Allies

There is much in our brains, mostly fueled by our culture and society, that is divisive. We are separated by sex and gender, by skin color, by age, by loyalty whether it be to a religion or a nation. This list could go on and on, but I'd rather focus on the unity. There are plenty of times I feel alone in this world, but I have come to a new way of being that allows me to shift perspectives quickly. Shifting perspectives provides me with a way of being in the moment and of the moment, a sort of timeless existence. With each breath, each blink, I am new. With each breath, each heartbeat, I am. And what am I? The question of the ages. I am separate in the physical plane, but there is so much more than the physical plane. I share the same general characteristics with all the other humans, which are not that different from all the other animals here on this planet. And ultimately I share the energetic makeup of the elements just like everything else that is here in this world now as we know it. All of this means that while we are here in separate forms, we are all allies.

Just take a breath, feel your heartbeat, feel the pulse of blood in your arteries, blink, and sink into your heart-space. Here in the center of our beings is the connecting point. The connection to each other, to the source, to all that is. It is the unity point. It is where we can become aware that we are one. Even when I think I am doing something by myself, I am just one tiny wave of light shining brightly amidst all the other waves of light that are the divine. It is the brain, the thoughts therein, that create the veil and thus divide us. But with each step I take, we all step, with each rise of an ocean wave, we all rise. Even the falls, be they into a hole of literal or emotional proportions, are falls we all take. Only to rise again with the take off of an vulture rising into the sky.

It is a remembering, this knowing of oneness. I am one with the clouds, the stars, the birds, the trees, you. All is one and one is.

Red Messages

There are times that I ask for help with an issue and start seeing messages everywhere. And then there are times that I have not asked for any assistance from the divine, yet still notice that there are messages everywhere. Many of my messages appear in some form in the natural world, though there are plenty of times when I am reading a book and some word, phrase or entire sentence will jump out at me. Just today I have had repeated messages from the birds. While in the kitchen this morning, I looked out the window and saw the first red-winged blackbirds of the season. (They will come in waves now in mixed flocks with starlings and grackles all so shiny and black.) And while watching the red-winged blackbirds feeding on the ground, movement on a branch caught my eye and there was the red-breasted nuthatch. There was a tickle at the back of my mind--red. A little later in the morning I headed out into the cold, windy, blue sky day for my walk. I was focusing on placing each foot and being the bird on the wind. And I was listening to the sounds of a windy day: the roar of the tall trees on the ridges, the scraping and whining of the branches rubbing against each other, the crows in the distance, the startled mourning doves fluttering off. And then a red-shouldered hawk flew up behind me and landed on a branch in the field. As I watched the hawk settle on the branch, I heard the red-headed woodpeckers chittering in the oaks. No longer was there a tickle, the pieces fell into place. In this case red is the marker color and the part of the body where the red appears shows the chakra for my attention. The names of the birds in this instance even tell where the red is. The wings are the arms of a bird, and arms correspond with the heart chakra. Thus, the blackbird is about the heart chakra. The breast of the nuthatch again points to the heart chakra. The shoulders of the hawk again correspond with the heart chakra. But the woodpecker has a red head which is actually the location of two chakras, the third eye chakra and the crown chakra. Red itself is also important as it is the color of the root chakra. So with all theses pieces of the message put together, my feathered friends have been telling me today to focus on my heart chakra and open to the information that appears (third eye and crown chakras) all while being present in my physical body (root chakra). (This is a bit simplified as there are levels of this message that will open to me as I focus on these chakras which I will do in meditation.) All of this is almost circular in that I was open to the information that appeared and thus got this message which just makes me smile. I tend to ask my guides for messages that are straightforward and hard to miss, and I am grateful that is what I get.

