Category: Medicine for the Earth

Transmutation News – July 2003

Over the last couple of years I have been emphasizing the work of transfiguration into your divinity. The formula for transmutation being used is love + union + harmony + intention + concentration + focus + imagination. The transfiguration work we have been doing includes all the elements but it mainly focuses on union.

As I continue to listen to the news and read newspapers I keep being bombarded with the knowledge that important decisions are being made by a culture that loves money and power more than life. We talk about the power of love and from a societal point of view we don’t live from a place of love.

Let’s create some balance in the world around this during the month of July. Hopefully, you will live in a loving manner all year round. But I would like us to focus our intention as, a world community devoted to seeing a change in consciousness occur on the planet.

Let’s focus our intention on love and appreciation for the elements that give us life. Take some time to think about your relationship with the elements.

When you were in your mother’s womb it was water that held you, nurtured you, and kept you safe as you grew into a being ready to enter the world. And during your lifetime water will bring nurturance and life to your body as well as cleanse you physically, emotionally and spiritually.
When you left the womb the very first being you bonded with was air as your life began with your first breath. The last being you say goodbye to is air as you leave this world with your last breath. All through your life you have an ongoing and invisible relationship with air.

The earth nurtures you with the beauty of nature as well as with the abundance of food she provides you.

The sun (fire) provides you with the energy for your life as well as brings light into our life. Without the sun there would be no plants, trees, animals or other living beings. You are dependent on the energy of the sun for your life.

Throughout your day really stop and breathe into your heart feelings of love for the elements, which bring you life, as well as the beauty you are surrounded with. I think all of life benefits when we praise life. It’s time for the love of life to fill the ethers instead of the love of material objects and power.

As you spend time appreciating the beauty of nature around you, I ask you to reflect on “the seed” which life is created from. You can appreciate the beauty in a city too, as there are plants, trees, rocks, etc.

We all know that plants and trees grow from seeds. The seed contains all the knowledge to grow into a form on earth. The plant or tree doesn’t look for information outside of it, as the seed contains the knowledge for it’s life, growth, and health.

We also have “the seed of life” within us. I like to see this seed as the light of our divinity. In alchemy it is taught that we all have a golden seed within us. The seed within also contains the blueprint for our lives on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level.

We live in a world that no longer acknowledges the wisdom and magic of the seed within. We look outside of ourselves for information. Is it no wonder this is being reflected back to us by the movement toward bio engineered plants with artificial seeds?

This month reflect on the potency and information that the seed inside of you contains. Everything you need to know to create and grow is contained in the seed within you. As you honor the seed of knowledge within, you might find yourself feeling more centered and tapped into your intuition.

When you honor someone’s divinity you are actually acknowledging and honoring the seed of knowledge within.

Over the last year I have had a wonderful response to what I have been teaching in my Advanced Healing Training. In 2004 I am changing the name to Healing With Spiritual Light. I have never been happy with the name Advanced Healing. Although I finally “got” that the word “advanced” as my helping spirits suggested me use did not mean work that needs a lot of experience. Instead it means the next step: an advancement forward in the work.

In this training we use spiritual light that comes from transfiguring into one’s divinity as well as the spiritual light that comes from the pure vibration of the helping spirits to heal illness. I have written about this in the February 2003 Transmutation News.

I also talk a lot about preparing the client to receive this spiritual light. One part of my teachings around this is how the practitioner might perceive the client to raise his or her vibration. If we perceive the client as suffering and ill as we share spiritual light we are not tapping into the highest vibration possible.

Yes, on one level the client is suffering and we don’t want to deny this. But as we are working on a very esoteric level we also want to see the client from an esoteric point of view. In esoteric healing the client is seen in his or her divinity and as perfect. I would not say to a client that he or she is not ill and in pain. But as I transfigure into a divine state it is important to see the client in a divine state too.

On that same note I have been teaching practitioners about the difference between petition and decree. In some shamanic trainings practitioners are taught to ask for the pity of the helping spirits to alleviate suffering.

As I keep journeying my helping spirits keep asking me to stop begging for help and to stand in my power and work in a true partnership with them. It feels to me that this has been an evolution to my shamanic work to fit the needs of the 21st century. As I have written in Medicine for the Earth and teach in my trainings the spirits are asking us to work in partnership with them to transmute pollution rather that asking them to do it all for us.

As this is the principle I have been embodying in my work it is hard for me to ask the spirits I work with to take pity on my clients.

In a petition there is the aspect of asking for pity. A decree has a completely different vibration to it. Examples of a decree would be:
The light of God/the goddess surrounds me.
The love of the universe enfolds me.
The power of light protects me.

Tom Cowan wrote a beautiful book that just came out called Yearning for the Wind. It is published by New World Library. The book is filled with decrees that the Celtic people of Ireland and Scotland use.

Using a decree is another way for us to stand in our power and work in partnership with the spirits for help in our lives as well as in the world.

Notice the energy when you say, “Please help me.” And then notice the energy when you say, “The help I need is present right now.”

As you do your spiritual work this month watch how you use petition verses decree in your life and work. Try using decrees and notice if you feel a change in the vibration around you.

Last month I asked you to transfigure into water instead of merging with water. During this time I introduced the work of transfiguring into an element to some groups that I have worked with for years.

After my explanation I found that many people were still confused about the difference of merging and transfiguring. When we merge we merge with something outside of us. So in merging with water we go to a place in nature and merge with water there. In transfiguring into an element we shapeshift into the element. So we shapeshift, we become water.

