Thanksgiving Blues

Got a bunch of pumpkin,
Mushed up in a can,
Tomorrow gonna bake it,
 In a baking pan.
Add some cinnamon,
 Ginger and clove,
Get it really spicy,
Pop it in the burning stove.

Getting ready for Thanksgiving,
Really wanting to give thanks.
Thank goodness we are done with
All the Halloween pranks.
Still time to get out the winter 
Holiday sparkly lights,
Before getting into
All the traditional family fights.

One child is an adult,
But acting like they are two.
Throwing a tantrum,
 Thank goodness, not the food.
The distant cousin is bitter,
Not in a cocktail way...
And who knows what my aunt
 In Italy will say.

My parents will be appalled
I gained so much weight.
I'll try to focus on the love
And ignore all the hate.
I see my brother and his wife
Maybe once or a twice a year.
We are quite distant
Yet in my heart we are near.

Yes, we talk about peace 
And goodwill to men.
But we're ready to bomb, 
Whether foreigners or pathogens.
We feel completely entitled, 
So self righteous.
When the truth is Mr Rogers
Would just tell us all to shush...

There is plenty for everyone, 
All we need to do is share.
There is plenty for all, 
All we need to do is care.
So remember this thanksgiving,
 It's not about which team scores
It's about asking your self
 To spread the love even more.

Reiki for Court Cases?

Reiki is beneficial across time and space

Reiki for Court Cases? Why, Yes!

I have a client who found themselves in the court system. Each time they went to court, I would sit at my office and send them Reiki.

I have a little statue of Joan of Arc and I would hold it in one hand. In the other hand, I would have a pen, and for the next hour make drawings of my visions, which I would then give to my client.

Later, my client said that at every court session they would feel a warm glow across their shoulders and feel as if I was right there, patting them on the back, giving them all the encouragement and reassurance needed.

Click here for more information on Reiki in Santa Cruz. Please use the contact page to schedule your Reiki appointment.

Dreams are Whispers from your Soul

Who do you know who has been experiencing intense dreams? Do you see dreams as a message from your subconscious or from other dimensions? What about recurring dreams? And what is the importance of day-dreaming?

If you are interested in discovering more about your dreams, hypnosis is a wonderful way to continue the conversation in your mind. Hypnotherapy allows you to receive even more messages from your inner wisdom, resolve secret fears, and explore your rich inner landscape. Dream interpretation is a valuable tool that you will use over and over again to deepen your understanding of your own self.

Activate your visionary power today, come on in for some dream work. Call or email today for a session to interpret and enhance your experience. Remember, dreams are whispers from your soul.

The Sacred World Oracle Deck

Written and illustrated by Kris Waldherr, creator of The Goddess Tarot, The Sacred World Oracle deck is a sumptuous feast for the mind and an excellent gift for the upcoming holidays. The cards themselves are pleasing to eye, beautifully illustrated with animals, both real and mythological; pleasing to the hand, nice and thick yet well sized for smaller folks; and further complemented by the rich descriptions found in the accompanying booklet. Waldherr writes, "Oracles bear the double duty of being the message as well as the vehicle to communicate it..."

The Sacred World Oracle is divided into four sections- earth, water, fire, and air. Each suit has a main card for the element, plus ten associated animals. The mythology of each is contained within the booklet, however, merely gazing at the images evokes personal resonances, memories, and inspirations. Two different spreads are also outlined in the LWB, one a past-present-future card spread, fairly standard. The other a five card spread developed by Thalassa of the Daughter's of Divination's San Francisco Bay Area Tarot Symposium ( BATS) was inspired by the ballet Swan Lake is called Black Swan, White Swan. This spread "helps us explore our blind spots - those pesky obstacles we can't, or don't want to see. It also points to the wisdom that lies in front of our noses."

I shuffled the cards, pensating upon it being Day of the Dead. I had a ho-hum Halloween yesterday and had no plans for the new moon this weekend, so doing the Swan reading seemed like a good way to acknowledge the change of seasons and tap into the thinning of the veils. I whispered the names of my ancestors as well as my kin/cats passed, friends who have crossed over and even contemplated my own death, hopefully far into the future. It has been in a time of endings and beginnings, as my daughter started college and I completed my PhD, empty nest syndrome hitting hard after her last visit. Recognizing the new chapter of my life unfolding, I pulled the five cards...

