Mirror, Mirror on the Wall. Who's the Fairest of them All? YOU, that's who!

So this new moon felt different for me in that it felt incredibly sweet and tender for me.  We had the additional auspiciousness (is that a word) in that it was Shivaratri, a holiday honoring Shiva in the Hindu tradition.  In addition there were a few birthdays surrounding this New Moon, so there were some literal enactments of what these New Moons are all about...rebirthing ourselves.

As always we opened the mesa by calling in the directions and getting right into the theme which was yes mirrors.  And how our outer world is a mirror of our inner world.  So by working on our inner selves as we all do through this ceremony (and many other ways in your life I'm sure), it has a ripple effect on our outer world experiences.  Although you can work on the outer and have it shift your inner world, I do prefer the former because the only thing we can control is ourselves.  The perfect metaphor of this is the mobius strip which I've spoken of previously.  The significance is that it shows how the inner and the out feed each other and that all is connected, even when it feels like there are some contradictions.  And as you can see from the picture of the mesa, the mobius strip from last months new moon is there.  On the full moon I shifted it from the east to west, which is linear time and represents our experience as human beings walking on this planet, to the direction of north to south, which represents our experience as spiritual beings coming into form on this planet.  Now that it has been on for a complete moon cycle, I have offered it to Pachamama/Mother Earth.

It is often said that we don't like the behaviors of others in our life it is often because we have those same qualities.  That is often true as it's a tough thing to accept and there is still another option.  I used an example of working with someone who I found to be lazy, stupid and disingenuous.  Yes I am sharing some of my lower self stuff, I am more than human.  This person pushed every button I had and consulted saying I know that this must mean I have it inside me.  What my teacher shared with me that it was actually mirroring where I was being attached to a rule that I have for myself which is to never be lazy, stupid or disingenuous and that I don't give myself an inch of relief in that category.  And it was a way of looking at my attachment to a way of being and causing judgements that was really only making me suffer not the person I was judging.

We talked about the Ruben Vase image I shared as part of the dreamwork.

I find this as an amazing metaphor as there are probably an infinite number of interpretations of what we see in the world.  We are quick to label, but as this picture demonstrates there are two ways to label these pictures.  I can say this is a picture of a vase, holy grail or some type of vessel.  Or I can say this is a picture of two faces looking towards each other.  Which do we want to see.  And what I like in particular about this image showing both black and white and a colored version.  I find it easier to see both images in the black and white version, yet it's a little more challenging in the color version.  We defninitely live in a colorful world which intimates that there are even more than two ways to interpret and situation.  So perhaps we can be a little more gentle when we decide to label a situation.  We can certainly label how a situation feels but we don't really know the motives of others and sometimes we think we see one thing, but because we can only label something from our experiences, it may be something else entirely.

We as always start with the surrender process and we did this to the song Freckles by Natasha Bedingfield.  I was recently introduced to this song and it was one of the major inspirations for this months theme.  I am including a link to this from Youtube that I recommend looking at as it includes the lyrics in written from.  It's a keeper.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIBFv60Ilik

As we know as soon as a topic comes up, all the back up materials falls into place.  So I shared this picture which recently came to me through a facebook friend

Yes more often than not we see ourselves way smaller and less powerful than we truly are and I think this is a sweet demonstration of that.  This is a reminder of why I encourage all of you to dream big.  This also reminded me of a story from my meditation teacher Harshada.  It's better told live but I'll give it a shot.

Once upon a time there was a small lion cub that got lost.  As this laundry man was walking through the forest, he came across this cub and, in taking pity on this poor lost cub, he decided to take him home.  This man washed laundry for a living and had several donkeys that he used to help with the laundry.  So the man put the cub in the stables with the lions.  He decided to train the cub to help with the laundry along with the donkeys.  So the lion cub ate and lived like donkeys.  He learned to bray like a donkey.  The donkeys shared all there beliefs and ways of being with this donkey.  He may have looked different on the outside but on the inside as a result of the programming he was a donkey.  Well one day while they were all out by the river washing fresh laundry, there was an adult male lion lurking.  He peaked through the trees licking his chops and said "human, donkey, donkey, donkey,....wait a minute what is a lion doing with these donkeys."  So the lion steps out from the trees. Upon seeing the lion the man and the donkeys run away in all directions to save themselves from their predator the lion.  As the other "donkey" lion attempted to run the adult male lion grabbed him and pinned him to the floor.  He asked the donkey lion what he was doing fraternizing with these donkeys.  After all he was a king of the jungle.  The donkey lion disagreed.  The adult lion grabbed the donkey lion by the scruff of this neck and pushed his face just a few inches from the lake where the laundry was being cleaned.  He said, "Look, look at the water...you are a lion, just like me."  It started to sink in.  It did take some time but the donkey lion realized that he was a full lion and learned to roar and like the other lions.

I think this story pretty much stands for yourself and we all have an inner lion.  There is another quote that Harshada likes to share which is, it's better to be bad at your own dharma, then be perfect at someone else's.  So yes we all have to find our own flavor of inner lion and live life from our truth and not someone else's.  Which leads to my favorite bumper sticker, "Remember you are unique, Just like everyone else."