In our work we use the principle of as above, so below; as within, so without. Merging works with “so without” and transfiguration works with “as within”. Of course, the end result is all the same. So don’t get caught up in concepts.

I also started teaching workshop participants how to transfigure into an element and heal a client with the spiritual light and energy of the element. I have the practitioner do a diagnostic journey first to learn what element a client needs.

Everyone I have taught this method to has shared how potent this work is. The power of the elements has much to share with us. They give us life and have much healing potential in our lives. I will share more with you about this method in time.

For now let’s transfigure into air during the month of July. Remember how much you are dependent on this invisible element. If you are new to the Transmutation News look at the last couple of months to see how you can join in with us with this work.

Let’s recap what I am asking you to focus on this month. Let’s as a world community gather our energies together to focus on the power of love. As you go about your day as much as you can breathe into your heart and feel love for the elements, nature, and all of life. And remember the importance of the seed within.

Practice transfiguring into the element air and notice what you learn from shapeshifting into air.

The full moon is July 13. Please join in our monthly practice in weaving a planetary web of life and prayers to help the women and children whom our environment no longer support.

Transmutation News – March 2003

We will work with ceremony and ritual for our work this month. Performing a ceremony is a way of opening the lines of communication between you and the creative forces. When we perform a ceremony we state our intention of what we are asking for to the universe so that our creation might be physically manifested.

Ritual is a way of grounding behaviors. For example, by going outside everyday and giving thanks for your life and the life of all living beings is a way of grounding a behavior of appreciation.

For our ceremony on the spring equinox I would ask you to do some journeying/meditating on what seeds you would like to plant for our earth garden. For example, do you want to plant seeds of peace, love, unity that will grow into a plant which manifests these energies in the world.

Get clear on your intention of the energies you want to plant and watch grow. Use the principles of intention + love (coming from a place of heart) + harmony (harmony within creates harmony without) + concentration + focus (we must keep our concentration and focus strong for the principle of manifestation to occur) + union (remember we are one with the web of life and the seeds we plant affect all life on earth) + imagination (we need to dream a new world and consciousness into existence).

Once you are clear on your intention find some seeds that you can go into nature and plant into the earth stating what you are growing during this fertile time. You can do this on your own or in a group you are working with. Support from a group can magnify the power of our spiritual work.

As many people do not have groups that they can work with, let’s set an intention as a community on the spring equinox to support energetically with open hearts the seeds of love, hope, and inspiration that thousands are planting around the world.

We can ground the behavior of tending our garden through a ritual. Go to a plant store and buy a small pot, soil, and some herb seeds to plant. Parsley is a great herb to grow as it is hardy and sprouts pretty quickly. But you can plant anything you want.

Plant the seeds with intention and love and wanting to tend the earth garden we live in. Nurture your plant over time. Be in appreciation for all the elements that go into tending the garden, our lives.

The soil gives nutrients to the plant. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out CO2. This is carried through the air to our plants. We are connected to all of life through our breath. As we breathe in we breathe in what other life forms breathe out. As we breathe out we share our life force with all living beings. As you breathe in and out in your house your plant will be connected to you.

Water nurtures the life of your plant and also brings nutrients which will affect its state of health and well being. The rays of the sun are needed for the energy of life. And of course all life needs love so communicate with your plant love and appreciation and watch it grow.

By taking care of your plant you start to ground the behavior of what is needed to tend this earth garden and the garden of our lives. Please plant your seeds and start nurturing your plant on the spring equinox.

Both the ceremony and ritual I am suggesting here you can do with your children.

Please remember to send in any stories you can inspire us with about communities gathering together to transform our world. Please see February Transmutation News for more on this if you have not read it. We need to support and inspire each other right now.

I thank those of you who have been generous with sending me stories about bringing spiritual practices to children. Again my request for these case studies is on my February Transmutation News and I am still looking for more.

Here is a poem that Stephen Alish-TaSen sent in to be shared with you:

HOLY LAND
SPEAK TO ME MOTHER OF THIS HOLYLAND
AMID SACRED COLORS OF RED
SPIRES AND SPIRALS
SHAPES SHIFTING TO WEATHERED FACES OF STONE
FOOTPRINTS VANISHED IN THE SANDS OF TIME
THE CARESS OF A GENTLE BREEZE
WHIFFS OF CEDAR BURNING REVIVE ANCIENT MEMORIES OF
ANCESTRAL SPIRITS DEPICTED ON RED STONE WALLS
RAVENS CALL ECHOING HIGH OVERHEAD:
“HEED YOUR CREATOR’S CALL!”
WE ARE
ONE BODY, MIND, AND SOUL
AS ONE INTEGRATED WHOLE
AND SO
THE SPIRT OF THE LAND, SHE SPEAKS!

This was written in Sedona, Arizona and copyrighted in 1994 by Stephen Alish-TaSen steveat1@juno.com. Permission is granted to reproduce with appropriate credit given to the author.

March 16 is the full moon. Please remember we have two meditations to do this month. We keep weaving a human web of light throughout the planet as we tap into our own divinity and light and shine that light together. If you have been working with the process of transfiguration, please transfigure as you do this. Transfiguration will magnify the work we do together.

If you are new to this web page and need directions for the transfiguration process please look at the July 2002 Transmutation News.