The first card is the black swan, or what you need to see that can get in your way. I pulled I-Earth. A very green card, right away I was aware of the animals suggested not just in the distant mountains but in the nearby copses, a huge oak in the foreground, beautifully framed with vining flowers and a picture of Ivy at the bottom. I reflect up upon how much time I have spent inside my house, working on my studies in particular, especially since my sweetie was hospitalized last spring and we stopped going on our weekend hikes. "When the Earth card appears in an Oracle reading, look for opportunities to take your dreams and turn them into a concrete reality" advises Waldherr. Certainly there is the opportunity to turn my dissertation into a book, changing a thought into form, but I also recognized the message to spend time in the outside world as much as in my interior landscape, and to change my isolation over the last six months into more outgoing, social adventures.

The second card is the magic feather, what you can do about it, and I pull XLIII- The Centaur - half human, half horse, pulling on an arrow notched into a bow, the classic sign of Sagittarius. As an astrologer I reflect that this sign symbolizes the higher mind, higher education, philosophy and travel. Here is the ability to focus on a goal, pull back to take aim, and the follow through. Mercury being retrograde, I notice it is a time of pulling back, with the trust that full moment will be gained after the planets shift in November. A card of being proactive, I feel encouraged to review my long term projects list and initiated some dreams that have been simmering on the back burner.

The third card is the White Swan, or what you need to see that can help you. I draw XXVII- Dragonfly. A lovely woman, maybe from South America, gazes at me, tattooed cheeks, a red dragonfly before her, a jaguar peeping in the background. Several of my students spring to mind, both past and present. The message here is of "unexpected grace found in difficult places". I laugh, this has been my lesson the last two weeks. In The Medicine Cards, dragonfly is a message to confront denials, honor inner truths and to break through any illusions.

The fourth card is also a magic feather, or how to use the solution presented in the card. Now I pull XXXIX- Firefly. I liked the transition from an air element (dragonfly) to a fire element, the ability to change thoughts into action. I grew up on the east coast, so catching fireflies reminded me of my childhood, times past, not an experience I have here now, living in California. Interestingly, the message here is to "seek moments of unexpected beauty that offer gateways for inspiration."

Finally, the fifth card is known as the Swan in Flight, an aerial perspective of the situation which gives an overview of the problems and steps for a solution. I pull II -Cat. Very curious, since I had completely shuffled the cards to pull the first card as the beginning card and the second card as the last, let alone the fact that I had invoked all of my past familiars/cats when setting my intentions. Here we see the Egyptian cat goddess, Bast, in a temple, with cats and kittens all around, even perching on the shoulder of the icon. My personal talisman, again my kin, my family, I am at times ridiculously attached to my cats and find it difficult to leave them for a night, let alone a vacation. The message in the booklet states, "the cat card challenges you to find ways to express your individuality. How can you create more magic and beauty?" Indeed, a good question.

So, personally I avoid using terms such as black/white to indicate problem/solution as it is basically racist if not simply reductionist. I did like the concept of exploring blind spots but wish it was presented in a way that was color blind. That being said, the cards themselves have a wonderful array of images, and although focused on animals, include humans in an international array, from Ganesha to Cimidye. The booklet really covers a gamut of worldwide folklore and hopefully will be expanded into a book. I honor that the author chose to use roman symbols for the cards, reminiscent of the Major Arcana in the Tarot, but I found the need to stop and calculate into western numbers a little tedious and off putting. The backs of each card had a representation of the four elements with the simple inscription, "As Above, So Below". Indeed, a simple reminder that the "function of an oracle remains the same: oracles offer us information. They can provide us with the experience of synchronicity... Our personal experience serve to frame these events, thus releasing information we already possess deep in our psyche."

Blessed be.

Halloween Hypnosis

        

In the hypnotherapy class that I teach, we did a technique called "container", where unwanted feelings, experiences, etc are either contained and disposed of or shelved for a later date. I was to be the demo person, and thought a lot about this on the way to class.

     The issue I wanted to dispose of was my basic frustration with shlockiness of Halloween and my feelings of turning into the Halloween grinch in the last half dozen years. I so hate the tacky decorations, the clutter of plastic crap and handing out of tooth rot. I have been looking forward to packing up the decorations and gifting them to Amber, who of course loves Halloween as her favorite holiday. I realized I could pack it all up today, even hand out the tawdry snakes and skeletons instead of candy, when I thought, wow, I am a snarky cranklepuss, where is my Halloween spirit?