So after this process the ground was clearly set to plant our seeds which it was.  I was quite delighted by all the different childhood heroes that you all shared as your inspiration in the seed planting meditation.  It was great to have all the energy of these playful inspirations in the room with us.  And you have intrigued me to go back and read some of the stories.  So we did this process to Katy Perry's song Firework.  I'm including a link to this Youtube video as well as I really like the way the sparks come out from the heart.   And after all, we really need to let the sparks generated by our hearts shine out in the world.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGJuMBdaqIw

Of course all of your seeds were transmitted into a blossom for the garland of dreams.  Along with the prayers for others.  I brought it to the East River right after to offer it; however, because I forgot my flash, this garland was really well received and flowed North up the east river with such speed, I didn't get it in the water.  So here is a picture of it on the mesa. As you can see I forgot the flash yet again.  I guess it was all the fireworks from the seed planting exercise.

Happy Groundhog's Day - Let Our Animal Allies Support Our Transformation

So this was an interesting New Moon, very potent.  I've never had to call in a weather delay.  And in truth the weather wasn't that bad but I had some aha's afterwards that made it perfect and entertaining to the theme.  So it was Groundhog's Day and Imbolc, a Celtic/Wiccan Holiday) on Wed. and Chinese New Year bringing in the year of the Rabbit on Thursday.  Imbolc pronounce Im-Olk, is significant as it is celebrating the mid-point between the Winter Solsitice (longest day, day with most dark) and the Spring Equinox (day of balance and equal light and dark).  It is the in betweens that aid us in our transformations and feels very connected to the groundhog, that is said to live on the edges.   I've also learned that Groundhog's Day was the way that those who wanted to celebrate Imbolc and wanted to avoid being judged celebrated it. But I am getting ahead of myself.

As you know there is some leverage that I use based on when it is new moon and when I first debated, my heart said let's do the groundhog that can be fun.  So the funny thing is like in the movie there was a weather interruption and we got a do over day (not exactly like the movie) and have it on the New Moon.  The reason this was perfect is that I had been hand making part of this months surprise and just couldn't get myself to complete the final pieces.  Weather doesn't impact me, but I wanted to be considerate of the people that were attending.  So after I decided to shift the date, I realized aha, I needed to complete making the gifts on Groundhog's day.  So here is a little picture of the surprises.

Yes they are hearts, from mine to yours.  I'm going to refrain from the story that inspired them but needless to say the inklings started back in Oct or Nov and they were birthed at the perfect time.  Like our hearts they have different textures and colors and some of the stitching even shows.  Each one is inidividual and are perfect in their imperfections.  These are coming from someone that only passed Home Ec to get me out of the class.  Yes I so loved making these and the real surprise and why they needed to be complete on Groundhog's Day/New Moon was because I have put a piece of groundhog hair and rabbit hair in each of these hearts.  So you can carry the medicine of the groundhog and rabbit, our celebrated animal ally hosts of the ceremony, with you.  They can be kept on an altar but are really meant to be carried with you or to have out as reminder of your beautiful and diverse hearts and that you are loved.  So much appreciation to the hosts and transformational assistants of the evening.

From The South

From The North

In addition here are photo's of the ceremonial altar just prior to the start of the ceremony.  So we opened the mesa as always by calling in the directions and calling the dream worker and lite participants.  I shared a quote from Thoreau that I had read earlier in the week on Facebook from a friend Lata and it really explains why I do the New Moons every month.


"Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there and I am prepared to expect wonders."

We started with the surrender process so I spoke of the medicine of the Groundhog.  This information was included in the dream work but I'm going to put it as footnote for those that need a reminder or so attendees and lite participants have it in print.  Much of the content is from Animal Speaks (parts in quotes and italics) with some of my comments in between.  I humbly admit that I had known of the rabbit as a medicine ally, but had underestimated the shamanic assistance the groundhog can bring.  I encourage calling upon the groundhog frequently.  And also I was very curious as I had been completing those little heart pillows for each of you, what medicine the movie would provide.  I hadn't watched in many, many years and mostly remember it as entertaining but I knew there had to be a line or moment that was clear that he went from reliving the same day over and over again.  And it was when Phil (the Bill Murray character) said,

"No Matter What Happens tomorrow or for the rest of my life I’m happy now because I love you."

So the key word there is Happy Now and also because Love.  And when he says you in the movie, it is to his love interest played by Andie McDowall; however, the you can be left off or in remembering that the you is really just a mirror of ourselves.   And as I say often it starts with love of our selves and our lives first and that is what the heart pillow is intended to remind you of.  Well that and, if you ever doubt, I love each and every one of you.  And it's a clear reminder to make Now the most important time and to love it for what it is and the gifts it has to offers.  By reliving the day for what seemed like an eternity for Phil, he learned how to make the most of the day that helped him move forward.

So we called in the groundhog to assist us in our surrender process. Like the dream workers did I wrote the surrender on one side of a piece of paper.  This piece was a bit longer than fortune cookie size I recommended to the dream workers.  Next came the planting of seeds with the assistance of the very clever and creative rabbit.  So on the mirror side of the surrender paper, I transcribed the seeds.  For the dream workers, I recommended you offering this to the earth and I will do this, but first I used the metaphor of the mobius strip.

For those that were part of the Full Moon Wholeness renewal this may seem redundant, but I'm a big fan of this as an example of how to embrace life.  So for those that are not familar here is a picture of a mobius strip and a circle, which is also used as a metaphor in the wholeness of life.  So if you would imagine a piece of paper with one side having what we are surrendering and one side with seeds of our dreams for our future if I taped them together as a circle.  There is no fluidity, the surrender stays on the inside and the seeds stay on the outside.  But just flipping one end of the paper in making this we get a mobius strip and that more accurately reflects life.  Our surrender, our denisities flows out into our lives like compost for a garden.  And it really shows the fluidity of life.  Needless to say it looks like the infinity sign aka lemniscate; reminding us of the infinity of life and that although we feel the pressure of time, we have all the time in the world.

