Celebrating Winter Solstice On Dec 10 2023

 

Picture credit to my brother.

Some folks have asked how we celebrate Winter Solstice.  Each year it is slightly different.  This year, I was guided to have our celebration early because of the weather ahead so we scheduled for the 10th of December.  Winter Solstice is about the shortest day and the longest night.  By having our celebration on the Sunday, 11 days early, we had a bit more daylight and we started early…at 4 PM. 

We have a group - our tribe - that comes to our meditations and celebrations.  Including my husband and me, we had 17 people in front of the fire.  Yes, we have a fire to light the way and to carry away all that we throw to it.

Our steps for the evening included:

1. Smudging everyone
2. Drumming
3. Welcome and quick overview of what will be happening
4. Opening Sacred Space
5. The theme
6. Breathing exercise to support the theme
7. Meeting the guides for this evening
8. Several quick meditations
9. Sharing Circle
10. Closing Sacred Space

The experiences that folks had were amazing!  It was fun for all of us.  The evening helped to wipe out some anxiety and restore balance.  The energy was so high!  It all felt right.

Blessings,

Judy

The Tree Of Life Explained in Lakota Terms

The CHA WAKAN card - Tree of Life, #32, from The Lakota Sweat Lodge Cards by Chief Archie Fire Lame Deer and Helene Sarkis

In many traditions, the TREE OF LIFE is recognized - for all people see the tree as having roots buried deep in Mother Earth, and branches reaching up to Great Spirit, and Father Sky.  

The Lakota say that the humans are like leaves - when we become a certain age, or ripeness, we leave this plane and go into the Spirit World.   We die, our bodies go to the Earth, like the leaves from the tree.

The guidance on this card is one that is timely, as we move towards Christmas, a time that is very stressful for many people who either visit family or have family stay with them. 

"Open your heart to all your brothers and your sisters and to all of creation, relinquishing your judgements and expectations (of yourself and others).  Allow all our relations to be exactly who they are; accept all that you are."

If you feel the need to judge or criticize someone tomorrow, stop and ask yourself  - "Why does this bother me so much?"  For, often what bothers us in others is what we can not deal with in ourselves.  If we can identify why it bothers us, we are on the path to releasing that issue, like the tree releases the leaves.  When we release something that has bothered us for ages, we feel a deep stillness and peace.  The Shaman says that one must continually work on themselves-- if you believe that you have dealt with an issue and yet you remember it, then the issue is not solved.  Work towards Oneness and Peace!

Be compassionate...

Many Blessings,

Judy

Moose Is An Ancient Four Legged One

 

Moose in the snow from a set of winter pictures of Jasper, Alberta

As we approach Christmas, notice that in many yards in Calgary, and I am sure elsewhere, there are stunning light displays of a moose.  Some are large while others are small.  Since moose often comes to the city and hangs out along the river in Fish Creek Park.  Moose seems to represent the wildness and ruggedness of the West.  Here is a bit about this huge animal.

Moose are one of the more ancient four legged ones. In Alberta, we see them in the foothills, in wooded areas, and sometimes even along the rivers in the city. Moose was named from the Algonquin word “Moz” which roughly means stick or twig eater. Moose are totally herbivores and may eat up to 112 pounds of food per day in the summertime as the winter time is almost a time of fasting for them. Their great size – averaging six and a half feet at the shoulder, and one thousand pounds – makes sustenance a full time occupation. Their colouring allows them to blend into the bush, grass and water that are their habitat. Moose runs at about twenty-eight miles per hour, and swims quite rapidly as well. Even with its huge antlers which may weigh seventy-five pounds, the bull moose will move silently through the forest, and will appear invisible as well. When we do see Moose, it is so powerful a presence, one cannot help but feel a sense of the majestic force of Nature.

Our Ancestors have many legends surrounding Moose. Some are that those born with Moose’s shape – long legs and arms – will have Moose’s ability to connect with the higher realms. Moose’s gifts – presence and invisibility are also the message to those Moose appears to. Moose says to go and do what ever your journey is without drawing attention to yourself. If Moose has antlers, the message is to open up the crown chakra and connect to the universal consciousness and connect with the Heavens and Mother Earth and understand that balance is required. Moose reminds you that you do have great wisdom and that the wisdom is to be shared discretely; and that one should not be troubled by the garbled advice from those around them.

Moose’s habitat in summer is water. Here, Moose pulls up the tenderest shoots of marine plants, and feasts on the water lily, a brilliant yellow flower. This is a reminder that one must constantly plunge the depths of emotion to find the true moments of love and swallow them whole to incorporate them into one’s being, for love is the one true thing. All other emotion must be examined, and blessed and released to prevent this density from holding one back from growing into their full power.

Blessings,

Judy

What About Cardinal?

Picture of "Cardinal" from Wikipedia....

 

As I was writing Christmas cards, I noticed how many of the cards have a picture of the "Cardinal" on them.  I looked at the cards I had accumulated and realized that I had not really bought a box of cards on birds.  Yet, several cards in a row were showing me Cardinal.  Therefore, there must be a message for me.

First, the brilliant red Cardinal is usually found in through Ontario, Quebec, and some of the Maritimes, and then down into Maine and the eastern States.  In western Canada, the Cedar Waxwing is more orangey-red than red in colour.  When the early explorers and settlers saw this bird, the crest reminded the people of the red robes of Catholic Cardinals, hence the name.  Cardinal, then, does have significance for people on either a religious or spiritual journey - and often the two are exclusive of each other.  