     I lay down on the futon and got relaxed and comfy while my assistant initiated trance. She brought me to safe space, and I found myself in my office reviewing my last client's tarot reading, the cards very clear before me, my cat June sitting on one of the chairs. She asked if I wanted to do the work there or move someplace else, and my gut said to shift. I found myself being 6-7 years old, living in McLean Virginia. I was walking down the street trick or treating, stopping at the Wilson's house who always had the best candy. Mrs. Wilson served us kids thin slices of candied oranges from a silver tray with tiny tongs. I could feel the saliva in my mouth at this memory.

     Kimberly asked my inner mind to discover a symbol of the frustration and shlock of Halloween. Instantly I saw my hard plastic mask, Cinderella, with her empty eyes and fake blonde hair. I remembered crying as I realized I could never be a real princess because I had brown hair, not blonde hair. I remember the edges to the mask cutting into my face and the thin elastic getting tangled in my hair, the feelings of inadequacy and not good enough.

     Kimberly then asked me to find a container for the mask. I saw a silver chest, four feet wide, two feet high and deep, very streamlined, sharp corners, on four ball and claw feet. Inside was lined with deep purple velvet. After taking out a sharpie and coloring Cinderella's hair brown, I added beads and feathers, personalizing the mask. I placed it in the container, locked it with a silver padlock, then sank it to the bottom of the ocean.

     The lid popped open and I observed fish nibbling on the feathers and mask until it had completely disappeared. It looked more like an aquarium, with a sunken pirate ship in the background, tiny silver bubbles escaping from the chest. Kimberly asked me how it felt to be free and how my life would be now that I was free. I saw myself sitting on the front deck, handing out tarot cards, still some candy for the kids, but really connecting with my neighbors in a way that is meaningful for me. Then I saw his and I creating an altar to honor the dead - a photo of his mom, his dad's ring, a basket from my grandmother, my great aunts locket - telling stories and toasting our ancestors, and for me, honoring the millions of women killed during the inquisition.

     Kimberly had me explore this feeling one year from now, five years, ten years. The word that summarized my feelings was "organic". How can I celebrate this time of year in a more organic way, noticing the pull of the moon, the feel of the fall leaves, the smell of autumn in the air, the patterns of life in the spider webs, the abundance of the harvest. I felt more at peace and more excited about Halloween than I had in a very, very long time. Blessed Be.

Silent Retreat, Big Sur

My summer retreat started early, on Thursday, after dropping Amber off at her other parent's, knowing she was also getting ready for her big adventure in Europe. I spent the afternoon in relative silence, exchanging a few words with a neighbor, chatting with the cats, mostly fettering around, packing for the weekend. I had been quite surprised by the last minute email from Chip deciding not to go on the retreat, but was glad that he was taking care of himself, taking care of business, and most importantly, willing to look in on the cats over the weekend.

Friday I cleaned the house, mowed the lawn, did laundry and dishes, put clean sheets on the bed, not just for Chip to enjoy but for me to come home to order and grace after the retreat. I gave up on writing my final paper, realizing quite simply I had more research to do than could accomplish in a few hours,and went on a walk instead, depositing checks at the ATM and stopping for a few goodies from New Leaf before heading down the coast.

Despite leaving early, traffic was ridiculous at 2pm, construction creating bottle necks and head aches as I contemplated alternate routes. I decided the truth was I had nothing else to do, plenty of time, and that this was a part of the retreat, sinking into my thoughts rather than getting distractedly the radio, the hum of the air conditioner my only tune. I found myself in a deep fantasy of our wedding day, now that our plans had changed quite drastically from a large celebration with friends and family to what I had originally envisioned, a completely private ceremony between the two of us. My fancies ranged from trekking out to Point Lobos to skydiving in Hollister, ballroom dancing in the city to quiet beaches in Kauai.

After twenty minutes of stop and go, traffic let up after Park Ave, creating smooth sailing for the rest of the two hour trip down the coast. I waved at my parents house in seaside, noticed the driveway to highlands inn, thought about stopping at the Lucia lodge, and suddenly there was the turn into the New Camaldoli Hermitage. The two mile driveway switch-backed over the golden hills bursting with life - Scottish broom, purple sweet peas, pampas grass cheering me on as red tailed hawks swooped overhead.

I went into the bookstore to register, and to my surprise the assistant on duty not only lives in Santa Cruz, but we live on the same street. Small world, interesting way to meet a neighbor. I drove my car down to the hermitage, found my room and unpacked. I sat outside in my little enclosed garden, enjoying the late afternoon sun. A blue jay flew down from the fig tree, looked at me, ruffled it's feathers and pretended to be hurt. I know this bird ruse to lure predators away, and sure enough as I peered up into the leafy green foliage I could see a nest.

