so here you are!  I’ve also tried to include options for discreet or low-budget alternatives in every section below, and I’ve made comments about the suitability for various kinds of disabilities where they came to mind, but this is not meant to be exhaustive, and I welcome input from others!

1. If you are a beginner in everything, I recommend starting with Cartomancy or a Symbol Draw System.

Cartomancy is divination with the use of cards, such as Tarot, Lenormand, or Oracle cards.  The general idea is that you take the deck of cards, shuffle them, and pull a few (often a set number) and lay them on a flat surface like a desk (often in a pre-determined layout).  Most decks come with a booklet of interpretations and meanings, and for Tarot and Lenormand there are also many more books on various methods of interpretation, or layouts.  Playing cards are a good tool if you’re not open about your practice, but unfortunately you need to find interpretations for them online or elsewhere, unlike most decks made specifically for Cartomancy.  There are a lot of cards, usually, which means there are a lot of meanings to remember, but you can get good readings using the booklet and a little bit of intuition – memorization isn’t really necessary. Another good discreet method if you have a smartphone is by using a tarot app, like the ones by The Fool’s Dog. I’ve used their free one and gotten good results, but I can’t swear to the efficacy of any other online system or app. (This is also a great option for technowitches!)

Symbol Draw Systems consist of symbols written on small objects, that are then pulled without looking at them, like out of a pouch.  The most popular form of symbol draw is probably Runes – there are plenty of books and websites with images of the Runes and their meanings.  Ogham is also fairly popular, but there are fewer primary sources on Ogham, so you’ll find that meanings vary from book to book.  Symbol Draw systems are easy to make yourself, which makes them very budget friendly.  Simply look up the symbols, and draw or scratch them into whatever you have lying around – bottle caps work well, or small pebbles, or pennies.  It’s somewhat important to make sure they’re all about the same size and shape, however, so that you can’t tell them apart by touch.  It’s a little harder to do these discreetly, as the symbols have to be written on the objects, but you might try writing in pencil or something eraseable, so you can remove the markings once you’re done. This may result in you having to “calibrate” your set each time, however, if you aren’t writing the symbols on the same pieces every time.  Otherwise the objects might accidentally “remember” their old symbol instead of the correct one.  Symbol draw systems are pretty good for people with fine motor skill issues, because you can make the objects however big or light that you need to, and mixing them up will be easier than shuffling cards.  As a note, however, I don’t recommend using Ogham symbols for people with really severe dyslexia (because the symbols are frequently mirrors of each other) but you could get around it by writing the names of trees, instead, or using pictures of trees!  Symbol Draw systems can be a good option for the visually impaired, as well, because the symbols are usually very simple drawings.  If you have some sight you can make the symbols very large and bold, or the blind can have them etched into something, to read by touch.

2. If you want answers to a Yes or No question, I recommend using a Pendulum, or Cartomancy.

Pendulums are basically made of a weight at the end of a string or chain.  As such, they can be made out of jewelry or almost anything you have lying around – there are plenty of tutorials on what makes a good pendulum on the internet.  Prettier ones can be found online or in most metaphysical shops, but that’s not usually your best bet if you’re on a budget or you’re not open about your practice.  Learning to use a pendulum is fairly easy – but mastering it can be hard.  The basic idea is that one direction of an X or + is “yes”, while the other is “no”, and spirals in either direction mean some kind of uncertainty. It can be difficult, however, to make sure that a pendulum is working properly (you can try to calibrate it by checking the motion against questions you already know the answers to), and it can also be difficult to prevent yourself from influencing the answer.  If you ask a question and you really, really, want the answer to be yes, the “yes” in your head might be louder than the question, which can cause the pendulum to swing yes not in response to the question, but in parallel with your thought.  Also, pendulums can be tricky for people with shaky hands or fine motor issues.