The images were taken from a book that I'm really enjoying by Parker J. Palmer called "A Hidden Wholeness, The Journey Toward An Undivided Life.  And parts that resonate and I chose to share from the book, are:

Circle

 Mobius Strip

 “...we have only one choice: either we walk the Mobius strip to its continual interchanges, learning to co-create in ways that are life-giving for ourselves and others, or we sleep-walk on the Mobius strip, unconsciously co-creating in ways that are dangerous and often death-dealing to relationships to good work, to hope...

We can survive, and even thrive, amid the complexities of adulthood by deepening our awareness of the endless inner-outer exchanges that shape us and our world and of the power we have to make choices about them.  If we are to do so we need spaces within up and between us that welcome the wisdom of the soul--which knows how to negotiate life on the Mobius strip with agility and grace. “ 

So I took the longer strip with the surrender and seeds and placed it on my mesa to stay there until the full moon.  I was going to offer it at the full moon but have decided that I'll keep it as is until the full moon and then shift it from the East/West axis which represents us as human beings living spiritual lives to the North/South axis which represents us as spiritual beings living a human life until the next New Moon at which point I will offer it to Pachamama, the Earth Mother, the best nurturer there is.

In the tradition that we have been using and works, I then transferred the seeds into individual rose blossoms.  For the dream workers you will see the pieces of paper in the roses, those are your seeds that get individually transferred into the blossoms.  The Lite participants all get a shared blossom.  Together our dreams were woven into the garland of dreams with one pink rose representing our prayers for others and the planet.  Also as is the custom, I completed the evening by offering the garland of dreams to the east river.

Garland on Mesa Through Completion of Ceremony

Offering to the East River, NYC's Ganges

The garland was well received and travelled quickly North up the river.  Every month I'm delighted with what mother moon inspires for our transformation.  In Sacred Relationship We Remain Always!!!


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Footnotes

GROUNDHOG - It is about "Mystery of Death without Dying-Trance-Dreams"  As soon as I read this I realized that groundhog is the perfect shamanic ally.  We refer to shamanic death all the time which is s synonym for rebirth.  In shamanic death it is some of our beliefs and understandings that do the actual dying so that we can re-create ourselves.  We often use journey work to aid us in our work.  The groundhog can help guide us with ease.  The cycle of power for the groundhog is strongest in the winter.  "The groundhog or woodchuck is a burrowing rodent, actually a member of the squirrel family.  It has chisel-like teeth, and it lives at the edges and open areas of woods and forests.  It is known for its digging and tunneling ability.  Symbolically this reflects the ability to get deep within an area of interest.  It is not unusual to have a groundhog appear at a time when a new area of study is about to open up.  Since a groundhog does not fully mature for about two years, its appearance as a totem can reflect an endeavor that may take two years to come to full fruition... The groundhog makes elaborate dens with multiple exits and storage rooms.  It spends half its time underground...Groundhogs are generally non-territorial, but they will not allow others in their tunnel.  Groundhogs can tell if a burrow is occupied, as fresh dirt will be piled outside of its entrance.  For anyone with groundhog totem, it is important to give definite signals to the boundaries you wish to have respected for your life.  Groundhogs go into a true hibernation and spend about four to six months in that condition.  They prepare for this by fattening themselves...They will curl up in a frost free chamber of their burrow, and their life processes will slow...They achieve a state of unconsciousness and will usually awaken in the late winter or early spring."  Again the ground hog is good model demonstrating its synchronization with the natural rhythms.  Rather than trying to defy the forces of nature they go with the flow.  This is important as humans with a mind to remember how to use the flow of nature to our advantage and knowing when it's time to hibernate and when it is time to forage.  "Hibernation has always had great significance to it.  It symbolized death without dying.  Some societies used methods to induce these states as a symbolic ritual of death and rebirth.  Thus hibernation reflected a time of initiation.  Winter is the season of power, for that is when the groundhog reveals and uses its most effective medicine--hibernation.  It is also a symbol of opening fully to the dreamtime, the heavy winder sleep, allowing the individual to use the dreamtime more powerfully.  Those with a groundhog totem will find that there will be increasing ability to develop lucid dreaming...Any time groundhog shows up, the clarity and power of altered states will be amplified.  Dreams will become more significant.  Many shamans, yogis, and mystics would teach methods of slowing down the metabolism of the body.  This was often used to create trance conditions.  This could facilitate healing or be direct toward out of body contacts.   It can be used to develop shamanistic trance...to learn and bring back knowledge.  When groundhog shows up as a totem, there will be opportunity to explore deeper altered states of consciousness.  Lessons associated with death and dying and revelations about its process will begin to surface.  Groundhog holds the knowledge of metabolic control.  Its medicine is that of going into the great unconscious to touch the mystery of death without dying"

