S. Kelley Harrell's Blog: Intentional Insights - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism, page 78
June 19, 2015
Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude
My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.
I’m thankful for a Summer Solstice of awareness.
I’m grateful for a local opportunity to vend books and art.
I’m thrilled that the Describe Kickstarter was overly funded!
I’m glad for progress setting up next year’s Intensive schedule, and adding more self-paced classes.
I’m happy to still be celebrating the one-year birthday of Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism! Download the ebook for $0.99 through the end of June.
What are you grateful for this week? How will you show thanks? Who is grateful for you? I am!
This post is part of Lexa Cain’s blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things, along with her co-hostesses L.G. Keltner and Katie. 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, and thanks for coming with me on this journey of self-empowerment and collective awareness.
// ]]>
The post Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude appeared first on Soul Intent Arts -.
June 18, 2015
Thursday Betwixt – Sense8, Animism, and Modern Clan Awareness
If you haven’t seen it yet, last week Netflix debuted its new series Sense8. Created by the Wachowski duo (from whom we have The Matrix and Cloud Atlas) and writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, it’s an understatement that the show takes viewers new places.
Or old ones, as the case may be.
The ensemble cast boasts 8 core characters, each with diverse lives separated from each other by the entire planet. Yet through some collusion of the unknown, they suddenly become connected, or interconnected, it would seem. They feel each other’s emotions, know each other’s thoughts, take on each other’s skills and knowledge. They are called sensates, the eight who can sense each other.
I’ve not finished watching the first season, yet, so I can’t comment entirely on its brilliance. To me the show is captivating because it brings the potential of human interweaving to a new and mainstream audience. The idea that All Things are connected is a core function of animism. This means that every thing has a soul, is connected, and can interact with All Things through that connection. The idea driving Sense8 is that perhaps at some point in human evolution, this ability was more readily evident than it is now, that it was routine.
This concept prods New Age, ancient, and scientific tenets. Years ago, in my studies of Edgar Cayce, I read a quote by him that asserted that when humans began to speak is the point we began to lie. The idea was that prior to articulated speech, we were all telepathically connected. Speech wasn’t needed. Everyone knew what everyone else thought and felt at any given point. It wasn’t possible to lie. However, when we began speaking, the power of the individual overwhelmed the interconnection of All. Being able to break away from the clan gave us the ability to create our own reality. It imparted to us the ability to warp reality.
In the episode “What Is Human?” seeming sensate sensei Jonas says to one of the newly inducted, “Watch a flock of birds or a shoal of fish move as one, and you glimpse where we came from. Ask how Aspen trees feel trauma hundreds of miles apart, or how a mushroom can understand the needs of a forest. You begin to grasp what we are.” He goes on to postulate that our isolation from each other is most likely an aberration of an original fully integrated consciousness. In the world of Sense8, what remains, instead, is an integrated few.
It stands out to me, too, that the show debuted under the runic stave of Othala, which is widely accepted as meaning inheritance, ancestry. It emphasizes that our ability to stay connected to what came before has everything to do with our understanding of where we are, and where we’re going. It creates a timeless synergy of clan, in which we stay tapped in to our ancestry. Through that connection those who went before us stay alive, and through rooting more deeply into our past, the unity of clan lives forever.
Regardless of whether it’s a lost ability or a new potential, Sense8 nothing if not inspires curiosity about connecting in such an intimate and profound way with other humans, Nature, all of life around us. While the show tugs on some established strings in the world of woo, it constructs a very realistic example of what life in that particular labyrinth might look like–assets and liabilities. Nonetheless, it asks the question of what humans are, what our capabilities might be.
Or urges us to remember that we already know.
The post Thursday Betwixt – Sense8, Animism, and Modern Clan Awareness appeared first on Soul Intent Arts -.
June 17, 2015
June 15, 2015
The Weekly Rune – Uruz Reversed
Slowing down is recommended this week, as is making great use of the reprieve.
Read right to left is Dagaz, then Uruz reversed. Dagaz remains the half-month rune through 29 June.
Following is a summary of The Weekly Rune. Read the full cast to learn more about the half-month rune’s influence, and how to receive it before everyone else. Find my runic artwork on Etsy.
These weeks of Othala visiting as the intuitive stave then half-month rune have been fraught with reflection. Last week we were called by Algiz reversed to ally with the homefront and all the clan support it embodies. This week Uruz encourages that we keep things status quo, take no risks.
This week the message is for us to keep on keeping on. Make no big transitions, no hairpin turns. Stay the current course, and stay nourished. Do the things that strengthen and sustain momentum. The time for new endeavors and knocking it out of the park will come later.
The fact that Dagaz corresponds with Summer Solstice isn’t accidental. One day a year we get an extra long opportunity to figure out what each day should bring. We get extra rays to sort it out, and we get an extra boost from our most powerful star to walk the talk.
