Author Archives: JanCarol

Art is Truth

Homeworld by JanCarol

In this world of Fake News, Marketing & Advertising, Promotion and Propaganda, we get confused as to what is truth. We don’t know whether to believe what the box or device is telling us – or whether to believe the conspiracy theories whispered by friends. Which seems more true?

On one level, we can test these things by resonance to our Inner Compass. Does it ring true? But this doesn’t always line up with the facts as presented.

My new campaign in this life is about Art. Art is the only truth. Craft is the only reality. What do I mean by this?

That which I make, which I create, which I compose, write, sing, play – cannot be anything but in alignment to my inner Truth. Therefore, if I apply myself to creativity, it is the closest thing to Truth I can experience as an incarnate human.

I don’t like to bring the political here, but Chris Hedges has been influential in formation of this Truth in my being:

I was listening to a talk by Jan Phillips, who wrote “Marry Your Muse” In this talk, she discussed the “Artist’s Creed,” which is the premise for the book:

Artist’s Creed

I believe I am worth the time it takes to create
whatever I feel called to create.

I believe that my work is worthy of its own space
which is worthy of the name, Sacred.

   I believe that when I enter this space, I have the right
to work in silence, uninterruptedly, for as long as I choose.

I believe that the moment I open myself to the gifts of the Muse
I open myself to the Source of All Creation
and become One with the Mother of Life Itself.

I believe that my work is joyful, useful and constantly changing,
flowing through me like a river with no beginning and no end.

                   I believe that what it is I am called to do
will make itself known when I have made myself ready.

           I believe that the time I spend creating my art
is as precious as the time I spend giving to others.

      I believe that what truly matters in the making of art
is not what the final piece looks like or sounds like,
not what it is worth or not worth, but what
newness gets added to the universe in the process
of the piece itself becoming.

        I believe that I am not alone in my attempts to create,
and that once I begin the work, settle into the strangeness,
the words will take shape, the form find life, and the spirit take flight.

                          I believe that as the Muse gives to me,
So does she deserve from me:
faith, mindfulness and enduring commitment.

One of the members of this group and I have talked about the Music of the Spheres. Is the relationship between “Music” and “Muse” a coincidence? Jon Anderson, of Yes, says that all Music is out there, in the Spheres, and it is the musician’s job to bring it down to humans.

There is Truth – real Truth in this.

The Indigenous Americans I know do not say “be happy,” they say, “Walk in Beauty.” This runs very close to Ananda (“Bliss”), when you step away from the impermanent Gunas (material forms), into the permanent Self – and unite with Truth.

Art is a tiny way to express that Truth, but it is Truer than anything I can say (and I don’t mean “fine art,” but any making – cooking, baking, sewing, needlecraft, painting, drawing, weaving, basket making, pottery, singing, playing music) – all art that enriches the community, increases beauty by giving to the whole.

In this way, there is no sacrifice of Bliss/Ananda/”happiness” while serving the community. Your wealth is measured in the tribes I’m familiar with (Cherokee, Lakota, Seminole, Navajo) by how much you give, not by how much you keep.

I hope to put up a “Community Art” page for quality practitioners of this Truth (who I know personally – COMMUNITY art, art by us, for us).

Contact me directly, if you want your work represented in this Gallery of Truth.

Rhythm and Brain Waves

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Dragon Drum

The rhythm of the music you listen to – accesses different states.

Beta – active heart rate and above (like exercise, too). This is “pop music,” “rock and roll,” the things you hear on the radio.

Alpha – as close to slow, comfortable heart rate. This is meditation music, droning, a rhythm that matches a relaxed heart rate.

Theta – is more of a nervous system rhythm. Like a train running along it’s tracks. This is the shamanic drumbeat. For initiates, it seems too fast, too driving. But you get conditioned so that when you hear it, you are ready to go.

Delta – like an Alpha, only much, much slower – it encourages the heartbeat to slow further, even though a delta rhythm is slower than a heartbeat, and the heartbeat will never match it. Max Richter’s “Sleep” is all done in Delta.

Restoration happens in Delta (sleep). Theta and Delta are what is missing from an insomniacs life.

