S. Kelley Harrell's Blog: Intentional Insights - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism, page 82
March 16, 2015
The Weekly Rune – Wunjo
I’m so happy to see these runes, I could cry. I mentioned last week that having Berkano on the horizon as the half-month influence was inspiring; however, its predecessor, Tiwaz, was no joke. The fact that Wunjo blesses us with joy this week is just sweet bliss.
Berkano remains the half-month rune through 30 March. To learn more about the half-month rune’s influence and my other work with the runes, visit Patreon.
Read right to left in the image is Berkano, followed by Wunjo.
Wunjo is the stave of joy. The last rune of the first aett, it indicates having come through a time of visceral internal transformation, and realized that we actually came through it. We survived.
For the record, Wunjo comes up about once a year as The Weekly Rune. That alone is telling about how precious it is.
The glory of this stave isn’t just the realization that we’ve come through deep change. It’s also that we’ve been given the perspective to see a long-held ideal from a new angle. It’s that we’ve been given the chance to see ourselves from a new angle. Basking too deeply in success may not allow the true maturity this rune brings to come through.
This week there’s nothing to fix, nothing to plan. There’s no need whatsoever to look forward or back. Dues are paid. Relief is real. Kick back. Empty the mind, and enjoy that reflection in the mirror.
You did this.
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If you enjoy The Weekly Rune, check out Patreon to get full details on the current rune, as well as the full scope of the half-month rune. By becoming a patron or matron, you support not only my work, but the path of the runes into modern culture and spiritual insight.
The post The Weekly Rune – Wunjo appeared first on Soul Intent Arts -.
March 13, 2015
Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude
My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.
I’m thankful that a broken arm is all it was.
I’m grateful for safe travels.
I’m grateful for my mom’s birthday. Yay!
I’m grateful for a fab beta read and report.
I’m thankful for my lover.
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.
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March 12, 2015
Thursday Betwixt – Spiritual Crisis and Psychosis
It’s been a while since I updated the Betwixt series. For those of you who are new to it, on selected Thursdays I shed light on lesser discussed aspects of the modern shamanic path, and in the vein of disclosure, hope to frame this path in a more realistic and accessible perspective. It’s one thing to be betwixt. Living it is an entirely other and more intentional choice.
I receive many inquiries from readers who experience spiritual crisis through psychotic episodes. I’ve touched on psychosis before in the Betwixt Series, but only from a general standpoint. I encounter so many romanticizations of mental illness regarding it being misdiagnosed intuitive brilliance that I want to be more specific about what’s going on in such circumstances.
I’m not a doctor, so everything I say is purely from an end user and spiritual caregiver perspective. And yes, I speak in generalities. I can only confirm my own experience with spiritual crisis and and psychosis, and have only witnessed that of others who are clients, mentors, or fellow seekers. I hope that by talking about these experiences in a wider context, how we see ourselves can expand, as well, and we can look to a new array of tools for self-support.
What’s the difference between spiritual emergence and psychosis? According to Dictionary.com, psychosis is defined as “a mental disorder characterized by symptoms, such as delusions or hallucinations, that indicate impaired contact with reality.” That sounds a lot like ecstatic experience, right? Sort of? No.
When I say “psychotic” I don’t mean ‘a little depressed,’ or ‘escapist’ in imagination. I’m talking schizophrenia, bipolar episodes. This diagnosis comes for someone who is experiencing a break from their norm so intense and disruptive that they cannot function in every day life the same.
Again, I have people say to that, “Isn’t that what fire in the head is? A state of awe so profound that one can’t return to regular life the same.” Yes, absolutely, yes. However, someone who is experiencing a psychotic disorder, in-and-of-self, can’t employ therapeutic tactics to bring this state under control. It often travels with debilitating depression or mania so exaggerated that basic tasks like personal hygiene or social interaction aren’t possible, let alone meditation, navel gazing, or guide work.
Spiritual crisis or emergence, as coined by Stanislov Graf, is a state in which the ego collapses. The ego protects the body. It creates a mental structure of reality that functions as a barrier to force self and the projections that self believes to come first, above all others. When we reach a point that our ego can no longer project who we are, as in spiritual emergence, we’re faced with truths about ourselves that we may not like. This extreme discomfort causes temporary episodes of anxiety, depression, PTSD–any range of behavioral or mental challenges.
Spiritual emergence can look a lot like psychosis, and frankly, they can travel together. That combination can be challenging to hold, and even more difficult to defend to a resistant traditional medical professional. A person having a spiritual crisis may not be comfortable getting through the day, but s/he can. There is no prolonged impairment of basic underlying ability to care for self, meet needs of self or dependent others, perform job duties, etc. During spiritual crisis, one may not feel like doing these rudimentary tasks to an acutely miserable degree, though when push comes to shove, they can be accomplished.
