S. Kelley Harrell's Blog: Intentional Insights - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism, page 102

What Balance Feels Like – An Intentional Insights Reader Q&A

I still accept Q&A from readers of my blog, regarding animism, shamanism, and all manner of soul healing. If you would like to submit an inquiry, read the TOS and direct it me.

Dear Kelley

I have the gift of a new start and want to honour, respect, and dive into it joyously. A drag in that is my relation to others. I feel wounded from things in the past and I don’t want to take that into my new life. How can I go about releasing the last vestiges of the old pain and my part in it, to attract love and support into my new life? Thank you for creating this interesting and generous opportunity. ~A

Thanks for your note, A. When I see summaries of where people are along manifesting their heart’s desires, I often see sand drawings along a coastal shoreline. Instead of seeing you at the shoreline, I see you about waist-deep in the surf, attempting to still the waves with the palms of your hands.

When I ask this aspect of you how stilling the water symbolizes the way you relate to others, the response is, “I just need a little space to get steady, then they can come.” She’s indicating intentionally holding back relationships until some self-defined sense of readiness or healing has come.

I ask her what that readiness or healing feels like, and I find myself floating gently on the surf. So, she does have an idea of what that balance feels like. Incorporating the sense of being carried while also actively participating is key. There is also an emphasis on trust, and allowing support from others.

Appealing to my guides, they indicate that water should be an available comfort to sink into, during this shift. The body needs that gentle support to release emotions internalized in the cells. With intention, water can help shepherd away memories and uncomfortable feelings the body has carried.

They also suggest looking beyond the current manifestation of the self, to ancestral lines, and do any release work necessary there. Some of the relationship distress isn’t yours, A, and that’s why the work you’ve done to release it only reaches so far. Tune the focus of healing more widely around you, through your lines on all sides, and  across space and time, to release anything unwanted, regarding relationship hurt. You don’t have to identify these ancestral wounds, or even name them. Acknowledge them, and through your healing methods and spiritual support, allow them to leave. A few passes with a H’oponopono ritual may help and bring comfort with the changes coming into your life.

If you don’t have anyone who can help you do this work, it may be something we can do remotely.

Best to you, A!

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The Weekly Rune – Sowilo

Sowilo - Sun - Finally! The southeastern US has been under intense winter storms for the last few weeks, leaving a glint of sunlight a welcomed thing! Many other regions remain frozen in winter, while others stretch to grow in summer. Regardless of where you are in the world, the sun sees you.

Every time I encounter Sowilo, my breath catches.  We can talk about all the components of the sun that make it powerful–the inspiring, active element of fire, that its rising each morning indicates we’re still alive, that because of it life on our planet thrives. For me, it comes down to one simple reminder: I’m not alone.

When I was growing up, in history classes I was told stories about how Europeans encountered Native Americans making offerings to the sun, and as a result, thought they were worshiping it. They thought such rituals profane and blasphemy, contemptuous perspectives that coloured their every engagement with the indigenous people of North America.

Many years later, I read an interview with a Native American man, who put a very different spin on that dynamic. He expressed that when his people showed gratitude for the sun, they were not worshiping the sun. They were celebrating the source behind it, thus, the Source behind All Things.

That, indeed, is the reminder this stave brings. From a spiritual perspective, it isn’t just about the amazing presence of the sun. It’s about what shines from behind it and reminds us of the life it gives, to enliven us, so that we may shine on others.

We know darkness. We know the cycle of the sun moves from light, to darkness, to light again, thus from hope, to despair, to accomplishment, repeat. Hold the full cycle of the sun, and we know everything we need to about taking care of ourselves and others.

Find a warm sliver of light these waning days of winter, curl up in it, lie back, and dream. Through dreams come our most profound insights into ourselves, life, and our deepest desires.

Behold the process. Be the change.

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Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude

 My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.

I’m grateful for an opportunity to write a new column, and get paid for it!

I’m thrilled to have finished my Masters, and am just waiting on the paperwork!!

I’m thankful for a warm home.

I’m indebted to the creators of Diablo III.

I’m excited about a new secret possibility!

I’m grateful that my allergies are remaining controllable.

What are you grateful for this week? How will you show thanks?

This post is part of VikLit‘s blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. Participate by following the link and adding your name to the Linky list, then post your gratitude every Friday.  Easiest blog hop ever!

Click here to hop on… the hop, and thanks for coming with me on this journey of self-empowerment.