As shamans, we can restore theta in a waking state, and perhaps it will give you a better pathway to delta.

If you listen to an Indian Raga, it starts out in a gentle alpha, and gradually increases through beta to a fast theta, so that it enhances the entire being into a heightened, creative state. (this raga is an hour long, to demonstrate the journey through these tempos.)

Rhythm gives us access to the deeper parts of ourselves. Rhythm influences us whether we recognize it or not.

The screen switching rate of the TV, coupled with the music, is very manipulative of our emotional states. In advertising, it is trying to produce a feeling of anxiety, insecurity, or fear – so that you need whatever it is they are offering. If you compare today’s TV with the TV of 30-50 years ago, you will notice that the tempo of the “old TV” is much slower, as they were still learning how to best effect the human nervous system.

Now it is a fine science, called “Neuromarketing” or “Neuroscience Marketing,” and it not only includes visual and audio rhythm, but also colour, tone, texture – all designed to create a need and sell a product, service, or idea. Think about how the “header music” of the news program always captures your attention with its marching beat. If it is on, it influences you whether you are aware of it or not.

Be aware of it. Seek out natural rhythms like birdsong, water flow, classical, folk, and uplifting music (that’s a topic all to itself, as some rhythms of music, especially pop and rock, can be disruptive to the nervous and emotional systems).

Honour the rhythms of your own body – your breath, your heartbeat, your hunger, your sleeping, your waking. In this mindfulness, you can begin to open yourself to greater potential.

As Above, So Below: Within You, Without You

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George Harrison sings in his song, Within You, Without You:

“We were talking, about the space between us all
And the people, who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth, then it’s far too late when they pass away

We were talking, about the love we all could share
When we find it, to try our best to hold it there, with our love
With our love we could save the world, if they only knew

Try to realize it’s all within yourself, no-one else can make you change
And to see you’re really only very small
And life flows on within you and without you.

We were talking, about the love that’s gone so cold
And the people who gain the world and lose their soul
They don’t know, they can’t see, are you one of them?

When you’ve seen beyond yourself
Then you may find peace of mind is waiting there
And the time will come when you see we’re all one
And life flows on within you and without you.”

The manifesting triangle in red – is “So below”

The Transcending triangle in Blue – is “As Above.”

The traditional alchemical formula is “As Above, So Below.”

The centre, where the two triangles come together and form a hexagram, corresponds with the Heart Chakra. The coming together of manifesting and liberating energies in the body.

It is the same as Within you and Without you.

Or as I say in my formal sphere – Around me and in me.

Coherence between what is outside of you, and what is inside of you, is the ultimate in health.

When it happens, you will notice synchronicities. The next song you hear might speak to you of what you were just thinking or feeling. Or the flight of a bird across your path might remind you of something you were meditating on – or maybe will just bring you back to breath.

The outside aligns with the inside in coherence.

I made the triangles red and blue because I learned from Tslagi (Cherokee) to say, “Have a Red and Blue Day.” Blue is the sky, reaching for the sky, transcendence. Red is the earth, the path of walking in manifestation.

This is another form of coherence, and your practice of separating inside from outside, using Inside and Outside – will help you bring them into harmony with each other.

Within, Without. Above, Below. Around and In.

All One, in the beautiful harmony of the Heart.

Animal, Plant, Stone Medicine

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Bjarnling – a beautiful manifestation of my Dog Medicine

In Circle, I am reluctant to name any animals we meet as anything more than Helper.

I am not you, only you know how deep your relationship with this animal goes.

This is also true for plant people and stone people. So when you are helped by a plant, an animal, or a stone – seek to develop a relationship with that Helper.

Is this not true of everyone we meet? Is this not true of our relationship to the things we ingest, the practices we perform?

I believe that the reason we are on this Earth is to relate to one another. In so doing, we join, we contradict, we learn, we grow. In so doing, we deepen our connection with the Earth and each other. We become closer to that mystery that is G-d.

When you see an ant crawling across your foot, do you marvel that he is perfect in form, industrious in nature, and there you are – on his Path? Or do you hurry to shake him off? The simplest of things – and this includes Ordinary Mindfulness – the bloom of a tree, the flight of a bird, the new shoots in spring – are uplifting and supporting you, if you let them.