Last month, on the full moon, we started a meditation for support for the women and children of the world who are being so negatively impacted by the toxic chemicals in our earth, water, and air. Let’s continue our meditations for this on March 16. And please try to get out to the public the work we are doing on the full moon. Unless we get public awareness to the problem we cannot get help from communities for solutions.

Please remember to keep feeding the heart of love, harmony, unity, peace, inspiration, and hope. Let’s keep this heart stronger than the heart of fear, separation, and anger. As a community we can support a change in ourselves, which ultimately will be reflected back to us by the world and environment we live in.

And remember the Aramaic phrase, “abraq ad habra” which we knew as kids as abracadabra. It means, “I will create as I speak”. Stay conscious of the words you use in your daily life.

Transmutation News – February 2003

Over the last couple of months I received letters from many of you saying how potent the winter solstice ceremony we did together was. I know for myself I felt a great stillness throughout the day after I performed the ceremony. It felt to me like so many people were focused on honoring, which created peace in the midst of world strife. So thanks for joining in.

Great changes are happening on the planet today. There is a greater interest in spirituality than has been seen before. Yet at the same time there are huge challenges as humankind grows towards a consciousness of unity versus separation.
We have all seen that we cannot rely on one political, religious, or spiritual leader to create a different world for us. Yet the old myths that have inspired us speak to a hero saving us from evil forces and destruction. I do believe that the time for looking for a hero or heroine to save us is over. This is the model of hierarchical structures of “the few” having the power to care for the people.

I believe it will be communities of people gathering together to create change that will bring the planet back to a state of harmony. We need a new myth that begins with the people gathered their energies together to move out of the darkness, finding the light from within to transform our planetary crises.

I know that you are all creative souls. I invite you to write and send in a poem or very short creative story; mythical story that speaks to the people gathering together as our new heroes and heroines. The community instead of one or a few leads us out of darkness.

You can send in your own story or maybe a group you work in might create one together. You can send in a story for children that will speak to all of us. I will post these in the Transmutation News over the next few months.
Your reward will be knowing that you are inspiring thousands of people around the world to continue to gather, speak the truth, and focus and concentrate our energies together in this perceived time of darkness.

You can send your stories, poems, or any comments to me at:
P.O. Box 4757, Santa Fe, NM 87502.

Since I was a child the intense beauty of the earth has struck me. It’s not only the life giving aspect of our environment I feel I need to fight for it’s also the beauty. It is such a gift to live on a planet with the beauty of water, trees, flowers, etc. The beauty of the earth has always fed my soul. Even as I grew up in Brooklyn I loved to sing to the trees on my street, the moon, and the night sky.

When I indulge myself in my fears of the future, I fear for a time when our environment becomes solely cold gray buildings with smoke filling the air.

The spirits I work with gave me a nice practice we can all perform throughout the month. It goes along once again with the principle of as above, so below; as within, so without.

Think of one or more beautiful images about the earth that are precious to you. It could be a pristine river, forest, garden, the night sky, etc. Put on some meditative music and travel deep inside yourself. Imagine with all your senses these precious parts of nature being inside of you. Breathe deeply through your heart and truly experience the beauty inside you. As you can really experience the incredible beauty of the environment inside of you and as part of you that beauty will always be reflected back in our outer world. But we have to keep the practice up. Make this a part of your regular spiritual practice.
It is truly shocking to watch the rise in illnesses coming from the pollution in our environment. Yet, our environment is not being looked at for the cause of life threatening illnesses.

David Frum, a former speech writer for President Bush, says Bush himself refers to environmentalists as “green-green-lima beans”. Bush is described as incurious and ill informed on the environment.

I recently read an article in the newspaper where the EPA is saying that the gas that comes from oak trees might be causing cancer in urban areas.

It continues to amaze me that the connection is being missed that when we put poisons in our air, water, and in the earth it creates illness for all who breathe, drink the water, and eat the food we grow.

As I have written before it is important to educate people. It is amazing how many people in the U.S. are unaware of the consequences of our poisoning the environment. People outside the U.S. are much more conscious and concerned for environmental issues. Bill Moyers has done a few shows on the devastating effects of environmental pollution, but there are a greater number of people that must be reached. The media is not educating people to the consequences of environmental pollution. This is where I feel working together and gathering our energies together comes in.

In last month’s Transmutation News I encouraged you to write letters to the editor of your local papers to educate people. After I wrote this I met an acquaintance who had just spent time with some staff of the Sierra Club. She said that the Sierra Club was not going to try and push through legislation this year, but rather spend more energy in trying to educate people. 1 also met with a Native American who meets with elders from around the world who said that we need to spend more time with educating the public. So this idea seems to be in the collective at the moment.

The current statistics are 1 out of 8 women are being diagnosed with breast cancer. The cases of ovarian cancer are staggering. The children being born with physical abnormalities is frightening as well as the cancer rate and auto immune problems of young children. Men are being plagued by a variety of illnesses also.

In the world today there is such a concern about terrorism, and people are not facing the silent terrorism caused by humans poisoning the environment that is killing life.

Look on a metaphorical level at the staggering statistics of environmentally caused life threatening illnesses in women and children. We have created an environment that no longer supports the feminine or the innocent. It’s quite a statement of where we are in the world today.

I would like to suggest that we start a meditation/prayer going every full moon for the next six months that we can advertise to the general public that will raise awareness. If we begin to raise awareness we might find that people might actually get out and vote with a bit more consciousness. We have to give our best effort to try to get people to understand the consequences of environmental pollution. We cannot force people to change, but we can give it our best effort to raise awareness.