Little peeping noises commenced, and as I sat half a dozen teeny fuzz balls began to appear on the tiny trail by my garden. After a few minutes a mama quail appeared, saw me, and quickly ushered her young into the bushes. Hummingbirds came to sip from the orange monkey flowers as I looked across the ocean.

After a light supper, I walked over to Scholastica were the writing workshops were held. A dozen women sat in a circle, each with several journals piled at their feet, candles on the table flickering over an altar of stones, statues, seashells and pinec ones. I realized that I only had a couple pages left in my journal, so the rest of the weekend would write in old journals on random blank pages, something I found rather pleasing in disrupting any linear conceptions of time.

Saturday I woke up early and started reading a book my daughter had recommended. At 9am we had another workshop, reviewing our journals for themes. After lunch I spent the entire afternoon in my little garden, devouring the four hundred page book. After finishing it, I decided to walk down the two mile driveway for some exercise. Going down was easy enough, but hiking back was way more of a struggle, and I had to stop it seemed every ten yards or so, resting in the shade of tree, photographing the purple sweet peas, California poppies and live oaks. We had another evening workshop, after which I was quite content to simply go to bed.

Sunday I ate quiche for breakfast, then went to the morning session. The rest of the day was evenly divided between reviewing old journals, collating in scraps of paper that had accumulated over the years, and creating a healing mandala for my new blended family. I had a lot of satisfaction in  ripping out some pages and  destroying them, no need to cling to the pain of the past. After dinner I started packing, already thinking about the cats, emails, the rest of my week, reminding my self to stay present and enjoy the last of my stay.

Monday morning I woke up early again, took a shower and finished packing up the car. I took a shorter walk to stretch out my calves, still aching from the hike up the hill on Saturday. The fog filled in the valley and there was this feeling of looking down into the clouds, pale pinks and golds dancing in the snowy whiteness, the crisp blue sky above. Wafts of mists would come and envelop me, not the least bit cold, I felt like I could take bites our of the fog, feed myself on the droplets of moisture. Circling back around to the hermitage I found a picnic table to sit and contemplate, writing down my notes for the weekend, eager to share them with Chip after getting back home to Santa Cruz.

Crystal Healing Meditation

I began the meditation by sitting quietly in my office and doing some deep breathing, moving into a body tour for complete relaxation, then finding myself in my usual "safe space" when I go into trance. In my minds eye, I could see myself sitting in the backyard at my favorite table, sun on my skin, the sound of hummingbirds in the air. A dozen strands of gemstones were heaped up on the table, a little knotted and confused. I began to untangle them, separating out the strands and putting them in order of the rainbow.

When I asked for a guide, my friend Cheryl came through the gate. Cheryl and I had worked together at a metaphysical bookstore about twenty years ago, when I first started learning about crystal healing. We held hands briefly, and then she started to pick up the various strands and put then around my neck.

First was a strand of golden amber, and I felt my solar plexus responding to the warm tones, filling me with a sense of timelessness and vitality. My daughter's name is Amber, and I have also been working with the norse goddess Freya, who wears an amber necklace, so there were many layers of meaning to this gemstone for me. Next was a strand of pale purple amethyst, and felt both my crown chakra and third eye vibrating with the soft lavender, feeling a clearing of my mind and all of my worries. I have several large chunks of amethyst in my house, placed according to feng shui principles to enhance the flow abundance and prosperity. Last was a long strand of deep red garnet which went all the way down to my belly button. I felt both rooted and grounded, purified and cleansed. Seven years ago, I choose the name "Garnet" to be my middle name, a stone I have always loved more than rubies, one that I associate with passion, vitality and the ability to thrive.

I wound the three strands together and pondered how I could use these three gemstones on working with my clients. Raising my own vibration to the highest frequency is clearly important, but I could also see myself laying the strands on my clients' bodies during both hypnotherapy and reiki sessions. I saw myself carrying the necklaces down to the ocean and using the salty sea water to rinse them of past vibrations. I thanked Cheryl for the visitation and the messages, pleased to connect with my friends, human and mineral, after so many years. I began my count up, eager to go home and find my gemstone strands.

Over the next three days I made six different necklaces, five bracelets and six pairs of earrings combining the amethyst, amber and garnet chips with crystal, tigers eye, orange carnelian and sterling silver beads. Next I plan to make some jewelry using green peridot and to find some blue stones to complete the chakra set. I really loved this meditation and feel it is one of the ones I will apply the most, both in my personal healing and in working with clients. Blessed be.