When I teach or mentor shamanic studies, the main things I drive home about intuition, spiritual emergence, and mental illness are:
We are all intuitive, regardless of life experience, religious path, gender, orientation, mental state, ethnicity, nationality, right-brained, left-brained–whatever. We all are. It’s not a special club only the elite gain access to.
What we do with that intuition is the significant and delineating factor.
We’re all called to something, sooner or later. Sorry, that’s not special, either.
We can choose how we progress through our gifts as well as our challenges.
When we can’t choose, we don’t have control. When we don’t have control over our ability to initiate ecstatic trance, what happens during ecstatic trance, and to stop ecstatic trance, it it not a process we are co-creating, but a state that is happening to us. This is neither desirable, nor healthy. Without this control we don’t possess the important mental functions to determine how we progress on our paths. This is the point that mental illness must be treated before or in conjunction with spiritual emergence.
Regardless of all of the above, spiritual emergence prolonged becomes PTSD, which is a mental health condition.
Not only are there misconceptions in the overlap of spiritual crisis and psychosis, there is also an assumption that soul healing can fully accommodate or heal psychological conditions. Examined in a case-by-case light, I have observed that this can be true. What I’ve observed most, however, is that an approach involving spiritual and psychological support is most effective longterm. Spiritual healing is not a substitution for psychological care, and assuming that they are synonymous is dangerous.
In my shamanic work, I do not treat mental illness. I know plenty of wonderfully credentialed people who do, and I work closely with them to support clients who recognize spiritual emergence amidst volatile mental states. My approach to facilitating these clients is to work with them between crises, so that they gain the skills in ecstatic control and gain allies to help them ground.
I’d love to say that once those skills are gained, spiritual crisis or emergence stops. It doesn’t. Life doesn’t stop, and neither does challenges to our growth. Even when one chooses the role of shaman, those initiations don’t stop; the crises that come with them don’t, either.
So, yes, we are all intuitive. There’s no reason to discount that people having psychotic breaks aren’t also having deeply profound and meaningful spiritual experiences. When they can’t control those experiences or the impact they have on their lives (or the lives around them), multiple avenues of treatment–including traditional mental health and alternative approaches–are needed.
If you are experiencing a pyschotic episode along with spiritual emergence, seek the help of the mental health community and a spiritual caregiver. There is value in both, in helping you ground the spiritual insights coming from the experience, and in being able to accomplish the things you need and want to in daily life. It doesn’t have to be a one-or-the-other situation. A team of well-informed doctors, therapists, and spiritual support can work together to facilitate wellbeing at the other end of mental and spiritual distress.
In the interim of spiritual crisis, stay in contact with healthcare providers, and begin working with your spiritual caregiver to integrate the wisdom of your crisis. This can be done through guide work, retrieving spirit allies, and in learning to manage and control the ecstatic experience.
In the west, mental health is stigmatized enough. Let’s not do it further injustice by calling it less severe than it is, not recognizing it for what it is, and by merely naming it “spiritual” implying that should be cure enough. Just because tribal cultures may manage these crises in a more well-rounded way without big pharma doesn’t mean that our culture by virtue of the New Age can do that well, or that bridging conventional western medicine and spiritual healing makes a mental break less “officially spiritual.”
Likewise, let’s recognize spiritual emergence for what it is–a step into personhood that deserves every modality of care it needs–including mental health–to bloom in wisdom and power.
The post Thursday Betwixt – Spiritual Crisis and Psychosis appeared first on Soul Intent Arts -.
March 11, 2015
March 9, 2015
The Weekly Rune – Gebo
I am in love with the runes greeting us this week. While half-month Tiwaz continues championing our new strategy to meet our needs and bring a heart matter to a close, Gebo indicates satisfying, rewarding balance.
Tiwaz remains the half-month rune through 14 March. To learn more about the half-month rune’s influence and my other work with the runes, visit Patreon.
Read right to left in the image is Tiwaz, then Gebo.
No question that the presence of Tiwaz hasn’t been comfortable over the last week-plus. Comfort isn’t what Tiwaz is about. This stave roots out what isn’t working and abruptly aligns us with what will work. That certainty brings a comfort all its own, though the process to get there is what it is.
The salve on that whole ordeal is Gebo. The rune of “something for something,” it bears a gift–rather, the exchange of gifts, that are soulfully pleasing. Gebo often indicates partnership, which can be literal. Maybe a bond is forged around this shift, and a new soul friend is found.
It can also mean partnership, as in the state of balance. Perhaps the self comes into balance. Perhaps selves become self. Perhaps inner aligns with outer. Maybe a fabulous object of adoration reaches out.
The synergy of the runes in court this week is that of the raw end, and the just desserts of its closure. The moment in which battle is won, achievement is owned (or pwned, if you will), mean that stillness can come once again.
The thing that makes me crazy happy about this week’s runes is that they are followed by the half-month stave, Berkano, which speaks of all things nurture, completion, and… spring! Hang in there. New is coming.