Explore your relationship to your Helpers, and as your relationship deepens, you will become more supported, and heal yourself and the Earth, and recognise your kinship to all of Creation.

In my own healing journey, I have learned that as I heal myself, I become a greater asset to my tribe and community. As I learn to heal myself, I gain wisdom that will help others. It seems selfish and counter-intuitive that we can help humanity by healing ourselves – but where else do we begin?

The cutting edge for me is my relationship to my food. Do I just hammer it down because it’s tasty? Or do I feel, mindfully, heartfully, the life that is in the food? The work that has gone into getting it to my table? There is a reason that cultures worldwide give thanks before a meal. Say, “Grace.” I try to remember to do at least that: not a long prayer for the food to get cold, but a single, deep, calming breath, and I whisper the word, “Grace.”

For the Medicine only comes to me by the Grace of All That Is. It is Grace that means I am fed while someone else goes hungry. It is Grace that this animal has crossed my path today. It is Grace that I take a breath of air, Grace to have a drink of clean water. It is Grace to hear the whispers of trees in the wind, or smell a fragrant plant on your Path.

In cultivating a relationship with your Medicine, therefore, the most important aspect is Gratitude. It is Grace that has brought you this Medicine – be grateful for this gift. Always ask, “What can I give you?” This Medicine has not come to you because you deserve it, it has come to you as a gift. Be grateful, acknowledge this stroke of Grace, and offer something in return.

So – it seems there are several “classes” of Beings who are around us assisting us at all times. I call them Helper, Medicine, Power Animal, and Guardian.

Helper – is any Being, Animal, Stone, Plant who aids you in your Journey in Non-Ordinary Reality and Ordinary Reality. I include “Allies” in this (see Carlos Castaneda Thread where I’m exploring relationships to Allies). When you are in the Lower World, and you see an animal, and as, “Are you my Helper?” the animal may say, “No,” but – isn’t this yet another form of Helping?

Medicine – after you have worked with a Helper for a time, you develop a relationship with them. They may have a special place on your medicine wheel (for example, my Frog comes to me from Sky/Above, is a gift from G-d to me), or a certain role they serve in your life (Wolf helps me teach). Medicine is a deeper relationship than Helper. This is the stone you carry in your pocket, the tea which is “just right” and you always come back to. This is the animals, plants and trees you observe in Ordinary Reality – and the healing you receive in Non Ordinary Reality.

Power – This is unique to you. Your Power animal is always there for you, waits for you at the boundaries of Non-Ordinary Reality, and accompanies you on the Journey, supporting and guiding you on the Non-Ordinary path. The challenge with Power Animals is feeling them in Ordinary reality. They are there – they empower you to deal with the mundane world – but it is a different level to perceive their support in the Ordinary Realm.

Guardian –Popular lore says we all have Guardian Angels. Michael Harner alludes to this – that we would not have survived to adulthood without Guardians. I have, over the years, seen a Guardian. My Guardians look human, albeit eccentric. I speak to them often, even though they are frequently invisible. More often, I sense them as invisible presences, and speak to them to help me solve the problems of my life, or help me to understand better, or to bring me the lessons I need to grow. They intercede for me – it is easier to communicate with them than with the Mystery that is Great Spirit. For me, the Guardian comes to me most clearly in the Upper World to teach and transform as I learn to relate to him/her/them.

It is the “Power Animal” or the “Guardian Helper” that comes in a proper Vision Quest. I believe there are other Helpers along the way – I believe that the Universe itself supports us when we seek to better ourselves, when we speak the truth, and keep our word. When we are on a path to do this, synchronicities and events will aid us on that path.

Helpers and Medicine can change or grow or shift over time. Even Powers and Guardians can come and go. There is no need to attach to “I am a Bear,” or “I am a Buffalo,” because perhaps that Buffalo is for your time as a mother, or the Bear is for the time when your children are gone. Different stages in our lives require different lessons, and while that bird may be a deep comfort now, there may come a time when the bird lets you go and a snake takes over your tutelage.