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Wordless Wednesday

Photo by Robert Miller

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Weekly Rune – Othala

Othala – property – When Othala last appeared as The Weekly Rune  mid-November, it was reversed. This time it’s murk-stave (face down), and the timing and position of the stave now is curious to me, as life feels as frenetic as it was those weeks leading into the holidays. Note that the image shows Othala upright, or bright-stave.

Most regard Othala as the final Rune in the third aett, though some scholars position it elsewhere. Regardless of where it’s located, the agreement of its emphasis on inheritance remains the focus  (Do comment if you have thoughts on its alternate placements!).

Othala reminds us of what is most important. Where Fehu brings awareness to wealth that must be tended–assets, and investments–Othala focuses on that which we own, that in many ways tends us–our property, that which we inherit, then pass on.

Spiritually speaking, it calls our attention to the wisdom of our ancestors, and calls us to own ourselves as part of that wise legacy. In other words, Othala makes us deal with our crap, so that we can see ourselves as informed support in our own council.

Specifically murk-stave, it forces us to deal with what smothers us–possessions, beliefs, thought processes, etc. That seems easy enough, doesn’t it? The problem with that simplistic observation is, we’re usually smothered because we prefer the hell we know. We’re afraid to change. We’re afraid of how changing will challenge our relationships, our status quo.

Now’s the time to choose whether we can continue the rote patterning that has brought us to crisis, or if we can stand in the pain and power of catharsis and step from it into transformation. Nothing less than radical honesty is required, now. All forces available to use are saying, “If you can step out of habit and into personal truth, we can help carry you.” Choosing to stay in the same old patterns and gnashing of teeth… Well, we’re on our own.

Allow the disjoint.  Feel the discomfort only as long as it needs expression, then let it go. Find what’s on the other side of it, because the feeling that comes next is the one that leads to your True Self.

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Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude

 My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.

I’m grateful for a relatively quiet week.

I’m thankful for the option of medical treatment.

I’m happy for new starts.

What are you grateful for this week? How will you show thanks?

This post is part of VikLit‘s blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. Participate by following the link and adding your name to the Linky list, then post your gratitude every Friday.  Easiest blog hop ever!

Click here to hop on… the hop, and thanks for coming with me on this journey of self-empowerment.

The post Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude appeared first on Soul Intent Arts.

Thursday Betwixt – Healing, Initiatory Crisis, and Community

“We don’t heal in isolation, but in community.” S. Kelley Harrell, Gift of the Dreamtime – Reader’s Companion

In the Thursday Betwixt series, we’ve talked about the various guides that can be gleaned along our path–both spirit beings and mundane–and the significance of each. We’ve somewhat talked around why community is important, though I’d like to take that deeper.

Whether undertaking to learn journeying, to fit for the role of shaman, or experience soul healing through any range of modalities, the number one contributing factor to pitfalls along that path that I see time and again is lack of community. I work with people for whom a class in journeying has cracked them down the middle without proper understanding of how to carry that changed perspective into regular life. I mentor people who want to serve as shamans, though function as the only animistic person in their familiar. I have sessions with clients who leave elated, only to crash a few days  or weeks later.

Each of these examples presents some form of initiatory crisis. After experiencing some sense of awe, distress became greater. I could cite multiple reasons that the ecstasy ebbed. Could be lack of engaging personal spiritual discipline on a daily basis, or maybe poor or lacking mindfulness skills. Perhaps healing wasn’t brought to its fullest potential, or deeper needs for healing were hidden. Fear may be dominant. There may be a lack of tools for how to deepen and ground spiritual emergence. I see each of these omissions often; however, the one downfall I see in almost every case of distress after ecstasy is a lack of community. People, in general, don’t reach out for support.

Often clients don’t want to feel pressured to schedule a followup session, which is understandable. Students don’t want to circle the same material. However, leaving the burden of communicating their spiritual needs on them doesn’t work, particularly if they can’t recognize it for what it is. They are so high at the time of the initial shift, they don’t see the point of having to return, to revisit hallowed ground. Yet without a workable plan in place to support and sustain their initiation, they start to feel distress. They don’t set a followup because they feel the first shift must not have really worked, because they are ashamed that they couldn’t hold onto their healing, or they become afraid of how their mundane needs to change to support their soul. Often guilt is a motivating factor in a client not returning to his/her teacher or practitioner.

On a more practical level, many people are socially or geographically isolated from others who share their spiritual path. They don’t have people near them to connect with, or they’re afraid to out themselves as a follower of a divergent belief system, or as someone uses alternative healing methods. Likewise, people fear not being able to afford community, whether that’s an inability to pay for followup sessions/classes , give donations toward a drumming circle,  or shoulder the responsibility of the interpersonal exchange that community requires.