My task is to figure out what Cardinal was trying to say to me.  The colours of Cardinal - black and red - are about the base chakra, and a reminder to be more in touch with Mother Earth and to stay grounded.  The base chakra is about survival - having food and shelter and feeling secure from harm - the very issues that our Ancestors faced when they ventured out from their cave or their village.  Cardinal is very much about survival and she knows which seeds to eat, summer or winter, that will benefit her.  At this time of year when over indulgence may become a habit, Cardinal reminds us to eat healthily and to avoid harmful foods.  I paid close attention to this information about food and eating because we have many social eating situations over the next several weeks.

Cardinal has a very high, loud whistle that echoes through the air.  Cardinal may be singing to its mate - male and female sound alike.  The message is to integrate our masculine and feminine traits and then use the combined skills of intuition and logic to achieve a very large goal.  Only by moving forward with our being totally integrated will we achieve the steps on our life mission.  This message is especially true for me right now as I am working on new workshop materials. I see the message that my communication must also be loud and clear!

As the colour of Cardinal is red, one often associates attributes of life with the colour.  So, Cardinal's message in this area is to live with assertiveness, courage, and to be pioneering in the areas of work/hobby that one does.  Cardinal may also imply that one is insecure, or fearful, or even self pitying or a victim, and urges the individual to be more like Cardinal - full of fun and life.

Again the message of courage and pioneering struck a chord with me as I am working on several things that go beyond the information that I have learned, and synthesizes ideas into something more - in fact, being a pioneer.  That message of pioneering felt good and right, and was affirming the steps that I am taking.  I am grateful for the message.

Blessings,

Judy

Listening To Your Body

 Ballerina from Microsoft Clipart

Each of us is unique - in our height, weight, colouring, and in what we enjoy doing.  We do the things that speak to us, as the ballerina in the picture does.  Not many of us can be dancers because we do not have the body or the desire to to dance in the fashion of ballet.  However, sometimes our bodies cry out just to dance for joy, or to sing because we are happy and love life!  How often do you suppress these joys?  How often do you dishonour your body?  It is a living organism that will survive without our working mind, as science has proven.

As I move further into the journey of spirituality and the path of the Shaman,  I find it easier and easier to listen and really hear my body.  I was looking for a way to explain this to my clients when I came across this quote from OSHO.  I believe this is more eloquent than any phrasing I may use.

"Your body has its own wisdom — it carries the wisdom of the centuries in its cells.

Your body is feeling hungry and you are on a fast, because your religion says that this day you have to fast — and your body is feeling hungry. You don’t trust your organism, you trust a dead scripture, because in some book somebody has written that this day you have to go on a fast, so you go on a fast.

Listen to your body. Yes, there are days when the body says, “Go on a fast!” — then go. But there is no need to listen to the scriptures. The man who wrote that scripture has not written it with you in his mind, not at all. He could not have conceived of you. You were not present to him, he was not writing about you. It is as if you fall ill and you go to a dead doctor’s house and look into his prescriptions, and find a prescription and start following the prescription. That prescription was made for somebody else, for some other disease, in some other situation.

Remember to trust your own organism. When you feel that the body is saying don’t eat, stop immediately. When the body is saying eat, then don’t bother whether the scriptures say to fast or not. If your body says eat three times a day, perfectly good. If it says eat one time a day, perfectly good."  ~~Osho~~

What Osho says is that our body, with all the past knowledge it carries, is both our Ancestor and our self in one.  We need to listen to the wisdom or our Ancestors.

In loving kindness,

Judy

Daily Necessities

A Statue of the Buddha in Tawang Gompa, India  From Wikipedia

 

 

 

I enjoy the teachings of Buddha and all of the various advices from Buddhist teachers.... the following daily advice is something that "zinged" through me and made me feel like I had discovered a hunk of gold in a cold stream.  

Tips & pointers for building a spiritual life from scratch 

Pray 
Meditate 
Be aware/Stay awake 
Bow 
Practise yoga 
Feel 
Chant and sing 
Breathe and smile 
Relax/Enjoy/Laugh/Play 
Create/Envision 
Let Go/Forgive/Accept 
Walk/Exercise/Move 
Work/Serve/Contribute 
Listen/Learn/Enquire 
Consider/Reflect 
Cultivate oneself/Enhance competencies 
Cultivate contentment 
Cultivate flexibility 
Cultivate friendship and collaboration 
Lighten up 
Celebrate and appreciate 
Dream 
Give thanks 
Evolve 
Love 
Share/Give/Receive 
Walk softly/Live gently 
Expand/Radiate/Dissolve 
Simplify 
Surrender/Trust 
Be born anew 
~~~~~from Awakening The Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das

Feel the peace and enjoy the journey!

Many Blessings,

Judy

About Death

Picture from a site called Legacy.com.  

Earlier this year, my mother-in-law passed away and then I found this beautiful poem that describes how death looks....Right now the world is looking at death almost daily and it seems that this poem fits for that as well.....

DEATH IS NOTHING

Death is nothing at all, 
I have only slipped away into the next room. 
Whatever we were to each, that we are still. 
Call me by my old familiar name. 
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used. 
Laugh as we always laughed 
at the little jokes we enjoyed together. 
Play, smile, think of me. Pray for me. 
Let my name be the household word it always was. 
Let it be spoken without effort. 
Life means all that it ever meant. 
It is the same as it ever was; 
there is absolutely unbroken continuity. 
Why should I be out of your mind 
because I am out of your sight? 
I am but waiting for you, for an interval, 
somewhere very near just around the corner... 
All is well. Nothing is past, nothing is lost. 
One brief moment and all will be as it was before, 
only better, infinitely happier 
and forever we will be one together.  

~~~Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918)~~~~

May all in your life be gentle!

Blessings,

Judy