This week is about merging the energy of Dagaz’s scrutiny with Uruz reversed’s momentum. Don’t flag in the face of weeding out what doesn’t work, and doing the work/asking for the support to gain more of what does. Once a year we get the solar blessing to say hell yes or hell no. We get the poke in the arm to say yes or change direction.
Which way are you going?
—
To celebrate their book birthdays, for the month of June, the Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism ebook and its sibling in the Teen Spirit series (which was released the same day), Teen Spirit Wicca by David Salisbury, will both be available for $0.99. Yay!
The post The Weekly Rune – Uruz Reversed appeared first on Soul Intent Arts -.
June 12, 2015
Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude
My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.
I’m thankful for a fun pool adventure with friends.
I’m thankful for sickly babies feeling better.
I’m happy for physical therapy, despite the reason for needing it.
I’m grateful for the people who have faith in my work.
I’m happy to still be celebrating the one-year birthday of Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism! Download the ebook for $0.99 through the end of June.
What are you grateful for this week? How will you show thanks? Who is grateful for you? I am!
This post is part of Lexa Cain’s blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things, along with her co-hostesses L.G. Keltner and Katie. 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, and thanks for coming with me on this journey of self-empowerment and collective awareness.
// ]]>
The post Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude appeared first on Soul Intent Arts -.
June 8, 2015
The Weekly Rune – Algiz Reversed
We’ve had a fairly long haul with the ancestral influence of Othala–almost the last month.
This week its attributes are enhanced by a pensive Algiz reversed, cautioning us to work out any remaining bugs on the homefront.
Read right to left is Othala, then Algiz reversed. Othala remains the half-month rune through 14 June.
Following is a summary of The Weekly Rune. Read the full cast to learn more about the half-month rune’s influence, and how to receive it before everyone else. Find my runic artwork on Etsy.
Algiz reversed is about caution. When its brightstave, it’s about defense, which can seem somewhat like the same thing. The difference is, defense indicates an active stance that we can take, because we can, because we are capable of doing so, because it’s well-rounded wisdom to have. Caution indicates a need to take care, because something is going on that we need to employ defense to thwart.
Big difference.
Othala factors into this because the thing we have at our backs is our clan. We’ve needed a sense of how all things literal and figurative about the homefront are allies, strengths, defense.
If you cast runes for yourself, continue this reading by drawing another stave, with the intention to learn the area in which caution is needed. Maybe the open-endedness of this combination isn’t about knowing in what area you need to watch your back.
Maybe just realizing you’re part of the clan is enough.
Maybe it’s everything.
—
To celebrate their book birthdays, for the month of June, the Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism ebook and its sibling in the Teen Spirit series (which was released the same day), Teen Spirit Wicca by David Salisbury, will both be available for $0.99. Yay!
The post The Weekly Rune – Algiz Reversed appeared first on Soul Intent Arts -.
June 5, 2015
Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude
My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.
I’m thankful for a fun game night with friends.
I’m thankful for not having to murder anyone over an inaccurate medical bill.
I’m grateful for a great night reading runes at the annual Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship Psychic Fair!
I’m happy for pain relief.
I’m grateful to have gained another pledge!
I’m happy that Describe reached its Kickstarter goal, and then some!
I’m happy to still be celebrating the one-year birthday of Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism! Download the ebook for $0.99 through the end of June.
What are you grateful for this week? How will you show thanks? Who is grateful for you? I am!
This post is part of Lexa Cain’s blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things, along with her co-hostesses L.G. Keltner and Katie. 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, 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 -.
June 3, 2015
Your Thoughts for a Book – Survey Time!
Well, it’s an ebook, really.
I’m working out my schedule for the rest of the year, and I’d love to know your interests. What classes do you want to take, when, and how?
Fill out this short survey and be entered to win a free ebook by me–your choice! Thanks for your help!
The post Your Thoughts for a Book – Survey Time! appeared first on Soul Intent Arts -.
June 1, 2015
The Weekly Rune – Sowilo
With Sowilo in our midst, personal role in divinity is the focus this week, along with that of our ancestors, according to half-month rune, Othala.
Read right to left is Othala, then Sowilo. Othala remains the half-month rune through 14 June.
Following is a summary of The Weekly Rune. Read the full cast to learn more about the half-month rune’s influence, and how to receive it before everyone else. Find my runic artwork on Etsy.
Through Othala, a new perception of self is called for. All of us know that sooner or later, Othala is coming in our lives. There will be a time that we become the elder, that we head the clan, that we lead those who led us. It’s a tense and strange call to action that western culture doesn’t provide rites of passage for. We do, however, have access to an innate power that is directly related to that re-ordering of rank, and it comes through Sowilo.
Literally translated as “sun,” this stave points to the power beyond the sun. We know that the sun provides all of life as we know it. Without the sun, the ecosystems that sustain humans couldn’t thrive. Metaphorically, this means that we can’t thrive without the power that enlivens the sun. This power shines through the sun as the sun shines on us, so that we may shine on others.