Cartomancy isn’t the best option for Yes or No questions, but if it’s what you have on hand you can use a pretty simple spread to get a binary answer.  First, shuffle the cards well, allowing for reversals: you will need to flip some of the cards upside-down as you shuffle if you don’t usually use reversals when you read.  Then, lay out four cards.  All four upright is a “Yes”.  All four reversed is a “No”.  Three upright is “Yes, but”.  Three reversed is “No, but”.  Two upright and two reversed is “Uncertain” or “Maybe”.  For a deck with symmetrical art such as a regular deck of playing cards, assign “yes” to red and “no” to black (or vice versa, if that sounds better to you), and pull four cards, interpreting the same way as above.  I don’t recommend doing a single card pull for a yes or no question from any Cartomancy deck. But after you’ve done the four card draw, you can look at the meanings of the cards to get a little more information on your question.

 

3. If you are already fairly knowledgeable about magical correspondences and want to expand that knowledge, I recommend augury or lithomancy.

Augury is frequently described as divination by the movement of birds, but it can also involve observing other animals and natural phenomena.  The main drawback to this method of divination is that everyone basically has their own list of meanings and correspondences.  If you’ve already figured out some of your personal correspondences for spellwork or dream interpretation you’re well on your way, however.  As this doesn’t require much of anything but a willingness to observe nature (even out you window in a city – you don’t have to be in the wilderness), and your own notes, it’s incredibly budget friendly, and easy to do discreetly.  It does, however, take a lot more work to learn, and taking notes along the way is imperative!  It’s also best to start by focusing on one kind of natural phenomenon, like movements of animals, or the shape of clouds.

Lithomancy is divination using stones, and like aurgury, every practitioner seems to have their own system.  If you already use a lot of crystals for healing or spellwork, you can begin with that knowledge as you build your own system.  Easier systems pretty much depend on the color of the stone for meaning, and those are probably the most budget-friendly, because you can pick up a few pretty dyed agates at a gift shop somewhere for $5 or so.  Also, if you’re using color correspondences, there’s really nothing that says they *have* to be stones, either – you can adapt the system to work for casting small plastic beads or anything else small and colorful, as long as you have a full set of colors.  More complicated systems usually require specific stones and more of them, and that can get pretty expensive pretty quickly if you don’t already have an appropriate collection.  As stones in lithomancy are typically cast onto a cloth or mat, it’s best to use small tumbled stones, stone chips, or beads, so that you can hold them comfortably in your hands to toss them.  Some people like to use mats with symbols on them to help with interpretation, but it’s not necessary, and if you’re not open about your practice it might be best to have a small “rock collection” and simply cast them onto a flat surface covered in a cloth (like a scarf) to prevent chipping and to dull the clattering sound.  The basics of lithomancy are the same as the basics for osteomancy (bone throwing), too, if bones are your thing, instead.  You could also use any collection of small objects that has meaning to you, like DnD minifigures, or monopoly pieces, or sea shells.  The important thing is that the pieces have to have meanings that make sense to you, and you need to be able to interpret them in relation to each other and how they fall on the mat.

 

4. If you are already good at meditation and trancework, I recommend scrying.

Scrying is a term for a bunch of divination methods that all pretty much amount to sinking into trance and gazing at something until you either see symbols (which you can then interpret) or you suddenly have an answer by other means.  Common scrying methods include gazing into crystals, black mirrors, water, flame, or smoke.  Obviously some methods are cheaper and more discreet than others, but in my experience the results don’t depend on the tool.  They do somewhat depend on your ability to use the tool well – for instance, I do better with fire and water scrying than I do with crystal or black mirror scrying – so I recommend trying a few different tools before giving up on the method entirely.  While most of what’s written on scrying talks about interpreting symbols, I sometimes find that while scrying I end up so deep in my trance that I end up seeing through to the astral or godphoning directly, so that’s a possibility if your talents lie in that direction.  That comes with a HUGE ymmv disclaimer, though.

 

There are a lot of other methods of divination (tea leaf reading, automatic writing, bibliomancy, coin flip, divination by musical shuffle…) but these ones above are methods I’ve had success with, and would recommend to various kinds of divination beginners.  Hopefully you found this helpful!

 

[[The original version of this post is from my personal tumblr.]]

What Happens When You Are Reiki Attuned?

While scheduling my upcoming Reiki classes, one of my prospective students asked a question I think I ought to answer for a wider audience.  She wanted to know what to expect from her Reiki attunement, as she had heard that the experience could be intense.  When answering, I started with the basics.