In Michael Harner, he speaks of dancing your animal. I believe this is a valuable practice. You can do a ceremony, as he discusses in his book – or you can do a daily Practice. Dedicate a time each day to connect to your Medicine animal as a Practice. Feel the grace of the cat, or the wings of the bird, or the diligence of Mr. Ant, or the gentle consideration of a tree. Even if it is just a moment, this empathy with your animal will help to deepen your relationship.

Anytime we deepen relationships – with animals, with plants, with stones – and with each other – we strengthen our medicine.

Meditation is Essential

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Medicine Wheel by Carl Jung, from the Red Book

It’s essential to have a meditation Practice.

I can tell you a few that I’ve tried, and what I like and why. It is individual, so you will have to find your own way.

My first exposure to meditation was Yoga, at age 13. But I didn’t know I was doing meditation, I just thought I was learning greater physical control of my body. This was a huge benefit to an adolescent girl! In fact, I made speeches at my school about how it was physically beneficial, but did not have a religious element to it! I now think there is enough in yoga for a lifetime of spiritual development.

Then I found the martial arts, but I didn’t think it was meditation, either. I thought of it as a way for self defense, and physical prowess. I liked being able to beat up testosterone fuelled guys, and it gave me a sense of empowerment. Now that I’ve practiced various forms of marital arts for 30 years (on and off, due to injuries), I think there is enough there for a lifetime of mental discipline and depth of refinement to last a lifetime.

When I first started exploring esoteric subjects, I took up Mindfulness Meditation, as taught by Thich Nhat Hanh. Ah, I thought! Meditation! And it was. I learned to Witness my thoughts, and watched the thoughts become still and deep. I also think it enhanced my magick – my ability to shape my own consciousness to effect change in my life. But I didn’t understand how. Mindfulness meditation was – a tool. It refined my personality, but it was subtle.

Then came all the esoteric meditations: visualization (holding an image in your mind), ceremonies, and rituals, setting of intent and sending of energy to gather what I believed I wanted. Awesome. But it’s easy to get deluded and charmed by these – and miss the point. The point is – if I was so Great, if I am One with the Universe, then why was I casting spells?

Somewhere in there, I experienced Guided meditation. I hated it. The guidance was always to visualise things which were not in my nature. I would see a mountain, the guided meditation would send me to a grassy valley. I would see a stream, but the guided meditation wanted me to see a hall of doors. Or a staircase. Or whatever!

I do still use guided meditations, mostly to induce a relaxed state in preparation for dreaming or Journeying.

Then, I was initiated into Shamanism. I thought it was meditation at the time, just a different format of the esoteric stuff. It took about 10 years of practice before I started to feel my way and realized that – the theta state, while it can be achieved through meditation, is a creative state with direct access to the subconscious. It would take decades of meditation practice to call it up at will – and yet the drum brings it so simply, so easily.

But after my initiation, I let it drop for awhile, thinking it was just another meditation.

I started sitting Zen. This had value in the silent depths of it. I did not feel it refining me personally, and there seemed to be a lot of “more Zen than thou” games at the Zen Center. But I found it valuable to sit for 15-20 minutes at time when I still could. I had back pain, and it became difficult to sit properly for Zen.

Then I learned kundalini meditations. At the school I went to, it was guided meditations, but it was gentle, and opening. They were guided meditations, coupled with yoga practices and writing and creative exercises. It was like a personal development course, looking at the layers of kundalini and exploring my chakras on different levels. The founder of the school, Genevieve Paulson, is gone, and my teacher no longer offers retreat teachings (but you can meditate with her “in the cloud”)

So – the next thing to try was TM, Transcendental Meditation. I had heard about it at the kundalini retreats, and my boyfriend did it – 2 x 20 minutes a day. There was a “half price special” so I got initiated. It is a basic mantra meditation. There is value to mantra meditation – it can take you deep, fast, and separates you from your thoughts more quickly than Zen or Mindfulness Witnessing. But I started to dissociate, and worried that it was erasing Jan while it was “refining” her. I didn’t feel any refinement, it was just like a deeper sleep.