RABBIT - It is about "Fertility and New Life".  The cycle of power is year round.  "The rabbit is an animal whose essence and energy is a paradox."  In order to leave a whole life we need to embrace both sides of any paradox.  "It is found in both myth and folklore, and, depending on the society, it was perceived in a variety of ways...In Egyptian hieroglyphics it is associate with the concept of being."  So here is a paradox for you, are we spiritual beings living a human life or human beings living a spiritual life.  The answer isn't as important as remembering that we are BEINGS and not DOINGS.  "In China...considered a most fortunate sign, giving those born under it the ability to process the powers of the moon."  No I didn't make that up and even laughing at the perfection of this as I type it.  "Hare individuals are considered sensitive and artistic.  The hare is imbued with ambition, finesses, and virtue, along with living on the moon...The rabbit is known for its ability to procreate, its fleetness, its ability to make great leaps and hops.  It moves primarily by hops and leaps, and individuals with this totem find that their endeavors do so as well...It is active both day and night, but is most visible at dawn and dusk.  There are times long associated with the Faerie Realm of life, and because of this, the rabbit is often seen as an animal that can lead one unknowingly into the Faerie Realm.  The most common example of this is found in Lewis Carroll's story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, in which Alice follows a white rabbit down a hole into a wondrous world of adventure.  Rabbits and mice are the two most common prey animals.  Because of this Nature compensates them with a tremendous fertility.,,The mother only feels the young in the morning and in the evening.  She spends the rest of the day away from the nest, feeding herself." This is said to be to protect the children but it shows the rabbits balance between serving others and serving the self. "Within one month, 28 days, the young are able to be out on their own.  They stay in the nest, but they can survive on their own."  Hmm 28 days, very much like the Moon Cycle.  "Although some associate fear with the rabbit, it has wonderful abilities for defense...Rabbits often create forms to use for hiding and resting...Rabbit people should plan for possibilities...You do not want to box yourself in a corner.  Rabbits have a knack for avoiding being seen.  They can freeze holding perfectly still...If you are involved in competition--in work or in play--it will be important not to foreshadow your moves"  Or in other words be present in the now and a sense of being.  "Rabbits are vegetarians.  Those with this totem may need to examine the kinds of foods being consumed.  For the greatest health and healing, a vegetarian diet, even if temporary, will strengthen and heal.  Rabbit can show you how to recognize the signs around you.  It can help you to attune to the lunar cycle and recognize the tides of the movement within your life.  This in turn will enable you to become even more fertile in your life."

Rebirth Yourself...Use Your Purple Crayon

It was a pleasure to kick off 2011 with the first New Moon of the year with such whimsy.  So this months New Moon was inspired by the children's classics and without announcing it to those that attended in person, one of the attendees noticed my Little Prince Pop Up Book on my book shelf while we were waiting for all to gather.  So theme was presenting itself before we began the actual ceremony.


It was a lovely mix with old and new friends.  It always delights me to see who shows up to participate each month.We had people sharing the dreamwork with friends and my friends in Puerto Rico were doing their version of the dreamwork together at the same time.  Here is the altar they used and as you can see they definitely embraced their inner child with their stuffed friends.

As most of you know I'm a big fan of embracing the divine inner child.  The divine child is so wise and holds no history and really has no concept of the future, only the Now.  In addition, the divine child is joyful, which I believe is the only approach to a successful and happy life.

So the first book that caught my attention during the holidays, was Harold and The Purple Crayon.  It came crossing my mind, so I bought it and read it.  Well Harold is right in sync with us because he uses his handy purple crayon to create whatever he needs.  Reminding us that our minds aka purple crayons can create any reality we wish.  In fact as one point in this picture book, Harold draws a dragon and scares himself.  Funny what the mind can do and create fears, which as we were reminded in circle stands for False Expectations Appear Real.  The other reason I think Harold is a great story for us New Moonies, is that he always has the moon in each of his pictures.  (I'm not making that up, read it yourself)

Coincidentally I was in a conversation with a friend the day before the ceremony and we wound up discussing one of the people that co-authored the book Free to Be You and Me with Marlo Thomas.  I clearly remember seeing the TV special they made although unfortunately all the positive strengths they were trying to share didn't quite set in and I had to figure them out a little later.  I had never read the book, but of course, there is no time like the present.  In the introduction it says, "You'll notice that even though the characters in this book have names that are different from yours, they're really all about you.  That's right--each story, each word in Free to Be...You and Me was written to remind you that you're the hero of your own life adventure, and that you can write your story any way that you dream it can be."  And that is why I love the metaphors provided by all childrens stories...they remind us that we are our own heroes and truly the artists of our lives.  Which is why you were all encouraged to draw you surrender and seeds this time around.

So here is a picture of the altar for those that weren't present.

As you can see I have the mascot of divine child wisdom in the photo by Alex Grey.  In addition to my mesa, you'll also see in the origami birds in the North.  On those I have the prayers for others printed on them so that they will take flight.  And in the south you will see three hearts.  Those are the hearts representing three people that came to my attention just prior to the New Moon that needed a little additional healing prayers for some physical challenges so for them we did some chanting as we transformed and chanted the healing energy.  I even used my newly gifted New Years horn, which sounded better than a Pituti (aka conch shell that is used in Peruvian ceremonies).

Of course we did the surrender process as well as the planting of the seeds.  We accompanied the surrender to Don't Rain on My Parade by Barbara Streisand as we want to surrender anything that rained on our personal parades.  We use the theme song to Fee To Be...You and Me to inspire the planting seed journey.  With a lovely heartfelt rendition of Beautiful Child by Rufus Wainwright.  Each drew their input with a purple crayon prior to transforming the paper into compost with a little sacred fire.  Of course we also made the garland of dreams with each of the attendees and dream workers individual prayers and the larger global prayers as you can see below.