Layers

A chilly morning walk today with high, flat clouds, and a hint of February sunrise. The fields are a pale buff orange, a little paler when the sun is hiding. There is still some snow on the mountains, and the faint shadows today give the mountains strong textures for an overcast day. Seeing layers everywhere these days, I am finding that there are layers of the layers. Layers of colors, textures, sights, sounds. Layers of thoughts, feelings, dimensions, realms. And the fox has appeared a few times lately. The fox often has to do with the magic of camouflage, invisibility and shapeshifting which is really just more layers. My eyes find the hawks who blend into the trees. My feet find the steps that carry me from this plane to other planes and back again. My heart finds the beats that bring comfort and joy. And this morning, while stopping to enjoy the pond environs, who should come loping along the edge of the pond? The coyote, the wise fool. She did not stand out with her tawny coat against the frosty field. With her long legs, she moved at a steady pace. Not that different than a fox in some ways, but just with that movement, my eyes knew her to be a coyote. Foxes at that pace glide. Coyotes definitely have an extra bit of movement to make it a looser lope. So, from camouflage to play, the fox to the coyote. And again, layers. I see layers in the camouflage on the physical level. I see layers of wisdom on the level of meaning. And all the while I'm walking, my feet are taking me from realm to realm so that I may receive the wisdom of the animals and walk it back into this realm and share it with others.

Our families are often multispecies families in today's world. And as the planetary consciousness shift is occurring, these multispecies families assist in a big way. Living with another species, or two or three, opens our minds to new ways of thinking and our hearts to new ways of knowing and loving. As we transition into living from the heart, we have the support of the other beings on this planet: the trees, grasses, lichens, the birds, whales, shrimp to name a few. And most closely, we have the support and assistance of those other species we welcome into our families: the dogs, cats, horses, rodents...And the list could go on for those species that we have chosen as members of our families (or who have chosen us, as is more often the case). As I work with humans and other species alike, I find that the work is an exchange of energy that lifts all of us involved to a higher vibration. I feel like shifting vibrations is peeling away a layer and tuning in to the divine vibration. See? I really am seeing layers everywhere.

So I thank you fox and coyote for allowing me a glimpse of the interconnectedness of the layers this morning. And I will keep on walking and finding the layers.

Birds!

For a long time now birds have been an integral part of my existence. I see and hear birds everywhere I go and they are with me in my dreams and meditations. While I have learned plenty about them from ornithologists and books, much of what I know about them is a knowing that is beyond traditional learning. It is a universal consciousness knowing, a knowing from the birds themselves. A typical day for me includes at least 20 different varieties of birds. Many are birds I see every day, but there are plenty of others who appear as they are either migrating or just stopping by for a visit. While I do live in a rather rural area these days, even when I lived in the city there were birds everywhere I went. While there are many messages and meanings for specific birds, my relationship with birds is one that goes beyond the messages and meanings. With each meeep, whistle, flit, and whhoosh of wings I am refreshed, renewed, healed. They teach me about awareness of surroundings, how to be one with the elements, what economy of motion looks like. They present me with colors, shapes, sounds, movements that shift perspective in an instant. I listen to the feathers of the wings moving the air as they fly and notice that they are not the same. Like we, as humans, have different footsteps, so do birds have different wing beat songs. And for all the differences I notice, the essence of bird is the one that soaks into me the deepest. And that essence is one that bolsters my spirit when I need it whether by bringing me out of my brain and into my connection with the elements or by sprinkling my eyes with colors that renew.

I am a nature based human and as such I spend a lot of time with the plants, animals, elements and planets. I open to the wisdom of the natural world and wonders abound. My relationship with birds is an open, ever changing one. In a meditation recently I opened the back side of my heart chakra with my focus on my guides and I was instantly covered in birds. I became a new type of being. I still have not learned all that I can from this experience, but what I do know is that the birds have my back in ways I have yet to even imagine.

Winds and Birds

I awoke this morning to a light dusting of snow. And the winds that have been visiting for the last few days are still present with their loud voices. They are busy tossing the powdery snow in the air so that it sparkles in the sunlight. And they are busy roaring above the trees and whistling through the boxwoods. Walking in these big winds is hard, but I find that it actually helps me stay grounded. I have to firmly plant my feet whether I want to stand still or actually move. The winds blow, blow, and then gust really hard in a rhythm hard to catch. With each step I don't know how much to brace myself, so my connection to my body must be full and the connection my body has with the earth must be complete as well.

I am in awe of my feathered friends as they move on, in and through these winds. From carolina chickadees to mourning doves to mallard ducks to turkey vultures, they are all amazing. I watch birds crack open a seed while balanced on a branch swaying in the wind. I see birds turn on and in the winds as they prepare to land on the water. The ability to be one with the wind while still maintaining their course is astounding and something to which I aspire. Moving through the world fully in my physical body, aware of the essence of each of the elements (water, air, earth, fire, wood, metal, stone, light, ether, star) that is within me, I know on a different level. Open to all my senses, beyond the physical five, I experience being in a whole new way. I am the bird on wing.