What is community? What purpose does it serve? How does it influence healing? The teacher or practitioner is part of the community and should be openly appealed to as such. Any spiritual leader who offers classes or sessions in soul healing should be available for what comes after. That said, this single role doesn’t form the whole of a community. It informs the drive to actively participate in one. The group that supports us needs to be people with whom we can speak openly, to whom we can listen steadfastly, and with whom we feel a close sense of belonging. 

What is sometimes called the shamanic narrative, or healing story, is the tradition of healing through community. The idea that through sharing our story, we recognize commonalities, inspire, and evoke healing, creates the basis from which others gain the power to identify, share, and heal through their own stories. In this way a single story heals a village.

That’s the spiritual and neurological magick. The grounded function of community stems from something far more basic: the needs to be heard and to listen. Sometimes all we need is a witness. Other times we need input, tools, another modality, accountability, structure, empathy. We don’t find these resources alone. Certainly, we may consult spirit guides and totems, though most people who are experiencing distress at a personal level also have problems making functional use of altered states. If we can’t talk about our experiences, our experiences can’t mature into a workable lifestyle that sustains healing and the completion of the initiation.

Consider what groups you participate in. Do they support your truth? Do they even know your truth? Do you avoid groups? How might community affect your healing? How might sharing your healing story affect someone else?

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Wordless Wednesday

Osiris in the labyrinth

Photo by Damanhur Spiritual EcoCommunity

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Meet Wise Voice, Jen McConnel

Join me in celebrating Jen McConnel’s new release of her book, Goddess Spells for Busy Girls!

GODDESS SPELLS FOR BUSY GIRLS

Goddess magic is powerful magic: with the help of the right goddess, simple spells can yield amazing results. In Goddess Spells for Busy Girls, Jen McConnel offers 80 spells imbued with the vibrant force of 25 Goddesses from around the globe. McConnel provides an introduction to 25 celestial ladies, to make sure you are asking the right goddess for help: Athena for memory retention, Aphrodite to gain confidence, Persephone to find you path, and Sekhmet to prevent illness. Each section includes the history and lore behind the goddess, and three simple spells to invoke her help. For the busy young woman who wants it all but needs help getting it, Goddess Spells for Busy Girls can help you achieve love, balance, protection, and abundance in your life. Weiser Books: ISBN 1578635489 (ISBN13: 9781578635481)

Learn More

| Red Wheel/Weiser | Goodreads |

Purchase

| Red Wheel/Weiser | Indie Bound | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks |

 

About Jen

Jen McConnel first began writing poetry as a child. A Michigander by birth, she now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. When she isn’t crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches college writing composition and yoga. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time.  Her first nonfiction book, GODDESS SPELLS FOR BUSY GIRLS, is out now from Red Wheel/Weiser Books. Visit http://www.jenmcconnel.com  to learn more.

Connect With Jen

| Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook | Blog | Website | Column | Goddess Travel|

 

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Weekly Rune – Algiz

Algiz – elk-sedge -The meaning of Algiz is widely contested, based on varied interpretations of the Rune poems. Some indicate it means elk or stag, while others say it refers to a very sharp grass known as elk-sedge.

However you interpret it, its protective power remains uncontested. The Rune situated between the communiqué of gods and humanity, Algiz, is a Rune of defense.

It’s also interesting to note that in the year-and-a-half of writing The Weekly Rune, this is the first time Algiz has presented itself. This fact is particularly telling as we enter interesting astrological weather, the least of which is Mercury Retrograde, near the end of the week.  Since the holidays we’ve endured a topsy-turvy trip through deep personal reshaping and release. Based on etheric evidence to date, I’d say we’re not nearing completion of that, though we’re certainly gaining allies.

This is where Algiz is significant to me. A deep shapeshifting element comprises this Rune.  The Nature totems of this stave indicate strength in spaces indigenous to us, and by knowing the home space so well, the ability to ally so deeply with it, we disappear in it, or shapeshift into it.  Herein lies the synergy of this stave, and the current planetary shifts:  we know our strengths.

The stave also is akin to that of a splayed hand, indicating “stay back.” We have to know our boundaries, and if necessary how to use them as weapons.

Many of us have a hard time creating and enforcing boundaries. However, if we can’t do that for ourselves, how can we expect anyone else to stand up for us–divine or mundane? in reality, when we can stand on our own boundaries, we are divinely aligned. We are empowered.

Now is that time. Say no, draw the line, and stand on it, knowing the Multiverse is standing with you.

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