Hmmm, purple garland, purple crayon....and after completing the circle of course we offered the garland to the East River (my version of the Ganges) and it was well accepted along with some heart shaped confetti.

Refuged, Clear and Shiney!!!

So I am complete with the last of my post ceremonial duties (well except for the mailing of the dreamworker's goodies, those will be sent out this weekend, as I have to head out of town for a few days).  I just completed the final burning of the seeds and prayers for others as you can see in the photos to the left.  I also offered the ash along with some of the lovely flowers that were gifted to the altar and still resplendent with all the good prayers.

But wait, that's the end and I have to say that must be because I was feeling so energized post ceremony this morning.  And there were some light flurries which felt like a mitzvah (sorry that was yiddish for blessing/good sign and not Quechua).  Let me rewind.

Actually I was feeling pretty good yesterday too as I was prepping the altar.  Since I had packed up the mesa to teach last month, the room got a complete cleaning before I set the altar and it felt really good, if I do say so myself.  Below are some of the pictures from the ceremonial altar prior to the ceremony.

I was all tingly and felt like dancing and for some Lulu-like reason, I was lead to think about the song Tonight from West Side Story.   All I could remember was Tonight, Tonight, Won't Be Just Any Night, I decided to look up the lyrics.  I don't think those are in them and here the are with a few editorials in italics)

Tonight, tonight

It all began tonight (New Moons, all about new beginnings)

I saw you and the world went away

Tonight, tonight

There's only you tonight

What you are, what you do, what you say (hello that's what we focus on with the surrender, seed and prayers)

Today, all day I had the feeling

A miracle would happen  (need I say more)

I know now I was right

For here you are

And what was just a world is a star

Tonight

Tonight, tonight

The world is full of light (well it's dark because of New Moon but do like the reference below to suns and moons)

With suns and moons all over the place

Tonight, tonight

The world is wild and bright

Going mad

Shooting sparks into space (forewhadowing to part of the New Moon surprise and you'll see a picture later)

Today, the world was just an address

A place for me to live in

No better than all right

But here you are

And what was just a world is a star

Tonight

Good night, good night

Sleep well and when you dream

Dream of me (OK don't dream of me but keep dreaming - felt appropriate for the dream workers)

Tonight

It was a lovely group of new and old.  As some people pointed out, it always seems to be a different group of people - which I think is great.  In addition someone else pointed out that in my placement of people, I flanked myself with two roses (Jackie Rose and Emma Rose).  I do seat people by energetics, but not by names.  I wish I could say that was not conscious l but I have to say pretty wise on my unconscious...

As always each attendee introduced themselves to the mesa and then I proceeded by calling in the sombres/soul essence of each dream worker and lite participant, which includes those that either requested lite or requested the dreamwork but didn't get into it.  We had one dreamwork with a birthday - pretty propitious, don't you think.  And we also called in the powerful work being done at a fire ceremony in RI (I believe) and led by a friend, Quickikuti Inca.

We focused on the importance of refuge to regain our strength and that this strength can only come from within.  We cannot depend on anyone else for it.  And during this time we get clear and free.  We spent a good deal of time making sure we were squeaky clean after the surrender and went into some renewal work on the attendees.  And remember when one person in a group heals, we all heal...so the ripples of healing should be rampant.

Of course we went on to honor the beauty within and asked how it wants to shine.  We then had everyone write the inspiration found from exploring their hearts and true beauty that wants to shine on the base of a tea light.  Each person then lit their candle off of the source candle which was from the one source that we all hold within.  And I didn't point it out to the attendees but not sure if they saw what was on the piece right in front of the candle - here is a picture.  And yes, the container used to hold the candle was from candy - you know me and the sweetness theme.

We continued by blowing the essence of the seed planting exercise into a blossom for the garland of dreams.  Of course I transmitted the intentions of each dream worker into a blossom and did a shared blossom for the lite participants.

.

Of course we also spoke our prayers for the planet into the larger red blossom.  I also transmitted the prayers for others that was printed on the inside of the origami hearts and flapping birds you see below

We chanted some prayers for those that we were called and declared the evening a success ending with sweetness and gifts.  And as I promised from the lyrics, we had real sparks.  Yes part of the surprise was sparkers as you can see the participants enjoying at the end of the evening.   I said we wanted to shine our light and what do lights do they sparkle.  There is more but I don't want to give away the whole surprise.

No ceremony in NYC would be complete without my offering of the garland of dreams to the East River.  There were even some birds out there swimming, which in over a year of New Moon ceremonies, I have never seen and it was chilly.   In my tradition bird are representatives of the spiritual realm.  Can I say propitious again!   I would have taken a picture but we played with sparklers again and then they were gone.  Maybe they weren't really there, but I did have witnesses.

As always, I end delighted and more inspired then ever.  Thank you for joining me and in sacred relationship we remain.

Trust and Breath (Not Necessarily in that Order)

October New Moon Altar

Funny I now think of life, One New Moon at a time.  And at the times when life is feeling super crazy, it helps me in not feeling overwhelmed.  Overwhelm aside from the messages I've gotten from my spirit guides was the theme for this months New Moon. And I always find it entertaining how I hear of the synchronicity that is going on in other lives.  This month there were a higher percentage of Lite attendees.  And there were several that told me that they were too busy to even breath.  Funny throwing part of the title in front of me.  And it was something I clearly resonated with and even pondered do I skip a month.  Then I remembered for me, that is why it's even more important to do it.  And I'm glad I did as I am every month.  This has become like my sabbath.