For the general public we want to keep this practice simple. I suggest we post flyers and send letters to editors in your communities. Post announcements anywhere you can – newspapers, stores, over the web. Let’s try and get the masses involved and reach as many people as possible. Invite people to join in with thousands of people around the world on the full moon. We will take a few minutes in silence to honor the enormous percentage of women and children around the world who are becoming ill from environmental pollution such as chemicals and pesticides in the air, water, and in our food. We also ask that a prayer be sent out into the universe that balance be restored to our planet so that all life might live. We ask that the divinity of all living beings be honored. During this time we all take time to honor our own feminine and innocent energy that lives inside of us.

If you are a person who is teaching spiritual practices that might be helpful for people today you could post your phone number for further information. We also want to let people know that there are groups who are teaching spiritual practices to transmute environmental pollution. You could refer people to www.medicinefortheearth.com or this web site for more information.
Even if you just choose to let people know this meditation/prayer is happening that is enough of an effort to begin to raise awareness.

I have been writing over the last few months about my desire to bring “the quantum” back into how many modern practitioners practice shamanism today. Basically, I have been trying to return to how shamans lived and experienced unity instead of experiencing separation.

As so many illnesses today are environmentally caused some of the traditional shamanic methods don’t work as well as if an illness has a spiritual cause. One can say that all illness has a spiritual cause, which is true. But healing methods must evolve to deal with the number of illnesses that are being caused by chemical poisoning as well as the evolution of bacteria and viruses.

Many different spiritual traditions have worked with bringing through energy from the source without form and without technique. One sees this with mystical Christianity, East Indian mystics and healers, Chinese healers, and other traditions. There are also many shamans who work in this way.

In our culture we have gotten very technique oriented and as we live in a world that emphasizes form we often limit our healing work. Many shamanic practitioners I see today perceive their helping spirits as a form such as an animal or human teacher. The practitioner perceives him or herself as a form. And the client is perceived as a form that is ill. With this way of perception we limit the true power of healing that is needed to transmute the carcinogens, other toxins, and bacteria and viruses in our bodies.

The key to the Medicine for the Earth work as you know has been the process of transfiguration. In this process we let go of what keeps us separate from our own source, divinity, power of the universe within which is our true identity. We have had great results with working with water and people who have been part of the transmutation ceremonies we perform in workshops.

I have also received a lot of feedback from practitioners who work with the process of transfiguration on a regular basis and the benefits in improving their life on all levels.

Last fall I began to work with another level of formlessness. I had merged with my spiritual teacher Isis and I was answering questions for a group I was leading. Someone in the class asked Isis if she could see everyone’s power animals and teachers.
Isis replied that our power animals and teachers are just energy. We give them form and call them into being by giving that energy a name.

When I returned home from the training I decided to try a shamanic journey where I asked to merge with the power of Isis and not her form. I asked her to let go of her form so I could experience her energy. I experienced the pure power of source energy. I was struck by the gentleness of the creative force of the universe while aware of the immense power at the same time. I was aware of the waves of energy and vibration versus the electric energy I often feel in my journeys. And at the same time I experienced the same calm, peace, and love I experienced in my own near death experiences.

As I continued to explore working deeper with this energy I have experienced the immensity of the force that connects with all the galaxies.

It has been important for me to experience the spirits without form and at the same time acknowledge the importance of working with them as form to act as intermediaries in the vastness of creation.

As intermediaries of the divine and source they can work with us as teachers and guides to help us with each step of our creative path in life. In working with them without form we can tap into the unlimited source of power of the universe, the web of life to bring through for healing the illnesses we are dealing with today.

The learning curve for bacteria and viruses seems to be greater than the learning curve of humans. Bacteria and viruses are learning to transmute must faster than traditional medicine can keep up with. Carcinogens and other chemicals block our light and our own DNA’s potential to create cell repair and heal what needs to be healed.

By bringing through unlimited energy from the creative force of this galaxy and galaxies beyond this one shares with people the energy that can go where it needs to go to heal. We can’t heal another person, but we can give them the power needed to stimulate their own healing process. I love the metaphor that Jack Schwartz used which is we can only act as an AAA truck giving the battery of a person a charge, but then that person must keep his/her foot on the accelerator and continue to move forward.

Combining the information that we receive from descendants about how to heal with sound and light and working with the formless power of our own divinity and of our helping spirits is the focus of much of my work now. This is what I teach in the Advanced Healing class I have been offering. There is so much more to explore and I am inspired by the unlimited possibilities when we let go of our attachment to working with techniques and form and surrender and open to the power of creation and the universe coming through us.

Of course there is so much more to this work than I am mentioning here. As vehicles for this divine force we must strengthen our own physical bodies to be able handle such energy. For clients we must teach them how to restore balance and harmony and transmute toxins that we are constantly exposed to. I am glad that I wrote Medicine for the Earth before I started this teaching so people have ways of working with their continued process of healing.

The evolution in my teaching is actually bringing through very ancient ways of working. It is through our modern day work and way of perceiving reality that we became caught up in form and technique. So we are really returning to what the ancients have always known.

In all of the Transmutation News as well as Medicine for the Earth I share daily spiritual practices to integrate into your life. We must learn how to strengthen and flex our spiritual muscles so we do not despair over the world situation. The world needs people who are willing to devote themselves to the spiritual practices needed to transmute the energies around us today. Please keep up your work.

