Travelers and other lessons

As you journey in the Otherworld, you will meet other beings.  Some of them will be projections of yourself, others will be guides, and some will be other travelers.  Every being, great or small, has a lesson to impart in the Otherworld.  It is up to you to decides if and when and how to engage some of these teachers.  The ones I met, will not necessarily be the ones you do.  If at any point a being makes you feel unsafe or scared, feel free to break off that contact and leave.  Things in the Otherworld can only hurt you if you let them.

With this in mind, I will share an experience I had.  In my travels, I often perform mundane tasks such as cleaning my home or cooking food.  Once, while sitting beside a campfire, I was approached by another.  Hooded and hidden, I never the less, invited the being to sit.  he or she, never spoke, only watched the stars and enjoyed the warmth of the fire.  Did I learn something?  Probably.  It was a strange experience.  Silence, for many of us is uncomfortable.  Sharing a meal or fire with a stranger is not a common experience for us.  Our own personal bubbles protect us the waking world from many interactions with strangers, we all bump along, against each other's bubbles with out actually interacting.  I am still processing the experience.

May journeys be blessed with experiences and lessons that strengthen and enlighten you.

A lesson for those who would journey- my experience with the dancing crone

Pissed off and discouraged, I came home from running errands yesterday with one furious spouse and two whining , crying children.  The boys were sent to their room for a nap; my husband settled down with the computer to update my phone and I put my earbuds in and listened to some shamanic drumming.

At some point, I took a journey into the Otherworld.  This isn't an unfamiliar sensation, but the expereince I was met with yesterday was extremely interesting. I found my self climbing a steep moutainside, that was riddled with narrow, yonic caves.  At one, I was compelled to enter.  I met my inner crone.  Dancing nude with clawed hands and wild, grey hair. Her eyes, though faded, were distinctly mine- blue with a green patch. She was as comical as she was frightening.  Being in a bit of a mood myself, I rather defiantly  leaned against the wall, arms crossed and sullen as the bratty teenager I once was, I watched.  Sagging breasts and thighs bounced to the sound of drums.  Claws and teeth scratched and rattled in counterpoint.  She noticed that i was not properly respectful, or horrified. 

She got my attention by scartching her long claws down my face.  From forehead to jawline, she left deep, bleeding furrows.  It hurt, through my stinging, damaged eyes, I saw the cauldron over the fire. A moment later, I was inside it, as she stirred the glowing liquid and me.  She was cooking me, but it was not out of malice or a desire to cause me pain.  Since I refused to learn the lessons she would impart in a grown up and respecful fashion, she delivered them in a fashion I could understand.

The cauldron was an agent of change.  She was merely coaxing me along on my journey.  In her eyes, I could see sorrow at the pain she had caused, pride that I finally figured out what was happening and joy that I was finally emabracing change.  The anger and frustration I had enetered with washed away.  Smiling at her, I sank into the waters of change and found myself travelling through the stars.  

In each of us, all of womankind is whole.  As we live out our lives, so similar and so different from each other and from our fore mothers, we are carrying on traditional and blazing trails.  We are not he end or the beginning.  We are, and that matters.  Embracing the changes of life is liberating and creative.  Fighting to hold onto the past negates the joys of the future; it stops the natural flow of time, creating stagnant pools, rather than cauldrons and crucibles of change.  When faced with your inner crone, learn form my lesson: respect her, listen and allow her to impart or her wisdom, or she'll find another way to be heard.

The Island of Birds

I laid down next to my son for a nap Sunday afternoon.  Wrapped up with him and holding his hand, I drifted off.  The birds, a place I visited quite a long while ago, invited me back to share their island with you.  This post is a combination of my experiences on the island and of the message they shared.


The sun has burned off the curtain wall of fog for the moment and the sky and sea are crisp, blue and sparkling.  Ahead of you, on the horizon, is a lush green island with a strong line of sandy beach separating the land the water.  Birds are silhouetted against the sky as they fly.  This is the Island of Birds.

As your craft settles on the soft, warm sand, you become aware of birdsong surrounding you. Many types of birds are singing and calling and the sound is both strong and melodious.  Look around at the many birds.  Some are combing the beach for stranded sea life.  Others are foraging through the brush and grasses eating seeds and insects.  Large colorful birds nest in trees alongside more mundane looking birds.  Some are scavengers, removing flesh from the dead.  Others are delicately extracting insect invaders from trees.  Birds of prey and harmless plant eating birds coexist on this island.

Notice that each type of bird has it's own way of living and subsisting.  It's niche is easily defined and equally important to the health of this island.  Each individual fits into the ecosystem and the cycles of life.  Important lessons abound on this island; diversity and cooperation are obvious, but more importantly, these birds on this beautiful, green island have mastered the arts of balance and adaptation.  Each species exists, secure in the knowledge of its neccesity.  All creatures on this island understand and respect the importance of giving and taking- both are required, but never too much or too little.  They understand their own interconnections and to each member of their species, to the island community and to the Earth.