Aside from the responses, I had another affirmation.  As I mentioned I've been a bit overwhelmed and busy, so for quite a while I have been missing a weekly group meditation that I like to participate in.  Last week I planned on making sure I included it, but a last minute conference call got in the way.  That was when I realized even attachment to meditation can lead to suffering as I was cursing the person who called the meeting all night long.  Well this week, the night before the ceremony, I was able to make it. I was really worn out from a long day but I had an inner persistence telling me that meditation was the right place to be.  In order to be efficient, on my way there I picked up the flowers to be used in our ceremonial altar and for the garland of dreams.  And not only was more efficient, but the flowers were blessed by the meditation ceremony.  My teach Harshada is always creative and you never know how he will start.  The first thing he says, is focus on your breath and be aware of your inhalations and exhalations.  In my mind, I said, "Hmmm, I don't remember sending Harshada a copy of my dreamwork."  As that was one of the metaphors.  I'm not going to repeat what I put in the dreamwork or spoke at the ceremony but will footnote the relevant parts for the lite participants.  Needless to say affirmations like this are one of the things that helps me to trust that I'm on the right path and in the right place, even when I was so tired I felt like I could fall over.

And here are the ceremonial flowers with the a few condor feathers as well as the seeds from the dream workers being cooked pre and during the ceremony.  If you look close there is a hint to the toy surprise that will be sent out along with the yummy prasad.

Before I share the ceremony, the other beautiful synchronicity was when one all in participant, after reading through this months dream work, sent me a beautiful quote that she remember seeing at her late husbands oncologist office.

"The deepest hunger of the human body is air.

 The deepest hunger of the human heart 

is to feel understood, valued and respected " - Unknown

I was grateful for this reminder and not have it posted on my computer monitor in the office and this is how we kicked off the ceremony.

We started by focusing on the breath and the barometer and metaphor it can play in our lives.  Helping us decipher if we have to slow, down, speed up, need more balance, give or receive more...  And then of course we emptied our cups, releasing whatever did not serve us as well as any attachments to identities.  As our breath shows us, no fear in letting go, because another breath will arrive effortlessly behind to fill us.

The attendees jotted this down and it joined the fire bowl along with those of the dream workers.  And this month I took an extra step for the lite attendees.  I put the names of each participant so that anything you were willing to surrender would be transformed by the fire.  Remember, even fire cannot be sustained without air to fuel it.  This made some wonderful compost.

We then planted seeds with the wisdom of the person or place that inspires us.  After blowing the seeds of each of the dream workers into an individual blossom, we put the papers that were used to transfer the seeds into the fire bowl and added that to the compost mixture and burned that as well.   Like I did with the surrender, I did put a piece of paper with the names of all the lite participants as well.  Although their physical bodies didn't do their dream work, their sombres were there to act on their behalf.  We had a lovely potpourri.  The transformation of fire brings all items, dense surrender and light inspirations, to an equal density that will be easily received by the natural world when I offer the ashes to the heart tree.

The prayers for others were combined and put in the origami flapping birds (the animal ally of the North which represents the element of Air and Great Creator in the Pachakuti Mesa)

Those were also burned in the fire bowl.  The energy of those prayers were put in the orange blossom that is used as the guru bead in our garland of dreams aka dream mala.  Typically I take a picture of the garland on the mesa as we make sure that we do a little more chanting to elevate the reception of the seeds.  However, I forgot and didn't realize that until I was at the East River.  The, humorously, as I tried to take a picture of the garland in the water, they were coming out really, really dark.  I panicked as I like to show the dream workers the beauty that arose from the blending of the dreams.  Then I laughed and sayed that trust was in there too, so they will have to trust my integrity.  Then I realized, silly you forgot the flash (hah we needed a little more fire) and now you can see the offering as it floats in the darkness of the new moon on the NYC version of the Ganges.

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Poignant air notes from the dreamwork:

We possess each of the elements within us; however, this is the one that we can consciously control most easily and let's face it without this element we would cease to exist at least in 3D.  I know during the most stressful times, the most common word of advice is BREATH.  And have you noticed that during challenging times, we hold our breath.  In many traditions breath is considered the life force, chi, prana....that sustains us.  

In the Pachakuti mesa tradition the element of air is associated with Spirit/God and, hence, our own spiritual bodies.  Our spiritual beliefs often requires a sense of faith and trust.  We may have experiences that reinforce our beliefs about God/Spirit;however, most of us cannot tell you what the pure form of God looks like nor have physically touched the hand of god.  Yet we know it's there. just like air.  You know it exists.  You can feel it.  You can experience it, yet you can't see it (unless it really cold out and your warm breath looks like smoke).  And that takes a bit of trust.  Trust that if you exhale and let go of the precious breath you just inhaled, another will return and the process continues quite naturally.  The process of breathing is best example of how life should slow.  We take and return.  No attachments...no reason to hold onto our breath or anything else for fear that we won't have it anymore as the next one comes seamlessly. 