I shared with you in the past the work I have been doing with journeying to the descendants. I asked them what I could for them in return. Their only response was, “You are sacrificing an entire generation.”

Many children are losing their magical world view and the sparkle in their eyes at very early ages. I have been inspired to write a book that helps bring the Medicine for the Earth work to children. I am now in the process of writing a book proposal.
I am looking for some stories to share in the book that have to do with children who learned spiritual practices and how this effected their growth and evolution. If you were taught spiritual practices yourself at a young age how do you feel this impacted your life? Did you teach any children a spiritual practice and watched them blossom from the work?

I am not looking for spiritual practices that were taught to a child. I am looking for the impact of the spiritual practices on his/her life.

If you are willing to share a story with me you can either write it up or just send me your phone number and I will call you to interview you.|

Once again my address is P.O. Box 4757, Santa Fe, NM 87502.

As we bring a new meditation into our lives on the full moon we want to continue our practice of creating a global web of light. The full moon is Feb. 16. I’ll see you then.

Transmutation News – November 2002

The process of individuation that we have gone through in our lives is very important to our exploration of understanding our connections. In order to be in a balanced relationship we must understand “our differences”.

In all the spiritual work I have been guiding you through for the last few years it is still important to do your own personal and egoic work. We need to be able to transmute and transform our thoughts and emotions and at the same time understand the importance of having thoughts and emotions. We are looking at a balancing act. We need to acknowledge who we are without being run by our egos. But in order to function fully on earth we need our egos. We need to recognize our divinity and yet at the same time that we are spiritual beings living full lives in a material world and that experiencing a range of emotions goes along with life. We are working on maintaining balance.

The shadow side of life and ourselves is also part of the balance. As I wrote on a previous page the light takes us to the heights of consciousness while the shadow takes us to the depths. The marriage of the two makes us whole. Our light would have no form without the shadow. Once again we honor the importance of balance.

Are you doing your spiritual work while at the same time doing your egoic work? Are you acknowledging your personal hurts and needs while you are also shifting consciousness and acknowledging you are more than an egoic being? We must acknowledge all parts of ourselves to stay in balance as we continue to practice the principles in Medicine for the Earth.

Continuing on the theme of last month we have focused so much in our culture on how we are separate we have forgotten that all living beings are interconnected.

David Suzuki shares just one small example of this in his wonderful book The Sacred Balance. The example he gives is of three different species mammal, fungus, and plant. He shares the connection in Australia between the poteroo (a marsupial), the eucalyptus tree, and truffles. He writes:
“Because both truffles and trees extract water and minerals from the soil, trees with truffles in their roots obtain more water and minerals and grow better than trees without. The truffles are a favorite food for the long footed poteroo which excretes the spores of the truffles and thereby enhances the health of the forest.”

Most of us are aware that as we no longer honor the web of life we have put many species of life in great danger.

Most of us understand this concept of connection and interrelatedness from an intellectual standpoint instead of a body centered experience. Let’s deepen our practice with this this month.

Earth, air, water, fire are alive. Trees, plants, animals, etc. are alive with a consciousness. Everyday set your intention to connect your heart with the sun which is a living being which provides the energy for life. For a few minutes a day experience your ongoing relationship with the living being air as you inhale and exhale. Air is the first being we have a relationship with as we are birthed into the world. Air is the last living being we say good-bye to when we leave this world at the time of our death. Say hello to mother earth who holds you and gives you what you need to live. As you drink water, shower, and wash your face and hands experience your ongoing relationship with the life force we call water. There would be no life without any of these living beings.

Reflect on how these elements are not separate but interrelated and part of one living organism. Reflect on how they interact with each other. You are also earth, air, water, and fire. Reflect on how they all interact together inside of you.

Notice how nature always strives to achieve balance. Balance is necessary for there to be harmony.

As you walk say hello to a plant, tree, or animal that you see. If you have plants in your house acknowledge their beauty and their life force. You don’t need to talk out loud to these living beings.

Just go down to your heart and send a message of greetings as you experience the cooperation and relationship of all of life.

We have become too dependent on our visual sense as we read, watch TV and movies, and spend time on the computer. Make sure you are using all your senses in the world. Feel your environment, listen to the beauty of the sounds and songs of nature, take in the fragrances, taste the world as you move through it.

This is a great time of year to spend time out in nature to witness how the earth is changing.

I am aware I have asked you to do similar practices before. My hope is that as you repeat practices you will do so at a new level of awareness which will take you into a deeper relationship with life. If you have been doing the ceremonies that I have invited you to do over the last few months you should be noticing a difference in your vibration or frequency. It might be a subtle difference and subtle is good. As your vibration changes it creates a heightening of awareness that allows you go deeper with even the simplest of practices.

As I teach trainings and lecture at conferences I am aware of how much people project their own feelings onto nature. Many people tend to move toward a place of anthropomorphism. All living beings have a consciousness, but whether or not all living beings experience pain as we do in our egoic states is a question that you have to come to terms with.

As you begin to relate to nature if you pick up any messages of pain and suffering start by taking this as a projection for something you need to work on inside yourself. If you are involved in a circle that meets try and work your feelings through there. Or you can take this into your own journeys or meditations. Or you can work your feelings through in psychotherapy. Don’t do a spiritual bypass. Until we learn to separate our pain from the pain of others we are bound to get confused messages as we deepen our relationships with people we know and work with and as we learn to create a relationship with nature and all living beings.

