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“To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing.”  Raymond Williams

Having trouble meditating?  Have trouble quieting the mind?
When we are busy, busy in our minds, we have very often slipped a bit out of connection with our bodies.  Embodiment is a key factor in finding stillness.  Try this:  Verrry gently, tell your brain "we'll talk about this later."  Even more gently, relax your shoulders.  Even more gently, breathe in slooowly through your nostrils and slowly, gently out through your mouth.  As you breathe, let yourself sink into your seat, into your body.  Allow your head to relax, the thoughts in your brain melting into your body, flowing through it so that they eventually move all the way through and discharge into the Earth. Just sink deeply into your body, finding your mind quieter, finding your breathing slower, your body more relaxed,  Feel yourself ready for an encounter with stillness.

by Sunemaura O'Brien (all rights reserved)
​And so, the great light and love of Mother God stretched out her hand and brought forth a seed. And on that seed, she lavished love and attention until it burst and brought forth a beautiful flower bud.  And when the petals of the flower bud opened wide there came forth a Holy Being. And the Being was so filled with love from Mother God that she felt a great need to share that love.
She searched the universe until she came across a place which her conscience could not overlook – a place whose need for love was as great as her desire to share love.  And she began to look deep into her soul for the best way to give her love to meeting that need.
Eventually, she had a vision – a plan to help fill the emptiness that she had seen.
She took her plan to Mother God. Mother God was filled with great pride and compassion for the Holy Being. Mother cautioned her that, once her plan began to unfold, she may not remember her divine beginnings. She may not always remember her vision. But she would always have the choice to remember Mother God.  “You will need only to look toward me and you will remember the love of your creation.  That love will empower you to go forth with your vision and your love,” Mother said.
Mother then poured her immense love upon the vision and the Holy Being, who bloomed once more, this time into a tiny being who Mother placed inside the womb of a human mother, who had herself originated as a seed brought forth by Mother God.

Click on the button below to visit circleofthesacredearth.net  and access journal questions and ponderings to go into the new year.  Just a little free sample of what you find on the site each month.  January features include a Burning Bowl Ceremony, Making Stone Essences, a virtual healing and more.  Subscribe on the website.

​At this time of year, it is traditional to call forth the ancestors, to seek their wisdom and honor them. It can also be a time for ancestral healing.  
We carry the strength and wisdom of our ancestors within us. And we also carry their wounds – their heartaches, deep disappointments, traumas. These wounds can interfere with our ease and well-being in life. These wounds can be healed within us. The really wonderful thing is – when we work with our ancestors to heal these wounds, we heal them for the whole of our lineage.  We heal them for the ancestors.  We heal them for future generations. We heal them for ourselves, affecting everyone around us and, hopefully, inspiring others to work with their lineages.  
Earth Healers are usually catalysts for healing within our families, directly or indirectly. We are the ones who say “no more” to disharmonious or inauthentic thought or behavior patterns.  We work within our own lives and beings to shift those patterns. Here, we extend this healing to the wounds of the ancestors which are living on within us.  We work to shift patterns born in the lives of the ancestors which have embedded themselves in our lives and beings. In this way, we create a better life for ourselves, help heal our ancestors, and support a better life for future generations (just a quick reminder that time is not linear…but that’s a bit of a tangent…)
The veil is thin this weekend.  It’s a good time to call on the ancestors – to ask them to work with us. It’s a good time to ask them to heal with us – to shift our lineages for health and happiness and purpose.  It’s a good time to shift toward love.
Sunemaura O’Brien
www.revsune.com
 

​How wonderful it is that we can introduce children to the ancestors!  Here is a simple ceremony of introduction to and healing for the ancestors (for children of all ages).
Two leaders are needed
​for this ceremony:  a drum and a voice.   This may be one or two people. The participants, regardless of age will each have an instrument, such as a drum, rattle or wood sticks.  Marigold flowers or incense is used as a traditional way to honor and call to the ancestors. 

The words in bold italics are to be read aloud by the leader.
 
“We begin with the drum calling us into sacred space.”
Drum
“We light marigold incense to call in and honor the ancestors.”  Incense is lit.
The ancestors are the people who have lived before us – the ones in our families who have died and the ones who have helped our spirits who have died.
The ones who lived before us had strength and wisdom.  They left us with this strength and wisdom, along with many other empowerments and gifts.  They also had heartbreak and sadness.
Today we want to use the goodness we have gained from the ancestors to heal the hurts they have inside them, hurts they may have left behind, with us.”
“May each of us in turn name their mother, father, grandmothers and grandfathers,”
Each person names their family members.
“Let’s offer prayers with our drums and rattles for the healing of the hurts of these people we have named, and others, whom we did not know.”
    Everyone drums and rattles for a good while.
“Let’s offer prayers with our drums and rattles – prayers to invite healing strength and wisdom from the ancestors into each one of us.”
    Everyone drums and rattles for a good while.
“Each of us has been given our own strengths and wisdoms – our own empowerments.  Name yourself and your power.”
Each person in turn, name themselves and a strength or wisdom (power) they have.
“Let’s drum and rattle our gratitude for the ancestors, for Mother Earth, for Creator, for ourselves, for Life.”
  Everyone drums and rattles.
Let the music stop and quiet to come in.
“and the drum will offer a closing prayer.”
Drum. 

Giving thanks this Fall Equinox for harvests on the inner plane - tuning into my body's ability to heal herself through the experience of recent injuries; through the same injuries, deepening my experience of self love and finding places where I can enhance and improve self care;  finding new excitement in connecting with the plant spirits in a class I am taking on distilling hydrosols.  These are harvests of my spring and summer. 
Below is a photo of a  Rabbit Brush skeleton.  Our land is rich with Rabbit Brush in all of its glorious stages of life. It seems appropriate to share this lovely as we head into Fall.

A chalk drawing on pavement by Aoife McGinty.

What better blessing to bestow upon an updated website and a new blog then a photo of Shakira reveling in the snow as the first post in said blog!