Yes, there’s a pay-it-forward angle here, though it’s much bigger than that. Sowilo asks us to realize our role not just in the Divine, but as the Divine. Divinity isn’t something that happens to us, it happens through us. What we do, how we behave, how we grow, how we respond… It can all be sourced from the same place that inspires the sun to rise every day, from the same power that grows All Things.
Such is the depth that must be engaged not just to fulfill the clan obligations on us at this time, but to sustain the steam needed, and to find love for all involved.
Hang in there. For now the emphasis is on the role of self in leading family. As we lead up to Summer Solstice, which is heralded by Dagaz–the stave of personal accounting moves to the fore. Time for self is coming.
The post The Weekly Rune – Sowilo appeared first on Soul Intent Arts -.
May 30, 2015
A Year in “Teen Shamanism” – Realities in Publishing
A year ago my book Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism was released by John Hunt Books imprint Soul Rocks Books. This was my fourth book (technically my ninth if you count those written under my pen name, plus multiple anthology inclusions. I never actually counted all of those together, before. I just had a moment). In many ways, this was a book I never expected to write, yet oddly was the easiest one to deliver. Simply put, it’s the summary of my experience with modern shamanism, both as a young person stumbling through intuitive life, as a young adult bringing form to those experiences, and as an adult facilitating soul healing and teaching others.
I have never spoken candidly about what it’s really like to write professionally. I never saw the need to, because so many other authors blog about such prolifically and realistically. However, my perspective on publishing changed with the publication of Teen Shamanism, and I’d like to talk about what those were, and perhaps instruct those who aren’t as familiar with publishing with how it works, and what the outcome really looks like.
In the beginning of a publishing career, so many authors are just happy to be in print. That first book is like no other, and I’ve been fortunate that my first book, Gift of the Dreamtime, continues to stay on hearts and lips. It has since it was first published by Spilled Candy Enterprises, in 2004. That initial release saw it become a bestseller on Powells for ten years. That was a thrill, no doubt. So, when Teen Shamanism came out last year, and landed on several Amazon bestselling lists the day it was released, I was over the moon. A year later, it’s stayed in the Top 100 of one of those lists consistently, and bounces in and out of the others, still.
I’ll take that.
The thing that struck me is other people started to notice the success of the book, as well, and began making assumptions about how that should reflect in my life. It’s that kind of irony in the art world that I don’t think happens quite that way in other industries. Artists of all media talk about how they become #1, bestseller, award-winning, and still struggle to pay their bills. How does that happen? I’ll tell you.
$27. To date, that is the amount I’ve pocketed from the sales of this book. How many did I sell to earn that? Frankly, it depends on what day you ask. Books look like they’re sold, only to be returned from trade sales. Amazon and Neilsen say this, the publisher database says that. Nonetheless, according to my publisher, between May and December of last year, Teen Shamanism sold 212 print and ebook copies. By the time all percentages were calculated and everyone else was paid, I made $27.
The reality of a book’s life is that unless something dramatic happens with subsequent publications, the subject matter becomes en vogue, or the author stumbles into some other spotlight that shines on published books in retro, the first six weeks of a book see its highest numbers of sales. From that point on, sales only diminish. Regarding rankings, the first 48 hours determine the lifelong placement of a book in Amazon’s algorithm. In other words, pre-sales matter, which are what put Teen Shamanism on the map, and have kept it there.
So that, friends, is what being a bestseller looks like from a numbers standpoint. Last month I read the report, The Business of Being an Author, which stated, “The top 10% of professional authors (those earning £60,000 or more) earn 58% of all the money earned by professional authors;and the top 5% of professional authors (those earning £100,100 or more) earn 42.3% of that money.” That means the authors at the top of the industry earn the majority of the industry’s income.
I’ve spent the last year reflecting on the reality of publishing as my profession (which, it’s not for those of you who were curious. I have a day job as a writer, in addition to my shamanic practice, other writings, and art). Part of that reflection has entailed grieving the life I didn’t have. I have wanted to be a career author since I was four-years-old. It’s all I ever wanted to do, as my job. It still is, really. This was another hard reality born of last year’s exploration.
Well, I am a career author. But I do a bunch of other things that actually pay the bills.
I’d be lying if I said my experience with Teen Shamanism hasn’t taken a toll on my momentum to keep publishing. It most definitely has impacted my steam. At the end of the day, I love to write. I will never not write (
Writing for publication is a tough gig that requires equally tough chops. People fret the submission process, though actually getting a book written and under contract is just the beginning of the work ahead. Most of the work is making peace with the whole process. A couple of weeks ago my agent and I agreed that to write for publication, you have to be a little crazy, because it’s a challenging pursuit on many levels.
It is indeed an effort of love.
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For the month of June, the Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism ebook and its sibling in the Teen Spirit series (which was released the same day), Teen Spirit Wicca by David Sailsbury, will both be available for $0.99.
The post A Year in “Teen Shamanism” – Realities in Publishing appeared first on Soul Intent Arts -.
Intentional Insights - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism
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