First clear up what you are working on. You cannot have pure communication with the web of life if you are projecting your hurts and fears onto the beings you are in communication with.

With all the work we are doing whether it be transfiguration or relating to the beings of life we share this great planet with we are looking at expanding ourselves beyond the belief that we are solid forms that are separate and independent from nature and the web of life. It is very important as we learn to expand that we also learn how to stay grounded. You don’t want to lose your sense of groundedness or it could affect how you function in life. Remember balance is the key.

I recommend that with the spiritual practices I have offered you in the last few months that you start small. Only expand as much as feels comfortable for you physically. You want to be able to feel as if you can run the energy you feel through your body in a way which feels smooth and comfortable and that you can manage your energy well. You want to make sure that it is easy for you to engage fully in your life after you do your spiritual work.

Some people get expanded easier than others and have a harder time grounding. You know who you are. As you work with transfiguration only do it for short periods of time so that you don’t lose your ability to ground. As you relate to nature as a living being that you are in connection with practice for just a few short minutes.

If you find yourself feeling after spiritual practices that you have more energy in your body than you can manage comfortably, ask your higher consciousness to shut down to only as much energy as you physically handle right now. Keep repeating this statement to yourself until it is done. I have used this practice for others and myself successfully since the 1980’s.

Make sure that you are incorporating practices that strengthen your body. I have found over the years of doing expansive spiritual practices that I have had to be very disciplined in my physical exercise program. I work out every day. My helping spirits told me many years ago that I must maintain a strong body to bring through the spiritual energies I was experiencing.

Whether you do aerobics, weights, yoga, chi-gong, tai chi, etc. the form doesn’t matter. If you are going to continue to work on expanding your consciousness you must have a strong enough body to hold the new vibration you are moving towards. I cannot emphasize this enough. And if you are going to be able to work spiritually you also must do your emotional work. Again balancing out our spiritual, emotional, and physical practices is a must.

Over the last couple of years I have been encouraging you to work with the process of transmutation and transforming your own thoughts and emotions. I have been encouraging you to experience these feelings while at the same time transforming the energy you are sending out.

In the world right now there are many people who don’t work in this way. So there is a lot of negativity and toxicity in our environment.

As you practice transmuting the energy you send out you also want to find ways to transmute the energy you are picking up from your environment. The method I use is to change my perception that energy can be problematic to all energy is neutral. If I find myself experiencing the negatively in the world I hold the intention to experience this energy as neutral. I let my intention be a key factor in transmuting what I am picking up.

As you did with learning how to transmute energy you are sending out journey or meditate on ways to transmute what you are picking up.

Next month we will look at taking transmuting what we are taking in another step. We will also do some work to prepare for the winter solstice and the New Year.

Please join us in our continual process of weaving a planetary human web of light. The full moon is on Nov. 19 or 20 depending on where you live in the world.

Transmutation News – October 2002

In the last few decades books have appeared on quantum physics. Although some have been popular the population of people that has been touched by them has been more limited. I think that now the time has come for the understanding that quantum physics brings to our understanding of the nature of reality.

For the last three centuries science has based its understanding of the universe on a Newtonian world view. This world view contains the principle that the universe is an unchanging macrocosm. Time and space are finite and that man is isolated from his world.

Quantum physics embraces the understanding that everything is connected to a web of life. Every thought, emotion, and action affects the entire web of life. We are not separate from the rest of the universe. This web is not finite and matter is created by waves of energy and that there is a song to the universe and all of life. There are parts of quantum physics that truly embraces the principle that we create through our thoughts and beliefs.

I have recently read two wonderful books that I highly recommend to learn more. They are The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos by Brian Swimme and The Field by Lynne McTaggart. Although both books were written for a general audience they can get quite technical. They both contain some real gems and I encourage you not to get intimidated by the scientific and glean what you can on an intuitive level. They will both speak to a place of knowing in your being. They bridge into reality where science is moving to and what all indigenous cultures have always known.

There is a quote that many of you are familiar with:
“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.” This quote has been attributed to Chief Seattle although there is some controversy if he really said this. This quote is one of the underlining keys to the principles of quantum physics. It is also the most important teaching that comes from not only shamanism but also all metaphysical and esoteric teachings.

I think one of my frustrations in watching how shamanic healing is entering into our world today is that it is more based on individuals than our connection with all thereby following more of a Newtonian world view. By focusing on “techniques” for healing we end up treating individuals as separate from a collective field of being. In this way I see that many practitioners have moved into being technicians rather than healers.

In quantum physics we are all connected through a wave of energy that creates a universal field. When we create sacred space we move into connection with this field. This is why I keep encouraging people to take plenty of time to prepare yourself for doing healing work whether it be for individuals, for the environment, or the planet. It’s creating a harmonious and loving field that creates healing.

In Medicine for the Earth I wrote about how I received the information that we cannot be burdened by earthly concerns in order to get into the Kings Chamber the place of true transfiguration into one’s divine nature. Before one can experience divinity we must let go of what keeps us separate from source. Traditionally dancing, singing, chanting, meditation, different forms of fasting were done to break down the egoic barriers which keep us from connecting from the one source or the field of life. For in this field there is no individual. We cannot be in a state of reaction and expect to harmonize with this field.

It’s harmonizing with the cosmic field that transforms disharmony to harmony returning health to yourself, others, and the planet.