Learning Reiki has two parts: the theory, and the attunement.  (Well, three parts if you include practice, which any good Reiki class will include.)  The theory is pretty normal stuff, easy enough to read out of a book, but will probably take up the majority of the time in any class.  It certainly does in mine.  The attunement is what lets a student use the energy we call Reiki – or, depending on one’s perspective, lets it flow through the practitioner.  The founder, Mikao Usui, believed Reiki exists in ambient form all over the universe, and that he was given the ability to harness it, and to let others harness it as well.  You can read more about the story of Master Usui on my About Reiki page.  Reiki is now usually taught as three levels.

The first level attunement is the one that connects students to the Reiki energy itself, and helps them become vessels, so that the energy will find them and respond to their intent to use it for healing.  If you think about it in terms of vibrations, getting a first level Reiki attunement allows a student’s etheric bodies to process the Reiki energy and change slightly so that their vibrations are closer to the energy of the Reiki, allowing the student to work with the energy more easily.

When I am doing attunements, I first perform a short Reiki healing on my students, to make sure that their energy pathways are reasonably clear, and their energy centers are reasonably able to open.  Then I connect them to the Reiki flowing through me, and I use the symbols to connect them to the Reiki source.  I can do this because I’ve been attuned at the Master Level, and I have been given the ability to attune others and the correct symbols for that process. I make sure that the Reiki energy is firmly connected to the energy centers at the crown of the head, the third eye, and the heart.  That is why it’s important that the energy pathways are clear – once the student is connected to the Reiki source, it will clear out any blockages in its path, and it will open up those energy centers.  This is the part my student had heard about: the intensity of suddenly open energy centers, and the purging that comes with being connected to the Reiki source.

Although being connected to the source of Reiki won’t harm you, it can be uncomfortable at first.  Many people haven’t ever had their energy centers fully open before, and they may find that they feel overwhelmed, or vulnerable.  And as the Reiki clears out blockages in their bodies and lives, they may find themselves having physical, mental, or emotional symptoms to go along with that.  Physical symptoms can include things like an upset stomach, headaches, mild aches and pains, or increased hunger.  Mental symptoms can include difficulty focusing on mundane matters, or forgetfulness.  Emotional symptoms can include irritability, anxiety, or being easily overwhelmed.  For most students, the symptoms, if there are any, are very mild and last no longer than a week or two.  Some people with major blockages in their lives, however, may find that practicing Reiki changes their goals and direction in life for the better, whether it helps them get out of a bad relationship, or out of a job that doesn’t fit!

 All in all, though a Reiki attunement might change your life, you’ll be the one guiding the changes, and heading towards the best self you can be.  It might be scary, but it won’t hurt you, and I’m available to my students during the process in case anyone has any questions or concerns – all my students will be given a variety of contact information and I’ll be sure to respond promptly!

 

Soul Retrieval Certification!

This past weekend (Jan 13-16), Glasreo and I attended a Soul Retrieval Certification workshop, taught by Monika Healing Coyote, in the neoshamanic healing tradition of Sandra Ingerman and Gryphon’s Grove. It was an INTENSE experience.  Which is part of why it’s taken me this long to blog about it… I’m still pretty heavily processing,but I think it’s time to share!  I’m going to give a brief overview of each day of the class, the topics covered, with more details on any personal insights I gained.  I will probably forget things and miss things because I learned SO MUCH, but hopefully this will be a passable record of my experiences.

 

DAY ONE:

There were six other attendees, plus myself, Glasreo, and our instructor, gathered in her living room.  It was a small room, and a cozy fit, but pleasant.  We did a round of introductions – the usual.  Name, experience level for journeying, healing modalities practiced, why learn soul retrieval?  My answer to the last question was pretty much,
Another Tool in the Toolbox.  I’ve been spirit-led to do soul retrieval on a few reiki clients previously, and I jumped at the chance to learn it more deeply.

We talked a bit about ways to jump in and out of journey space in order to take notes and ask multiple questions, but I already have a system I use for “pausing” journeys in order to do that.  I’ve really found it useful in my reiki practice, because it allows me to receive messages from spirits and look at the energy body deeply, and still talk to the client and be aware of where my body is in relation to theirs and everything else in the room.