Where Things Meet

Edges. The ceiling at the wall, the silhouette of tree against sky, the air on my skin, the bird on water. There are edges everywhere I look. Some are sharp, some are softer and some I cannot quite find though I know they are there. Edges are often considered the separating point, the division of one thing from another. I like to look at edges as where things meet. This seems more fluid and flexible.

I've enjoyed practicing Reiki for more than 10 years now, but it was only a few years ago that it became a shining example of oneness for me. I had just finished reading Cyndi Dale's book The Complete Book of Chakra Healing and Laurens, my cat, was suddenly limping. With my Reiki training I was taught the 7 chakra system. Cyndi uses the 12 chakra system and it resonates with me. Previously Laurens was very particular, like many animals humans included, about receiving energy work. I decided to give it a try. Dixie, my dog, came over to join us and everything shifted. What had started out as a 12 chakra Reiki session with Laurens, became an amped up level of energetic connection between the three of us. We were focused on Laurens and his limp, but we went beyond that and found a new balance for the three of us. In that moment there were no sharp edges between us. There were blurred meldings of Laurens, Dixie and me. While I had one hand on Laurens and one hand on Dixie and the edges of our physical bodies were clear, our energies were meeting and transforming. We were one and we still are.

When I take my walks I look at the individual leaves, the individual trees, the woods as a whole. I practice seeing the pieces and then the pieces as the whole. I am looking for where things meet. I am looking beyond the physical to the subtle energy level to see the softer edges. I am seeing that everything meets somewhere and all is one.

Wild Joy

A couple of nights ago, in the wee hours of the morning, I was gently pulled from dreams of clear night skies and a bonfire by the singing yips of a pack of coyotes very close by. As I lay in my bed in the dark and listened to the songs, I felt the wildness of the coyotes. It was a feeling deep inside my cells. Part of me was resonating with the tones of the coyotes. We were all vibrating together. It was magic. It was a rush, but the gentle kind that sweeps through you and lifts you up in a floaty way. It didn't make me want to run outside and run with the coyotes. It made me smile from the inside. It made me content. This is the kind of feeling that I revel in and try to experience in full and then tuck it into my body somewhere, not just into the recesses of my mind. This is a feeling I want to be able to call on when I need it. Sometimes when I need something from my mind, it becomes a bit too much like housework to find whatever it is I'm searching for. I'm a very physical person and I'm very aware of my physical body. While I've found it is not always easier for me to find what I tuck into my body for keepsake, the task of finding that keepsake is one that makes more sense to me. Knowing what I can't do is sometimes easier to figure out than what I can do. And knowing both is rather key to knowing myself.

The more I work with different multispecies families in finding a balance, the clearer I become on the different ways of saying what I'm doing. By bringing a human's awareness to the energetic level of connection between humans and their other animal companions, I am helping to find a balance in the web of light that joins us all together. Quantum physicists can give you a scientific perspective on just this and they call it quantum entanglement. Just by being aware of this level of connection, there is a change in the balance. The nonhuman animals know when a human opens up to something new, and everyone can find a comfortable rhythm in this new place. Everyone can feel their way into a new balance.

Yesterday afternoon Laurens, my feline pal, let me know fairly clearly that he wanted me to go on a walk with him. So out the door we trooped. It was blustery with strong west winds bringing in cold air and the sun was slanting in from the west, too. As I set off down the path, Laurens sat down. So I went back to him and squatted down to talk to him. He immediately came over to head butt and body check me, his usual forms of communication with me. He had to take his time with all the smells on the wind, all the noises created by the wind, and listening for what the wind might be covering up--namely a creature out to eat him. This is the existence of a cat. Accordingly, I strolled a few feet and then stood and took in everything, waiting for him to tell me it was okay to keep moving. In this way, we got down to the dip between the cedars and there we stopped. This time to turn around after careful investigation by Laurens. On our way back up across the field, I got a little farther ahead of Laurens. I looked back and whistled for him, one of my usual forms of communication with him, and he came thundering up the path with his long hair flying. As he flew past me and we continued up the hill, a swelling grew in my heart. It was a physical link to the feeling of love I have for this cat of mine. And by "cat of mine" I mean we are connected so strongly that we are one. As he flew by, he sent me his joy and love of life straight from his heart to mine. That is what I felt. My heart grew from his joy and love. That, too, has been tucked into my physical body for future remembering.