Although we don't think about it often breathing is a way in which we are deeply connected with our relationship to the natural world.  The natural world provides us with oxygen through the process of photosyntheses.  Us two-leggeds require that oxygen to breath.  We take it in and transform the oxygen to carbon dioxide and exhale.  This carbon dioxide is needed by the plants to continue with photosynthesis.  We live in perfect reciprocity with natural world.  It's a beautiful and organic process of surrendering and receiving and receiving and surrender.  In the Pachakuti mesa tradition there is a quechua term we use for that and it's called ayni.  Which we translate as today for you, tomorrow for me or as we call it sacred reciprocity.  When we give without attachments, we trust that the universe will provide for us in return, typically with interest.  It has for me.

And lastly I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the etymological derivations of the word inspiration which is what we connect with in our dream work and planting of seeds.  The route of the word is "spirare" which means to breath.  This same route is in the word for spirit, seeing the connection here.  Spirit in my online etymology dictionary is related to espirit or spiritus which is defined as "soul, courage, vigor, breath"  So when we are inspired we are taking in soul, courage, vigor and breath.  Although I like to be a person who sees the glass half full instead of half empty, I would not feel complete nor really own my shamanic roots, if I did not acknowledge that this same root is in expire which is a word that can be used for death.  In shamanism, a shamanic death is something to be embraced.  In this death we are transformed and born again.  So when we expire we surrender trusting that a new and better life is in store for us. 

Home is Where The Heart Is

The other title I had for this month's summary of the New Moon Ceremony was you can't make this shit up.  Each month I have a slightly different theme and basically because of a recent experience of rebuilding homes in New Orleans.  While building a fence we were using a level.  And I was struck by the simplicity of seeing how something was in balance and by looking at the bubble you can see if you need to shift a little to the left, right, up or down.  Quite handy tool so as a fan of metaphors, I was started thinking what is my mental/emotional level in life.  What helps me figure out that I need a little tweaking before I go fully our of whack.  And the answer was clearly the Pachakuti Mesa and Meditation, which is what I share every month in the New Moon ceremonies, workshops and individual work with others.

I was inspired to dedicate this month to Home.   The concept of home has always struck me because I clearly remember my first weekend with my teach Oscar Miro-Quesada.  I went in called to go but truly not really knowing what I signed up for.  I often says, I went in with no expectations or attachments and he exceed every one.  And most clearly I left feeling that I had found home.  Being with this community and working with the mesa gave me a profound sense of home on day one and continues to do so.  I have also dabbled in many different traditions and have used that same sense of home as my barometer for anything I integrate into my life.  In fact, when I decided to meet Harshada, my Living Meditation teacher, I wasn't looking for a teacher, but found another sense of home.

I have heard many stories from people on the resonance this theme has had for them and I may be able to right a novel but there are two that I want to share.  On the morning of the ceremony I had received an email from my dear friend/sister Jesse.  She was planning on being a Dream Work participant.  She was picking up the ashes of her dog and wanted to know if we can incorporate the ashes.  I said absolutely.  And after further pondering, I realized the perfection in having the ashes of Franny who had returned home.  The other incredible coincidence is that Jesse put Franny to rest on the same weekend I was in New Orleans.  This wouldn't have been time better if I tried.  Jesse and I sat at my mesa a little and I told her to place the ashes where ever she was call.  As you can see in picture of Franny's ashes, in the southeast.  I know it's because Jesse was called to a piece I call the Nurturing Warrior and you'll also notice the rose quartz skull right next to it.  In shamanism, Death is fully embraced as the metaphorical catalyst for transformation and new beginnings.

Next "coincidence" is related to me.  And I have to go back a year to explain.  Last August my friend was in town from California and introduced me to her work with the Native American Church and Tipi Ceremonies.  After participating I had purchased a heart locket to remind me of the experience.  The day she left and I was in the office I realized that I had lost the locket.  This locket actually screws into the piece that attaches to the chain, so the chain was intact but my heart had loosened and fallen off.  I tried not to get upset and just went on with my morning.  I later realized that while I was on the subway, she had left me a voicemail on my cell phone.  When she had arrived at the airport she stopped in the restroom and out popped my heart.  Apparently when I hugged her good bye the heart fell into her shirt and then pants instead of the street.  I laughed and laughed at the perfection.  I knew my heart was in good hands and would eventually get it back.

So now we go to the ceremony.  The actual new moon was on Wed. evening.  I often use a grace period of 24 hours plus or minus around life.  I was supposed to participate in a conference call and be available on call Wed. evening so I decided to have it Thursday.  My friend flew into NYC on Thursday and was able to come to the ceremony.  Not only was it great to have my soul sister there as that certainly feels like home but at the ceremony she lovingly returned the cedar in a beautiful box/treasure chest filled with cedar and rose petals. As I trusted she took great care of my heart.  And my heart returned home at the perfect time.  And it's experiences like these two that really give me a sense of trust in the perfection of life.   If I tried to coordinate any of it, never would have happened.  As they say, once you make a plan God Laughs.  But when the perfection happens without planning, I know I get a big giggle out of it.




So the ceremony was fabulous if I do say so myself.   As usual we went through the theme of surrender or deconstruction, making sure we clear away the rubble so that we will have a stable base on which to build.  Then we planted seeds and began construction on our new home.  Since rocks represent the element of earth, physicality and structure in my tradition, we worked with stones.  Each attendee chose a stone from a bag that I had from a collection from my different pilgrimages.  In my tradition we refer to the stones as khuyes, which means containers of affection.  And truly they are that and so willing to help us.  For the dream workers, I chose a stone through a dharma pole methodology.  Prior to the ceremony, I wrapped each of the stones with the dream workers surrenderings and put them in the south of the mesa, the direction related to earth/structure/form.  On top of it were the pieces of paper with the seeds.