Our first journey was to talk to our soul retrieval guides about soul essence and soul loss, on micro and macro levels.  My guides are the same as my main reiki guides: Airmed and Miach, Irish gods of healing.  They gave me imagery that spun up and down on different levels, comparing the soul to the nucleus of an atom, or the star of a solar system – the center that animates the outside (the body).  Many of my classmates also got solar or fire imagery, and most of us also got messages about the soul of an individual being part of a larger soul (and likely made up of smaller souls, as well).  Fractals, spiraling up and down out of our ability to conceive in both directions.  Soul loss, then, can affect us all on many different levels, and it’s as important to do soul retrieval for individuals as it is to do it for groups, the land, and the planet, if you can.

Since we started in the evening and everyone was pretty beat, it was a short session.

 

DAY TWO:

Day two started with us asking our guides for a dismemberment healing, to prepare the way for new energies.  As usual, I dissolved into the water that borders my Waystation island.  It’s very very calming, and a bit less violent than what usually comes to mind for a dismemberment healing, but just as potent.  We talked a bit about my own shadows and blockages, shadow work I need to do and things I need to be aware of as I’m doing this healing work.  Most of it was things I’m already aware of and trying to work on, one or two were new and struck a chord.  Self improvement is never finished, and I’m glad to have their guidance.

Then we talked for a bit, with Monika introducing concepts like client education, confidentiality, consent, other complementary healing modalities, so that we could discuss them and figure out our own paths through this work.  Glasreo and I will probably be combining this work with our reiki practice, first and foremost, and using reiki to both prepare the bodies (physical and etheric) as well as to help with integration afterwards.

The next journey was a pretty intense one – we were to ask our guides for a run-down of our specific method, ie, how we were going to perform soul retrieval with their help.  My particular method requires me using sound to call in nearby pieces, and visiting an underwater (but air-filled) cave to find pieces that get lost.  I see the soul like a little squishy ball of light as I work on it, clearing things out and helping pieces assimilate back in.  After learning our method, and hearing about everyone else’s, Monika paired us up to work on partners.  My partner and I didn’t have any trouble working on each other, and it helped me really cement the method I’d been shown.

We then talked a bit about integration, and how to tell the client what we’d seen, and when it’s best to keep some of the story to ourselves – it’s not a good idea to share something if it will trigger or re-traumatize the client.  It’s better to focus on what the soul pieces are bringing back, rather than focusing on why the left – you want the client to move forward, and heal fully.  We also discussed how different messages come through our filters, and how sometimes a symbol will mean a different thing to us than it does to the client.  It’s okay to just say you’re not sure if the symbology or metaphor is unclear – maybe it will become clear to the client afterwards!  After discussing integration, we did a journey to the soul pieces that were returned, to ask them for their story, and advice moving forward, in order to cement our own integration.

Our last topic was soul theft, and we discussed the topic before journeying to ask our guides how we would handle it as healers, and what we should do to prevent it from happening again.  Monika pointed out that frequently, human-on-human soul theft is a chain that goes pretty far back, and it might be best to go as far back as you can, or until you hit someone dead, to prevent the cycle from recurring.  Most soul theft is unintentional, and the perpetrators often need healing, themselves, but consent can be difficult, so I will probably free pieces and hand them off to someone’s guides or Higher Self, as attempting to put them back into the core soul without consent is likely to get me nowhere, and it’s not very ethical.  Spirits can also steal pieces of soul, or pick up pieces that left and hold on to them, and those may have to be battled or psychopomped, depending on the kind of spirit and how reluctant they are to give up the piece.  I’ll be working with the Morrigna in these cases, though, so I feel ready to do the work.

 

DAY THREE:

The first half of the day was spent on smaller topic discussions: ancestral line soul loss in the client’s family, past lives/reincarnation/soul contracts of the client, working on clients with mental or physical illnesses (especially the limitations of this work to “fix” biological problems – it can help, certainly, but “miracle cures” are incredibly rare), working on clients with addiction issues (and the limitations it puts on healing if they are not Ready, Willing, and Able to change), working on clients remotely (can totally be done, across time and/or space), working on land spirits, working on animals, and group healing ceremonies.