The ceremony that we performed together on the fall equinox brought us into harmony with this field that the quantum physicists speak of and the web that indigenous traditions speak of. This creates a resonance, a frequency for change to occur. Being able to work on a spiritual and energetic level is essential for bringing balance, peace, and harmony to the planet today.

I hope when you participated in the ceremony on the fall equinox that you felt a state of expansion and ,a connection with all life. I hope that you felt the beauty of the energy that resonated throughout the world.

Review some of the material in Part 2 Separation vs. Union in Medicine for the Earth. Work with it. Learn to find a silent and still place inside where creation comes from. Practice transmuting the problematic attitudes, thoughts, and emotions that come up through the day.

Emotions are essential to maintain our health. Let’s just learn how to work them through so that the energy we are sending out into the universe is harmonious in nature. Fear and anger keep us walking our edge. The key is to keep transmuting them. The energy you put out does affect the entire web of life. You are included in this web as well as all living beings and the earth itself.

It takes everyday practice to create the light needed to transmute the world we live in. As we have learned to tap into our divinity and our creative potential over the last few months we must keep continuing to do the practices that feed the fuel for long term transformation.

A Haitian proverb teaches that studying life is not living life and therefore has no magic. We need to become the understandings we are learning in every cell of our being. The principles we are working with need to be in our bones.

Experiencing our divinity and knowing our creative potential is what we came here to learn this time around in “earth school”. Have patience with yourself and learn to acknowledge where you are on the path and if you step off the path don’t judge yourself just get back on.

Before we move on please take some time to reflect on your process of transfiguration. In the guided visualization I led you through in Medicine for the Earth first I had you let go of what keeps you separate from Source and the creative forces of the universe. I had you meet that creative force and then brought you back to your body to experience your own divinity. Shapeshifting into your own divine nature is an “inner body” experience not an “out of body” experience. Make sure that you have not been going outside of yourself to perform this process. Remember the dream I had which I keep writing about where I was told: “Man has been looking for God outside of himself for the last two thousand years. Man will be looking for God inside of himself for the next 2000 years.” Keep going within to transfigure!

The process of creation we are speaking about is not one that embraces the energy of domination or power over. The process of creation we are working with is one where we allow our creative energy to unfold. It is more of an allowing process than a forceful process. Check in with how you have been doing with your creative process and make sure you are not forcing it or pushing too hard.

As I sit here writing this month’s transmutation news the U.S. government is pushing for a war against Iraq. In thinking about what I have written about a Newtonian world view I can apply this to our world thinking today. We are truly living out the perception that we are finite beings that are separate from the whole. To heal this way of thinking is the work that we have been practicing with the Medicine for the Earth material.

So here comes the challenge. How to embrace that we are all divine and connected to one energetic web and not react to the behaviors of anger and fear that come from the illusion of being separate?

In Medicine for the Earth I shared about Jack Schwarz who was in the Dutch Resistance during World War II. He astounded the Nazis who tortured him as his wounds healed in front of their eyes. He said he was in union with God during this time. There was no Jack Schwarz that was a separate being. Was his reality that he was divine or was his reality that he was being terrorized? He could not be in a reactive state to create such a state of healing.

When I move into a state of reaction to the behavior in the world I must step back and refocus my attention and energy. The way to heal is to remember the connection and that any state of reaction I am in effects the web and creates a state of consciousness that will continue to be reflected back to me by the outside world. We must learn how to transmute our reactive states and create a field of hope, inspiration, and love that will transform the energy around us.

Can we stop all that will occur? I don’t know this as I don’t know what the collective is moving toward. I do know that we can transform some of the possibilities through the spiritual work we do.

Don’t buy into consensus reality. Remember your divine nature and keep creating your vision for a new world consciousness as if it is here now, and please keep tending the garden.

Let’s keep up our transfiguration and creation process each Sunday throughout the month.

Last month I said that we would do some work on Yucca Mountain and also on the sonic sounds that are affecting the whales and other marine life. I am not sure if all of you are aware of what is happening with both of these situations.

In July of 2002 the U.S. Senate voted to override Nevada’s veto of Department of Energy plans to bury our nation’s nuclear waste in the Yucca Mountain. You can only imagine how the residents of Nevada and people around the country feel about moving all nuclear waste to be buried at this location. Yucca Mountain is known to be a volcano and the Native Americans it. the area believe that it is still active.

We cannot use our earth as a dump for dangerous materials we created that we don’t know what to do with.

On Sunday October 13 let’s do a transfiguration ceremony together and experience Yucca Mountain in Nevada in its perfection. We need to empower the earth here and let its own divinity shine forth.

The Navy has a low frequency sonar system which has the potential to deafen every marine mammal living in the world’s oceans. This sonar system could be responsible for the death and beaching of whales and dolphins around the world. There are alternative systems that could be used that don’t have adverse impacts on whales and other marine life.

On October 27 let’s put our divine energy together and perceive the marine life around the world empowered and healthy and strong. Once again let’s experience our connection with all of life so that the energy that knows how to heal will be generated.

There are many case studies of people healing themselves of life threatening illnesses by leaving their jobs and lives and going to live in nature. When one does this he or she connects back with the rhythm of life and the energetic waves of the universe. In doing this you can hook back into the divine forces of the universe and the earth which heals.

So much of the illness we see today is the disconnection from nature and what I see as walking against the river of life.