What is your niche in life? You have a purpose, have you found it?  Do you understand it and can you be satisfied with that knowledge?  Don't worry if the answer is "no", but try to appreciate that you are part of something greater than yourself.  Another set of questions to ponder- do you give and take from life in equal measure?  Can you learn to be better balanced?  Have you learned to adapt?  Balance and adaptation are important to creating happiness in your life.  They allow you to grow, to change and to really live.  They are important tools against disappointment, fear, anger and apathy; in times of disaster, they can lend comfort and strength.  In times of happiness, they are mere trophies.

Explore this island and watch with curiosity, like a naturalist studying a new environment.  Learn about the balance of nature and of specializations.  Take notice of the many ways in which this island illustrates balance and diversity.  Once you fell you have begun to understand, return to your ship and continue with your journey.

The Ruined City

As you wander through the Otherworld, the road takes you far from places you are familiar with.  It passes through forest, dark and wild.  The road here is cracked and weedy.  As you walk, you begin to notice signs of habitation.  Worn, unreadable way markers stand uselessly by the road. Fences, broken and rotting, now hold nothing back.  This is the pathway to the Ruined City.

The Ruined City is one of the infinite possibilities of your journey.  This a place of reflection, where all of the broken, worn out and unnecessary pieces of you come to rest.  Once, this place was bustling with activity, but now it is silent.  nature is taking back the land as the buildings and roads crumble to dust.  Once neat and ordered gardens have overgrown.  Broken crockery and rotting furniture, once useful objects, litter the ground.  No one used this place in a long while.

Walk around this city.  Explore the buildings and take note of what has been left behind.  These are symbols of things you have left behind in your life- old ideas, people, hopes, fears and behaviors.  Nearly everything you find in this place should stay here.  You outgrew these things, or their time has long since passed, but look closely.  Occasionally, a treasured piece of ourself gets left behind in the Ruined City.  Maybe an old idea, one that you had forgotten, has been waiting for your return.  Maybe memories or good feelings are here, yours to dust off and take back with you.

Spend as much time as you need in the Ruined City.  Remembering is a healthy step towards moving forward in life. This place can be visited periodically, as way to gauge how much you have changed.  It can also be a powerful reminder of what you don't need in your life.

The next step of the journey- changing your perspective

During my own journeys last night, I was informed that I needed to write this post.  I had planned it for later, but my spirit guides insisted that now was the time.  This segment of the journey is about discovering your own power.  We are powerful and creative beings; we are all capable of creation, both in the physical world and the Otherworld of Spirit, but there is a catch: you have to accept this power and the responsibility that comes with it. Then you have to get accustomed to using it.  You also must learn to shift your perspective.  Your way of knowing is not the only way.

We'll start gently, just like when you created your safe place.  Start by taking deep, cleansing breaths.  Relax your body and your mind.  Drift to your safe place.  Remember that you are perfectly safe here and that you can control this area.  Life and death are part of the same cycle.  In this exercise you will experience another being's life cycle for yourself. You are still you, don't be afraid.  You are in control and can stp this exercise anytime you wish.  If you need to stop, for any reason, you can try again at a later date, when you feel stronger or safer.

Imagine yourself as a seed, falling from its parent.  How do you begin? Does the wind or water carry you away? Are you helped along in your journey by an insect or an animal? When the time is right, you will join the earth and begin to grow.

Your roots begin a slow, methodical journey into the soil.  Searching, you find nutrients and water, gently pushing aside anything in your way. Just as your roots are reaching down into the earth, you begin to sprout upward, pushing, reaching for the sun and fresh air.  Delicate, green leaves finally break through and the sun begins to warm you. Sun and water and air combine within you to create energy, and you grow, much more quickly than before.

You are strong and healthy and connected to all the life around you. Take moment to determine what type of plant you are.  Are you an herb, fruit, vegetable or tree? What is your role?  Do you provide energy for others or shelter?  What do you need to be healthy?  What other organisms are part of your life cycle? Do you need rich soil or can you survive anywhere?  Is the air cool or warm, moist or dry?  Are you happiest in shade or bright sun?

Focus on moving through the life cycle of this plant.  What do you experience?  Is it many seasons, or just one?  Whatever you are, feel your importance to the rest of the world.  No organism is completely self sufficient.  Everything needs something, sun or water or other beings.  Concentrate on the connections you feel, they are important. Pay attention to how the weather and climate and season affect your health and contentment.  What does time and lifetime mean to this plant?

My own experiences with this exercise have been varied.  The first time, I was surprisingly a tomato in a food garden, accidentally planted by a passing bird.  I could feel ants climbing me to gather food and bees brushing their soft bodies against my flowers.  As a tomato, I had to face my own selfishness, as I choked out other plants for nutrients and water.  I was also vulnerable to being eaten away by insects, birds and animals.  I required a great deal of care from a gardener to produce a bountiful harvest and at the end of the season, I died, rather than patiently waiting for the next spring.  It wasn't a negative experience, in spite of the the seemingly bad things I learned about myself.  I came away from it with awareness about my needs and desires and a lasting connection to the world around me.  I feel more appreciation for the food I eat and the people who grow it.  I worry now about bees and soil pollution.  Whatever you learn, that is part of your journey.  Every time you try this exercise, you may find a new lesson in a new plant, each is as important as the next.