After we discussed animals, we did a small group session on the dog that lived in the house, and we found that some of us were called to do different parts.  For example, I ended up doing mostly gunk removal, from both the core soul and pieces, though I was not guided to gather or integrate more than one piece.  Another classmate was called to gather many pieces but not clean them, and a third was guided to hold space for the rest of us and then finish the integration process.  That led us into the discussion of group healing, and once we had finished all our discussion topics, we did a brief healing on Monika, as well.

The final journey of the day was a discussion (with our guides) of trickery and intrusions, from spirits and thoughtforms and suchlike that could mess with a healing. We were to come up with a system to guard against and deal with these issues.  My personal system is to remain basically the same as what I already do with my guides when working on reiki clients, or when encountering new spirits in journey space, so that was more confirmation for me than anything new.

 

DAY FOUR:

The first half the day was entirely devoted to a discussion on ethics.  We revisited consent and confidentiality, and also covered topics like holding space, moving past our own ego, self-healing work and shadow work, honoring equal exchange, knowing our personal limits, and making sure not to cause dependency, not to hold any healing back from the client.  Monika shared with us her own ethical code, and talked about the code put forth by the Indie Shaman quarterly journal, and we all thought a bit about our own guidelines.  Then, another journey – this time to ask our guides for their input, and to be told what the consequences might be if we broke our oath.  After that, we all participated in a short meditation to release any soul essence that was not ours that we had taken or ended up with, consciously or unconsciously, so that those pieces could find their way home.

After lunch, Monika led a ceremony to call forth many many spirits as witnesses, and we all gave our oaths.  The core of mine is that I will abide by the sacred rules of Hospitality, and I will Put Right what is Wrong. Some things will not be mine to change, and I should never put anything wrong that was right to begin with… It is somewhat difficult to put into terms, but I understand and my spirits understand, and the consequences if break this oath will be immediate and dire, and completely out of my control.

 

OVERVIEW:

I feel like I learned so much, from both the discussions, and the journeys.  It was also really helpful to hear about other people’s journeys, and where everyone else was coming from.  It was one of those times where I’m not sure it could have been replicated with another group of people, because we were all so in sync!  Hopefully Monika will teach the class again – I would highly recommend it to any experienced energy healer.  It’s been a lot to process, but I would do it all over again.  I really think this is going to help deepen my healing practice.

One last thing – before we receive our final certificate, we have to do 1 free soul retrieval healing, so if you’d like to volunteer for that, do let me know.  I’ll probably offer a handful for free to make sure I’ve really integrated what I’ve learned, and then I’ll add it to my reiki bag of tricks and stick it on the menu, so to speak. I’ll be updating the reiki & healing part of the website with more information soon.

 

Discernment

This past weekend, Glasreo and I attended an informal pagan discussion hosted by the Fellowship Beyond the Star, on the topic of discernment.  It was a very fruitful discussion, starting with general definitions and then branching off into individual stories of encounters and omens and general spirit work and work with deities.  It was fun to hear other people’s stories, and helpful for all of us to have others’ insight into our experiences.  In general, the discussion of discernment hinged on a couple of key points:

  1. Ruling out mundane causes.  This is a big one.  Sometimes a flock of crows is just a flock of crows, sometimes candles fall over, sometimes your air vents cause incense smoke to move a certain way.  Chances are, if it’s something pretty normal or totally plausible, it’s not a sign of something more.  It’s a good idea to learn as much about the science of whatever you’re working with as possible, and to get to know your environment.  Seeing a heron isn’t unusual if you’re near a body of water – but you might think it is unusual if you don’t know that there’s water nearby!  However, it’s important to know that you can’t ever rule out mundane causes 100%.  What you should aim to do is figure out whether what you’ve witnessed is unusual or common.  Unusual things may just be an omen!  This also applies to trancework: if you’re doing journeywork or astral travelling or something like that, and you aren’t sure whether what you’re experiencing is something you made up or insight you’re receiving, ask yourself whether the patterns are unusual  or common.  If you were going to daydream about the topic, is this what you would probably come up with?  Does everything seem expected, do you feel like it’s all something you’ve already known?  Then you’re likely to still be inside your imagination.  If something unexpected occurs or doesn’t go the way you’re trying to create it, that’s probably coming from somewhere outside yourself.
  2. Trusting one’s intuition.  At some point after you’ve examined the possibility of mundane causes, you need to think about how you feel, in general.  Sometimes a very common thing can be an omen anyway because it’s what you needed, or because the timing was exactly perfect.  If you feel strongly that it’s an omen, or that you’re receiving insight from outside yourself, and it’s not just wishful thinking, you probably are.  Learning to tell wishful thinking from truth requires a lot of practice evaluating your own thoughts and that can be hard, but the self-awareness that comes with that struggle is very much worth the end result.  You’ll learn to trust your intuition and in doing so, trust yourself and your experiences.  It can really deepen your practice to not be second-guessing yourself constantly.
  3. Using lore as a guideline.  Lore is really useful if you’re getting messages from deities or other lore-known spirits.  You can look up their animal associations, get a sense of their looks or personality, or other things and check those details against the information you’re getting.  Lining up 100% isn’t required for you to be correct, but nothing should be huge and glaringly contradictory.  Blonde vs brunette is probably fine; mountain associations instead of lake associations might be a bit too far.
  4. Using divination to double check the message. If you can, it’s always a good idea to do divination or to ask someone else to do divination for you and ask “Am I seeing things clearly?” or “Is the message coming from X deity?” or, “Am I really supposed to do Y thing?” to double check that you’re getting the message from who you think you are, and that it’s trying to tell you what you think it is.  Divination can also be helpful if the message is clear but vague: you can ask how or when, and get more information.  Be careful if you’re divining for yourself, though, that you’re not falling victim to wishful thinking (yep, there’s that little gremlin again).
  5. Asking for further signs or repetition.  One of the best ways to figure out if you’re really getting messages from spirits when they’re jumbled and unclear is to ask for some kind of unusual, specific sign.  Don’t make it something impossible, but make sure that it really is something unusual, that you’ll notice and pick up on.  You can ask for a certain number of something like birds, or ask to see a specific animal on your drive to work, or something like that.  It might be a good idea to give it a deadline, too, so that you’re not waiting forever and wondering if the answer is just “no”.  Repetition, whether you asked for it or not, can also be an indication that something is really a message.  Maybe there’s a cardinal nesting near your house, so seeing that one isn’t unusual, but throughout the day you see another 5 or 6 cardinals all over the city and there are pictures of cardinals indoors as well – if you feel like you’re being stalked by something, it may very well be a sign!
  6. Journaling.  One of the best things you can do when you receive a message or something you think might be a message or just witness something really unusual is to write it down!  Maybe it was a message, but it will only make sense after the fact.  Maybe the message is in the repetition, but until you write it down you don’t realize that you only really ever see crows on Wednesdays.  Even if you are sure it’s a message and you know who it’s from and what it means, it’s still a good idea to record it, since a lot of the messages will make even more sense with time.  That was you can also keep track of how different spirits and deities usually approach you with new messages, too, and it can help you figure out if things are messages or not much more quickly!

Hopefully this all makes sense to you, and maybe it’ll even help some of you – it certainly helped me to discuss it and write it all out!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from us here at Serendipities!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, whatever holidays you celebrated!  I’ve been planning away and I have some exciting news coming up soon!

First of all, Glasreo and I are signed up for a Soul Retrieval certification training this month, taught by Monika Healing Coyote.  She’s a friend and a talented fellow healer and we’re very excited that she’s offering this class, because we think it will help us in our healing work.  We’re always interested in learning new ways to use energy and spirit guidance to heal ourselves and those around us.

On that topic, I’m scheduling another reiki class sometime at the end of this month or in February, since the last one went so well and I have more interest!  It will most likely be a weekend afternoon, held at our house in Reston, VA, so if you are interested please please contact us as soon as possible to tell me what dates you are available.  Cost is going to be $50 + the cost of a manual for I and II. (If you already have the William Rand manual for level I, level 2 is the same book).  The class itself will include some practice time and munchies, too!

Other new things on their way are Rune Readings, as soon as I get the pictures taken and the listing written, and I have three new tarot decks: Archeon Tarot, Tarot of the Boroughs, and the mini Tarot of Pagan Cats.  So, expect to see listings with those soon – again, I still need to take pictures, and that requires good natural lighting, which the world has not been providing me with, lately.  They’ll be up by the end of the month, gods willing.