If you want to try a mantra, don’t pay $$$$ like I did. Try So-Ham. So-ham is the joining of all binaries: In / Out breath, Male / Female, Holding / Giving, Day / Night, Rain / Earth, Wind / Fire. As you inhale (So) see the Yang, as you exhale, see the Yin. As breath comes in (Yang), feel it spread to your body as you exhale (Yin). Ride the So-ham mantra for 20 minutes a day. It will refine you, it will take you to deep states of consciousness, and it will prepare you for exploring in your Journeys.

There is a danger to mantra meditation though. While you are repeating the syllables, you are simplifying your brain – and while it can serve you to be simplified, it effectively works as an entrainment procedure which also makes you vulnerable to outside influence – like mind control. As I was in TM, I was susceptible to all the hogwash that goes with the practice.

After the brainwave flattening and mind control of TM and other rituals of guru practice, I return to shamanic practice.

In shamanism, I fly my own ship. The information and experiences I find in the shamanic Other Consciousness is rewarding, enriching, comforting, and teaching. It requires discipline and balance. Holding on and letting go. I don’t need to worship a specific deity or guru, I don’t need to adopt authoritarian practices or participate in fear based religion.

In shamanism, I am presented the lessons exactly as I am ready for them.

And in shamanism, I start to see the meditative value of my other practices. Pipe ceremony and prayer, medicine wheel and protection. Yoga, where my body becomes guru and guides me to the open spaces Inside. Karate, which challenges my mind and body to synchronize and develop coherence. Walking, which enhances mindfulness. Mindfulness – which enhances my entire life.

Shamanism pointed me back to the practices which are valuable – and meditation is now more integrated into my life. I still have practices – but they are foundations upon which my meditations are built.

In the beginning, chop wood and carry water. In the end, chop wood and carry water. The work is the meditation.

The Value of Altered States

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Dragon Drum

In shamanic trance, we go into an altered state, enhanced by theta waves of the brain, as driven by the drum. Casteneda called this “Non Ordinary Reality,” while Harner calls it “Shamanic State of Consciousness.” (contrasted with “Ordinary Reality” and “Ordinary State of Consciousness.”)

Is this a dream? It is very similar to a dream, and as you get skilled in shamanic trance, you will begin to connect your dreams to your shamanic state, too. As your mindfulness improves, these Non-Ordinary states will connect to your Ordinary states as well, in the form of Synchronicity.

Is it an hallucination? Imagination? Something Real?

On entheogenic drugs, especially plant medicine, you can also easily tap into these theta consciousness creative states. But the elders speak that these “hallucinations” may be more real than the waking beta state we associate with reality, and teach that this Non Ordinary Reality is the actual, Real World where we create the Ordinary Reality. The Three Worlds give rise to this one, and the shamanic state is pre-reality, and therefore more real, more fluid, and more primal, than what we agree upon in consensual reality.

Another form of hallucination is misinterpreted by modern medicine as a “psychotic state.” These, too, can be deep plunges into the Other Worlds, only when one is thrown there – no drum, no control – these states can be frightening, overwhelming, all encompassing. Our medical professionals are not trained to teach how to access and utilise these states to heal – the drugs are given to silence them. This can be a form of oppression, even if it does stop the worst of the distress.

Only by exploring the Spiritual Emergency, psychic crisis, Dark Night of the Soul – can one integrate and use these tools.

Human brains seem naturally to go into altered states, whether by communal trance, plant medicine, or crisis-induced states. Some scientists claim that our brain is designed to receive this connection to the Divine. The drum is a simple, pure, clear and uncomplicated way to do this safely.

It doesn’t matter if what you experience is imagination, story-telling, actual spirits, the Akashic records, or manifestations of your sub and unconscious or the collective unconscious. It is a valuable tool to help you learn and grow, and become a stronger, truer Human Being.

I heard Dick Sutphen say, “If I’m making it up – that is real, too.” Do not judge the information you gain from deep states. Ask and learn, listen, pay attention. The creativity gained in these deep states is waiting for you.

Shamanic Tools for Conscious Development

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Carl Jung from Red Book

Magick is the art and science of changing consciousness at will. Dion Fortune

These are a few simple exercises to help train you to experience in altered states of consciousness.

The first is to cleanse and relax.

The second is to build an escape hatch, so that wherever you are, whatever you are doing – no matter what is going on with the drum or other people – you can come back to your body.