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If you enjoy The Weekly Rune, check out Patreon to get full details on the current rune, as well as the full scope of the half-month rune. By becoming a patron or matron, you support not only my work, but the path of the runes into modern culture and spiritual insight.
The post The Weekly Rune – Gebo appeared first on Soul Intent Arts -.
March 6, 2015
Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude
My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.
I’m thankful for a fabulous birthday weekend for our kids! Six whole years! Wow!!
I’m grateful for time with family and friends.
I’m grateful for the abundance of Pisces in my life! Happy birthday Jacob, Elizabeth, Tristan, Maya, Matilda, and Mom!!
I’m grateful for a reasonably smooth transition of blog subscribers to a better format of delivery.
I’m thankful for balanced, grounded beta readers.
I’m thankful for my lover.
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.
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March 4, 2015
March 2, 2015
The Weekly Rune – Ansuz Reversed
We’re certainly cycling through a pattern focused on speaking our truths, and we’re doing it with militaristic precision. Ansuz reversed was the stave for the week in early February, and it visits again now. At that time, it was accompanied by Algiz as the half-month rune, an intense warrior presence focused on protection. Now, it comes with Tiwaz, who is not only the survivor of battle, but the victor. Of interest about Ansuz is communication, particularly how we speak our truth. Reversed, it hints that we may deeply want to speak our truth, though aren’t quite sure what that is.
That’s where Tiwaz comes in. The stave of Plan B and pulling success out of the fire, Tiwaz brings clarity about not just how to speak our truth this week, but the process we must go through to identify it.
Read right to left in the image is Tiwaz, then Ansuz reversed.
Tiwaz remains the half-month rune through 14 March. To learn more about the half-month rune’s influence, visit Patreon.
Ansuz reversed indicates that speaking our truths isn’t going to work this week. It says that our inner workings are garbled. The process by which we cull personal truth from passing debris isn’t functioning clearly at this time, and it’s just not going to. Stop fighting the battle. No matter how much we push to clarify things, no internal heavens are going to part this week and reveal whatever it is that needs voicing.
However, Tiwaz indicates that it will, and soon–likely early next week, depending on what that rune indicates. In the interim, our job is to be the medic, the wingman, the witness to ourselves. This isn’t a time of doing, but of tending. This isn’t a time of moving forward, but of releasing. Whatever ritual you employ to cut cords and sit with that open awareness, do it this week. Find comfort in just appreciating change without having to know what it will bring. Let go of pressure to make new cords, to find purchase in the debris passing through. This week is a holding pattern of letting go.
Also, keep in mind that my intention when I do these casts is to pull the stave representing the life force most available to humanity for the defined week. That means not only are you going through this messy grappling of truth, so are others in your life. Be patient with them. Maybe step away and allow much space between you and others.
Allow them as much space as you need from the stress of not knowing… what you need.
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Thanks so much for your well wishes and support during my blob subscriber changes last week. Everything seems to be functioning as intended, and I’m thrilled to still have you along!
The post The Weekly Rune – Ansuz Reversed appeared first on Soul Intent Arts -.
February 27, 2015
Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude
My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.
I’m thankful for more medical info, even if I’m not thrilled about it.
I’m grateful for a fabulous time at the Body Mind Spirit Expo in Raleigh, and for time to share with Truthsayer.
I’m truly thrilled to get my current manuscript out of my hands.
I’m thankful for warm weather, wherever it is.
What are you grateful for this week? How will you show thanks? Who is grateful for you?
This post is part of Lexa Cain’s blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things, and 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.
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The post Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude appeared first on Soul Intent Arts -.
February 25, 2015
Blog Changes and a Mysterious Missive…
This is a supersecret post only for my blog subscribers. In the next couple of days, I am merging my blog followers and subscribers with my newsletter subscribers. Managing both separately has become overwhelming for me, and in combining them I find ease, and can offer you more options.
For blog subscribers who receive posts via email, this means minimal changes for you. In addition to the 2-3 posts per week, you will also receive a monthly newsletter containing event details, seasonal stellar goings on from a spiritual perspective, and the freebies and juicy tidbits newsletter subscribers enjoy. One such morsel is that all subscribers get entered in a monthly drawing for a free rune reading, and have the opportunity to download a free copy of The Story of the Runes.
Those of you who are subscribed to my blog via Feedburner or other news aggregate, you will need to subscribe, directly.
Those of you who are subscribed to my blog via WordPress.com, itself, and not via an email address or to the newsletter, will become unsubscribed. This is one way WordPress is propietery and isn’t something I can override. To continue receiving posts, please subscribe.
New blog subscribers, well, you’re just going to be all set for the goods!
And of course, if you don’t wish to continue following my work, you can unsubscribe.
Thanks so much for your continued support.
Blessings, and dream well!
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Intentional Insights - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism
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