The other thing I’m going to start doing is mini monthly horoscope-type Lenormand readings here in the blog, for all of you!  So here are your two cards for January:

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The Crossroads refers to choices and decisions we have to make, which makes sense for the beginning of the year: we’re all trying to decide what we’ll work on, what we’ll try to accomplish, and what we want the new year to be like.  The Fish are a symbol of finances, money, wealth, and our “wants” (as opposed to “needs”).  Together, the two cards are telling us to pay attention to our financial choices, and to make sure what we’re choosing to do this year really lines up with our own values and desires – not the values and desires of others.  If we can make the right choices, January should be a time of increase for us all.  May it be so!  And, as always – if you want a more in-depth personal reading, I’d be very happy to do one for you. Just take a look in the Etsy Shop or send us an email!

 

As we slide into Winter…

A few months ago, I posted a blog titled “A Message for the Equinox”.  In it, I described a journey I took to see the Morrigna, the three Daughters of Ernmas, and their message for me about the coming fall and winter.  As they predicted, the fall has been tumultuous, even beyond what I had expected.  Fierce storms raged, the veil was so thin that people who aren’t normally in tune could feel that something was amiss, wild unseen things were wandering, and the US election seems to have caught quite a few of us by surprise.  Illusions are being shows for what they are, assumptions are being overturned, and we are all confronting the fact that we have painful shadow work to do in order to move forward.  The unnecessary, the luxurious, and the gilded things are being stripped away.  It has been a painful season of growth, but I hope you all are rising to the challenge.

As we move forward, however, remember to take time for yourself.  Remember to rest, recharge and heal. Check in with people around you; give help where you can, and accept help when you need it yourself.  The winter is likely to be even worse than the fall, and spring is very far away.  We have much to do before then, and burn out is likely if you can’t maintain yourself.

The Morrigna have been calling me, personally, to help heal those of their warriors who are in my own circle.  That, it seems, is my role in the struggles ahead.  I am a healer, not a warrior, and my most important efforts include holding space for others.  I will do my best to provide respite and sanctuary to all those I can, whether through reiki or spellwork or simply listening.  If you need someone to help you find hope, please do not hesitate to reach out.

I’m attempting to schedule some reiki classes for January or February, so if you are interested in taking Reiki I, II, or III, do let me know.  Classes are tentatively priced at $50 plus the cost of a manual (which is $15-20), and I’ll need at least three students per level to be able to schedule a class.  Weekends are probably best, as each class is several hours long and I’d prefer not to go too late into the evening.

Updates!

Well, the shop tumblog is now up and running!  So if you’re on tumblr, please be a dear and give us a follow!  Right now it’s mostly posting Etsy shop listings and updates, but no more than 3 posts a day, we don’t want to spam anyone.  In the future that will probably be the fastest place to learn about anything new going on in the shop besides Etsy itself!

Speaking of Etsy, our seasonal coupon went live this past weekend!  Use coupon code YULETIDE2016 for 10% off anything and everything in the shop!  Code is valid through the 2nd of January.

Also coming up soon (hopefully by Yule): rune readings are FINALLY going to be in the shop, at approx $2/rune.  These are going to be pulls, not casts, but I’ve gotten some good feedback on my free rune readings on tumblr, so I think I’m now confident enough to offer them for sale.  I use the Elder Futhark, on slices of wood, and I’ll be included pictures in those readings, just like with the cards.

On the reiki side of things, we’re finally more or less open for business (though we may get a zero gravity chair to replace the one we’ve been using, for additional comfort) and I’ve updated the Facebook Page with the street name – when you book an appointment I’ll be more than happy to give you the entire address and parking directions, but we’re working out of our home and I don’t really want our home address plastered all over the interwebs.  I’ve also added “Services” to the FB page, with approximate prices so you have an idea, though divination and jewelry are still primarily sold through the Etsy Shop.

In the realm of upcoming things, Glasreo and I will be attending a Soul Retrieval workshop in January which is very exciting and should meld well with our reiki practice, so stay tuned to hear about that (and maybe book a reiki session for the spring to get some of your lost soul pieces back, *winkwink*) and hopefully I’ll be blogging weekly again from here on, now that we’re all moved into our new place!

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