The Power Of The Elements

A few years back I found a wonderful quartet of books: The Books of Pellinor by Alison Croggon. These books are amazing and I still go back to them regularly. When I read books I enter another dimension, whatever dimension that book happens to open for me. When I read these books, I went to a dimension that was in some ways new and in other ways familiar to me. Alison Croggon has characters who are Elementals and these beings resonate with me. My meditation practice consists of daily walks, usually the same few miles of roads. I walk under sun, clouds, in rain, snow, into wind and away from wind. I walk when a tank top and shorts are too many clothes and the air is so thick with humidity that I feel like I'm swimming rather than walking. I walk when my nose peeking out above my scarf freezes and my eyes water from the cold. I walk on pavement, dirt roads, grassy verges. My eyes have the silhouettes of the mountains imprinted in them. My feet know the earth cold, hot and in between. All these walks in all the different conditions have brought my awareness to the elements. Having been an Elemental somewhere along the way, knowing the powers and energies of the elements is a remembering for me. The elements are available for us to use in every day life. And I find that when I'm working with finding an interspecies balance, elements are a wonderful base to tune into and start from. Non-human animals are very elemental, and while there are times they may need some help with the elements, I find the humans need more help with the elements. We are each a unique blend of the elements and knowing that unique blend can go a long way to knowing your true purpose and knowing the divine. It can also help you find the connections that exist between you and other living beings whether your family members, a store clerk, the neighbor's dog or the cardinal outside your window. And since most of us are not hermits, this is a valuable gift and tool. By slowly shifting perspective a whole new world opens up, and every day I acknowledge the elements within me and surrounding me and know we are all one.

The Owls Are Talking And I Am Listening

Last evening I stepped out on the deck after dark to listen for the owl I had just heard from inside the house. I was delightfully surprised to hear not one owl, but four great horned owls! I stood still staring up at the starry sky and listened with wonder to the owls. One pair sounded like a mated pair with the noted difference in pitch associated with a female, higher pitched, and a male, slightly lower pitched. There was not a notable difference in pitch with the other pair, so perhaps they were just stating their territory. Listening to these tones floating out into the darkness, sometimes overlapping, sometimes in sync, sometimes perfectly spaced out, was one of those moments outside time. A moment where I felt the calls enter my physical body and change me.

The sounds and sights of the world surrounding me are part and parcel of me. I am open to them and they do not just surround me, they move through me. I find that the soft shh shhh shh shhhshhshhhshsh of canada geese wings as they alight on the earth is a vibration that calms me. The way the melding colors of the sunrise play across my skin and slide into me is nourishment for my cells. The westerly breeze of a cold front tickles into my ears and is a song of freshness.

The owls remind me of the many dimensions that are within reach of this physical plane we exist on. And I am reaching for them now.

A New Year With New Rhythms

Lately I find new rhythms everywhere, from my physical pulses to the wing beats of birds. It's a new year and while focusing my awareness on opening to infinite possibilities, everything is new. Just before the turn of the year I was thinking about 2013 and what the year would be for me and I realized it will be a year of richer colors and multiple dimensions. Only twelve days into this year and I am already experiencing richer colors and multiple dimensions. I'm feeling good about 2013!

With my work (a quick aside--while work has many negative connotations in today's world, I think of the meaning as an act, action or process) every session is new. Even if  I use the same or similar tools from my energy toolkit, I'm constantly learning from the 4-leggeds and 2-leggeds alike. There is no way to repeat anything when you bring time into the picture, but even without time, patterns are always on the move. Whether assisting a 4-legged, and the rest of that interspecies family, with the transition from the physical plane to new realms, or sharing with a 2-legged the experience of the energetic connection that exists between all living beings, there is wonder that I am here doing this. I sense changes occurring on the level of light and vibration and I continue to learn how this relates to the physical plane. One thing I do know for sure, magic is the here and now.

Hello world!

Welcome to the world of intuitive energy healing for the interspecies family.  Stay tuned for more soon!