The third is a trauma-based method for those of us who have fear about leaving our bodies, or trauma in our body.

FIRST – CLEANSE, RELAX.

Relaxation is essential for any spiritual work. It is the first key to open the locks of consciousness and the Worlds.

Different people relax in different ways. Many people use a body scan technique (my favourite method). Some people like the tension/release – of making muscles tight, and then letting them go, called “Progressive muscle relaxation.” This causes spasms for me (not my personal preference).

Meditation is important – it cleans and conditions the brain and keeps it fresh for new experiences, and teaches us about the presence of the now. The important thing about relaxation is you learn to fall into alpha – that light, pre-dreaming state where your body is relaxed and your mind is floating. This is why I do a few minutes of alpha (heart beat rhythm) drumming before I start the theta rhythms – to remind you to relax the body and mind.

I encourage anyone to find music that helps keep an alpha state of awareness, and find time to drift and float in alpha – just breathing, not judging – feeling the state, so that you are aware of what relaxation feels like, and become more skilled at dropping yourself into a relaxed state at will. To recognise alpha music, find something which gently slows your heart beat.

Cleansing can be part of relaxation, or it can be a ritual or ceremony that you choose before you meditate or journey. I love salt bathing, as my body has no choice but to relax and let go. It is cleansing, as the salt draws out impurities. Many cultures use smudge and smoke for cleansing ceremonies. In India, they do a fire ceremony called puja for cleansing. Prayer can be an important form of cleansing – letting go of what is not needed, setting intention for what it is that you need.

In a proper shamanic setting, there would be sweat lodges, herbal cleanses and fasting in preparation for Journeys. I encourage no food within 4-6 hours of Journey time. Some teachings suggest no meat the day before a journey, especially a plant medicine journey.

In our Drum Circle, I offer different means of cleansing – using earth, water, and air. Earth – we slap our bodies with rosemary, or pour what is not needed into a stone or bowl of earth, we dance. Water – I use a scented spray like a gentle shower (the shaman would spit the water onto you, adding spiritual potency, but in modern society, we are leery of spit!). Air – cleansing, deep breaths, and breathing out the impurities or unnecessary energies, breathing in light and higher vibration. Out with the old, in with the new. Each breath is a renewal and a cleansing. In outdoor rituals, I would like to do more with smudging and smoke. I’m still working on a fire cleansing, as I’m careful in the yoga studio, and I am not qualified to perform a proper puja.

TWO – “This is My Hand”

This is a lucid dreaming or dream yoga technique.

When I have initiated people into drum practice, I have asked for a wiggle of the hand, and I will ask the drum to bring them back.

This is less practical in a group, though if anyone waggles their fingers I will bring the whole group back. Better safe than sorry!

So – establish a practice in your daily life that gives you the power to change your state at any time.

Several times during the day, look at your dominant hand, and say to yourself, “This is my hand.”

Get so that you are familiar with your hand – its curves, scars, wrinkles, shape of your fingers and palm. See your hand in a number of circumstances – washing dishes, writing, typing, waving, reaching, holding, giving, clenching, fanning, wiggling. “This is my hand.” Always. “This is my hand.”

Then – when you are in an altered state of consciousness, you now have a tool, a power that you can use to adjust consciousness.

For lucid dreaming, this gives you the power to shift your dream, and guide it directly. If your dream is uncomfortable, you look at your hand, say, “This is my hand,” and you can come out of the dream, or, as you develop more skill, adjust and guide the dream by choosing a different situation. The awareness of your hand is a key to the shift.

In the journey world, it is the same. As soon as you look at your hand, and recognise, “This is my hand,” you now have the power to return to your body, or even shift the journey to something you are more comfortable experiencing.

This is an important and empowering skill.

THREE: FLEX

Build sphere.
Relax
Flex – Choose an object. It may be a stone, or leaf, a feather (natural items), or it may be an object of sentimental significance, like a piece of jewellery, a gift from a loved relative, or a toy from childhood.

Later, the sphere and ceremony will be less essential – but for the first few session, please consider doing the work in a Medicine Wheel or Sphere.