After the attendees released what no longer served them into the stones they had chosen.  I unwrapped the surrenderings, We dowsed khuyes with florida water and used fire to burn off and transform any remaining density so that we would have a clear base on which to build our homes.  Prior to going through the planting of seeds guided meditation (and each of the dream workers khuyes was on top of your respective seeds),  I reminded the attendees of Luke 6:48 "He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on the rock.  When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built."  So the seeds

It may seem like double dipping, but it wouldn't be a Lulu Loving Life Ceremony if we didn't build a garland of dreams.  So those same seeds that were planted upon the stones/khuyes were transferred into the daisy blossoms and woven.

Now that the oxygen mask was put on ourselves we offered our prayers for others into the green spider mum you'll see.  For the dream workers I printed four participants per origami crane and they were transferred in as well.  (For those that are curious, all of the papers that were printed were burned and the ashes will be offered to a tree outside my apartment that I call the Heart tree, as it has one naturally etched into the bark.)

We closed the ceremony and then went off to the East River where we offered both Franny's ashes as well as the garland of dreams.  I typically take a picture of it in the water; however, because there were many people out on that glorious night I went to a spot that wasn't lit very well.  Although I found a spot that had large rocks exposed.  Because of the poor light, every picture I took came out black.  So your going to have to trust me and I'm hoping if you got this far that means your read my "coincidences" and trust comes a little easier.


Welcome Home and We're Definitely Not In Kansas Any More?

Embracing Transformation - August New Moon

It's not even 12 hours and the affirmations are coming.  This morning at dawn, I walked to the East River (the NYC Ganges) to offer the garland of dreams.  On my return waiting for me by the entrance of my apartment door was this.

It almost looks fake doesn't it, but if a member of this honker of a moth/butterfly doesn't show how instantly transformation and manifestation can occur I don't know what does.

I almost want to end here but for those that weren't in the room or chose the lite version, I like to give a little playback.  So as you know we focused on the powers of water which is governed by Mamakilla (english translation mother moon) and clearly embodies non-attachment and fluid transformation.  I shared information about Masuro Emoto's work of how the fire of the mind impacts the health of our water.  I also included that in the dream work, so as not to be too repetitive, I'll past the links and information down as an appendix to this blog for future reference.

It was a lovely group with mostly new friends which was a joy.  As always we opened the mesa and introduced our selves to the mesa.  For the lite and dream workers, I called in their spirits into the circle so their higher selves were present.   We then began the surrender work of releasing what no longer serves us.  Although in this visualization we took a walk to the gats of Varanasi and took a boat at sunrise on the Ganges River and offered what didn't serve us any longer.  We followed with the ceremonial rinsing of any remnants with the hand washing.  And I happened to have some water left from a 2007 pilgrimage to the Mother Ganges which was poured into the pitcher to aid the surrender.  The Ganges really does represent the mother to me as it was my experience that considering all that people dump into her, she is calm, sweet and loving.  And to add some pizazz and leave the attendees squeaky clean there was some additional feather and scented water cleansing in the traditional Peruvian style.

Now that all were squeaky clean, we moved onto the seed planting.  Listening to our hearts, unhindered by past programming and social implications, we were guided with clarity on what our next steps should be.  That dream was then transferred into a cup of water held by all and then embodied by a literal drinking of their dreams.  We kind of double dipped as we then blew the prayers into a daisy that was woven into the garland of dreams.  Of course for the dream weaver I took the print out of your seeds and blew them into a blossom for you.  In fact, here is a picture of pre-ceremony bouquet and you may be able to see the pieces of white paper popping out of the bouquet up top.

And you may not be able to tell but yes, those are little bubbles bottles with butterflies on top and if you remember how I started, we manifested a mammoth one this morning. 

Before completing the garland of dreams we put our prayers into a sun flower and added that as our global prayers.  In addition the global prayers of the attendees and dream workers were put on pieces of paper that was then taped to a pitcher of water.  

Although immediately after the ceremony I offered the cleansing water as compost to my favorite heart tree outside my building, I've decided to keep the pitcher of global prayers in the south east/manifestation corner of my mesa/altar until the Full Moon to allow the prayers to come into their fullness.  At that time, I will offer the water to nature.   I wish I had the technology of Masuro Emoto to do a crystal test of our water although I trust that it would be stunning.

I waited to offer the garland of dreams until dawn, and here it is floating along the East River, well received by the unseen forces.

Messages from Water Appendix:

Below are two youtube video's. The first provides a little information of Masuro's work as well as some of his pictures.  If your already familiar with his work but want to be reminded of the images as they show a crystal formation of a thought,  just check out video number 2.

1.  Masuro Intro and Images http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW_WGwn5U9c&feature=related  

        2.  Montage of crystals as they relate to thoughts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnbZN54IZNE&feature=related 

And there is one more video you may want to see.  Below is an experiment with rice.  They use rice because it absorbs lots of water when cooked.  And the metaphor here, is that as humans that we are 60% water and if thoughts impact our water/emotional body which is contained by our physical bodies, we probably want to have more consciousness around our words and thoughts.  Check this last video out:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeTTCeqBwjc&NR=1