Flex your attention – focus on the object for a few breaths. Then FLEX your attention back into your body – your breath and heart region is a good place to focus, but maybe you will choose your left foot big toe. Just make it the same every time (which is why I say heart and breath is best – but if you are “safer” in your left big toe – that’s fine!). A few breaths in body, then FLEX back to object.

Continue this process for 3-5 minutes. The purpose of this exercise is to make you aware of the “attention muscle.” In mindfulness, the attention is more drifty, let it come, let it go. This is mindfulness, too, but tuning your mindfulness into a more active focus.

FLEX: Object.

FLEX: Body.

FLEX: Object.

FLEX: Body.

After 3-5 minutes of FLEXing, let go let go let go and float for the rest of your meditation.

This exercise is developed from a trauma technique for making room in your bodyand expanding your body’s capacity for feeling in safety. The goal in trauma is not to suppress trauma, but to make room so that it is safe to come out. Some might even call it dissociate / associate: “I am in the object” (dissociate), “I am in my body” (associate).

Over time, this tool will also enable you to inhabit Universal Consciousness, or the Witness in meditation. FLEX: I am All. FLEX: I am One.

In shamanism, this helps with travelling and shape shifting. It can also give you deeper insight into those things which you encounter. FLEX – I am the flower, FLEX – I am myself. This will strengthen your compassion for yourself and others.

The more you practice the flex, the stronger your attention muscle will get. It is something you can do while commuting: Flex (attention in that poster), Flex (in my body again). You can do it while shopping: Flex (attention in the apple), Flex (in my body again). I don’t recommend it while driving or in situations that require your full attention. But if you have a little space or time – a moment waiting at the bank: Flex (in a pen on the desk), Flex (in my body again).

⊕

Magick is the art and science of changing consciousness at Will. These are a few tools which improve your magickal ability, and help you in entering and controlling altered states of consciousness.

I think of these three tools – relaxing in alpha state, “This is my hand,” and FLEX – to be excellent pre-journey skills to develop.

Medicine Wheel for Busy People

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So – what if you are too busy to spend 15 minutes a day making Medicine Wheels?

The beauty of the Medicine Wheel is this: it is around you at all times.

Pay attention to the elements of the Medicine Wheel as it affects your life.

Eat a sandwich – Earth.

Take a Breath – Air

Drink – Water

Light a candle – Fire

Here are a number of situations and their corresponding elements:

Ouch! Pricked my finger! – Water and Earth (blood and flesh)

Sit on a chair – Earth.

Answer a phone call – Fire and Earth.

Maybe you will relate to different elements for these – that matters less than the fact of paying attention to the elements which are around you all the time.

Flight of birds – Air

Crawling Ants – Earth

Goldfish in a tank – Water

We are surrounded by the 4 Elements at all times. Pay attention, and express appreciation for the beauty of the elements. The gifts you will receive from this practice will be myriad.

Take a walk (a whole Medicine Wheel) – my bones and muscles are Earth, my breath is Air, my nervous system is Fire, and my heart pumps blood which is Water.

These are also true of your car – which is metal (Earth), uses gasoline and fluids (Water), requires a spark to start it (Fire), and an engine which must breathe (Air).

A Cup of tea: You can build a medicine sphere by making tea. Using electricity or fire to heat the water (fire), watching the bubbles in the boiling water (air), pouring the tea (water), adding the oil (earth) – maybe waving a feather over the cup. Lift the cup above you, put your finger in the cup to take a drop to throw to the earth below you (if you were outside you might pour a little on the earth). Then, take a sip = inside.

Get the mail – paper = earth.

Work on computer = fire (electricity) and earth (egads, plastics are made of petroleum, which come from the earth, but maybe you relate to plastic as “liquid earth” or Water)

Look at your body, examine the everyday objects that you touch. Your keys, your pillow, your books, your pet, your house, your stove, your furniture – all these objects are composed of the elements.

Express gratitude for what they bring you, and appreciation for how they fit in the Medicine Wheel, and you will grow in your gifts.

Learn Medicine Wheel by Drawing

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Here it is again:

This is NOT building a sphere.

It is familiarizing yourself with the Medicine Wheel.

Take the symbol,

Preferably red, because the Road is Red. (the sky is Blue)

Freehand. No compass.

Draw it.

Notice where the imbalances are. For example, in mine, here, the upper left quadrant is deficient.

An imbalance between north and south is a breakdown between body and emotion. “I’ll take, What is Depression and Pain? for 20, Alex”

Study your own drawings.

Do it on different days.

Learn about the relationships

Between

Your East – Air – Mind – Ideas

South – Fire – Will – Passion

West – Water – Emotions – Feeling

North – Earth – Body – Physical.

(note, there are alternate associations with the directions, here: Medicine Wheel and First Totem )

You can use it as a weather report.

Get up in the morning, draw a medicine wheel symbol. See where your balances and imbalances are.

This is walking before running.

The sphere is important, but the elements of the sphere – Air / Fire / Water / Earth / Above Male / Below Female / Within – are more important than the shape and form of the sphere. Let’s get familiar with the elements.

Draw it every day for a week. Try it in different colours, how does it feel?

Draw it every day for a month. How does it shift over the month? Feel yourself gaining skill in making it, the more you draw it.

Doodle it on napkins, calendars – see what it tells you about the moment when you draw it.

This is a deep teaching symbol, and the basis for nearly all of my teach/learnings.

Medicine Wheel and Sacred Space

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Here we are again (it’s so important):

The Medicine Wheel is a guide to living – how to balance the aspects of personality, in order to achieve a higher spiritual vibration – or – to be the Best Human You Can Be.

The Medicine Wheel is also a ceremony to separate “sacred space” from “functioning around consentual reality” space. You need to carve a practice out of your day.

By opening to the 4 directions, you are literally carving a personal sacred space, separating Inner Sanctum (the Holy of Holies) from the Outer, mundane experience.

The basic shamanic ritual or ceremony is the circle. Or, if you want to be 3D, a sphere.

The elements of the circle are East South West North.

You are sitting at the crux, the middle. The directions are around you. This could be a good navigational exercise, too. Face east or north, and call each of the directions. If you face North, call North first. If you face East, call East first. If, for some reason you feel compelled to face another direction, then do so – but ALWAYS FACE that direction for this ritual, until you learn why. Eventually, you want to orient to North (magnetic) or East (rising sun).

East = air, breath, mind.

South = fire, passion, Will, playfulness, nervous electricity.

West = water, emotion, blood, ancestors

North = earth, body, practical, financial, work.

Different cultures have different associations with the directions – there is a chart of alternative association on this page: Shaman Explorations – Medicine Wheel and First Totem

To explore other associations, I like to Google “Medicine Wheel” then click on “Images” to see all of the differences, correspondences, affinities, symbols, colors and similarities in Medicine Wheels of various cultures.

THEN, after you have acknowledged the directions, then acknowledge these directions to complete the sphere:

ABOVE = G-d, Sky, weather, mobile fertility (think sperm, rain)

BELOW = G-ddess, Earth, Nourishment, support, stationary fertility (think seeds taking root)

WITHIN = that holy thing which is inside of you.

At the yoga studio, where I am cautious about smoke or fire (so no incense or smudge), I use essential oil spray to seal the sphere before Practice.

After you have acknowledged these things, you are perfectly safe.

I sometimes sleep in a magick sphere, if I need Deep Rest. This has the added benefit of Medicine Wheel, I can Rest while balancing my Air, Fire, Water and Earth!

* * *

for more learning –

Medicine Wheel:

https://lonerwolf.com/medicine-wheel/

Here is a complicated page about the Magick Circle with Jewish mystical references for those who want to be more formal about their practice:

http://www.crystalinks.com/day8circlemagic.html

Here is a simpler page about the Magick Circle:

http://www.wikihow.com/Cast-a-Circle

A rough Buddhist equivalent, Buddhist wheels are like the 8 spoked wheel Bhavacakra

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhavacakra

(This is more of a description of the known world and a map of the inner states, than it is a protection, a carving out of safe, sacred space from mundane, everyday space. It is often created as a sand painting. In Buddhism, to clear space and banish Demons, to make room for pure practice, they use Bell and Dorje! Ringing the bell creates the space (but you cannot use the bell for anything else): http://www.tibetanbuddhistaltar.org/bell-and-dorje/)