As we do our transfiguration please do not leave behind the work of connecting with the rhythm of life and the cycles of nature. The season of fall is now upon us. Have you noticed the change in the quality and the smell of the air? How does the ground you live on feel different? Have you noticed the change in the plant and tree life around you? Have you noticed the change in the animals and the birds? You are part of this change. How are you feeling different?

As much of nature prepares to let go of old growth to fertilize the ground for the next cycle of growth to come, what are you needing to let go of to be in sync with the natural rhythm of life?

Everything that exists in nature is alive and responds to the cycles of the sun. You are part of this giant web. Please take time to observe the changes you need to make to align with nature during this time. Enjoy the changes and the beauty of this time.

Please join us in continuing the weaving of a luminous planetary web of light on the full moon which is October 21.

Transmutation News – May 2002

In April I attended an extraordinary gathering in Oracle, Arizona which Shamanic Circles put on. Shamanic Circles is a non-profit organization that has been dedicated to networking people involved in the practice of shamanism worldwide. They also sponsor Carol Proudfoot’s workshops and co-sponsor my Medicine for the Earth gatherings. Through their web page ~ they have connected people around the world whom might not have people in their own communities to share their work with in shamanism. In the US. this is not so much of a problem. But in many countries there is not as much shamanic work going on and often people can feel quite alone in their journey. I appreciate Shamanic Circles for keeping the fires alive around the world where people can share their stories from where ever they live.

Carol Proudfoot, an extraordinary shamanic teacher and one of my closest sisters, founded Shamanic Circles. She is a true visionary.

About 115 of us came together from the US., Ireland, Israel, Japan, Canada, Finland, Netherlands, and England with a focused intention to work on behalf of the Sacred Hoop, the Tree of Life, and the Web of Life. Throughout our week we did ceremonies for transmutation and visioning. There were a variety of offerings of short workshops from teachers involved in shamanic work. Just to give you a sense some of the workshops offered were using shamanism to work with grief, plant spirit medicine, mask making, drum making, and others. It took us days to create a sand painting of a world map on a volley ball court at the site where we were. Also included in our time together we did an all night “Earth Renewal Dance” around a fire.

It was a wonderful experience to be around people who could keep their hearts open as we served one purpose together that of healing and renewing the earth.

There was a previous gathering two years ago and I look forward to more to come. I hope you will visit the Shamanic Circles web site.

As the levels of violence toward all of life continues as well as the unconsciousness to the sacredness of our environment we must step up our commitment in our spiritual practices. I recently heard that just the wing motion of one butterfly could alter a hurricane. Think about that. We talk about the web of life and how everything is connected. Here is an awesome example of how such a small being can effect such a giant life force.

Let’s use this metaphor to describe how the motion of our spiritual practices can affect the storms ravaging through earth today. I have asked you this question many times, and I will ask it to you again now: What are you willing to commit to in honor of the earth we live on, the air we breathe, the water that nourishes us, and the fire that gives us life? What are you willing to commit to for visioning a planet that embraces the principles of harmony within creates harmony without? What are you willing to commit to as you act as caretaker of the earth and all living beings?

Your commitment to your spiritual practices does make a difference. Skim through Medicine for the Earth, which is filled with suggestions of spiritual practices for transmutation which you can integrate into your life. Find one practice that you can focus on this month. Like the wings of the butterfly you will affect the movement of the “storms” around you.

So far since February we have done short simple ceremonies to honor water, earth, and air. It is now time to honor fire. Fire creates light in our lives. Fire is passion. There is no life without passion. Before we had electricity and heat the power of the sun and fire were honored daily. People around the world drummed up the sun for the sun coming up meant a new day of life. The sun gives power to plants that is passed onto us. The sun was worshipped by many around the world for the light it shared on all levels. The fire inside the earth keeps her life force burning.

As above, so below; as within, so without. We must honor the fire that lives inside of us.

During this month I ask you to merge with the fire which burns inside of you. Look at pages 152-155 in Medicine for the Earth where I write about merging with the elements. Check out the health of your own fire. Fire, as all living beings needs to be fed. Do you have too much fire burning in you causing you to be anxious or angry? Is your fire burning too low causing depression and fatigue? How balanced is your fire?

The full moon this month is May 26. Let’s all together wake up at dawn and greet the sun. You can drum up the sun, rattle up the sun, sing up the sun, dance up the sun, or be in silent meditation when the sun rises and greet it with the power of love in silence. You can do this alone or in a group. I know of groups who on a monthly schedule meet together to do a meditation in nature at sunrise.

Then during the day and evening of May 26 light a candle for a short period of time and meditate on the power of light and fire. Fire is known worldwide as the great transmuter. Journey and merge with fire and learn about fire by becoming it. Again the instructions to do this are on pages 152-155 of Medicine for the Earth. When I lead this journey in my trainings it is quite profound for people. There is so much we can learn from this great living force.

The principle we are using in the simple ceremonies I am suggesting is that as we join together in a great circle around the world to honor the elements, the elements will honor us in return.

May balance and harmony return to the earth and all living beings once again!!! Let’s together vision it as it is happening now.

Please remember to join in on Creating A Human Web of Light on the full moon May 26. There are so many thousands of people around the world of all traditions who have been joining in. It feels so good to connect our lights together.

Transmutation News – April 2002

I hope that you honored the change in cycles as we moved into spring with performing the simple earth ceremony I suggested. Even though the rituals I have been suggesting are simple they are at the same time very powerful. As we have thousands of people at approximately the same time expressing gratefulness to earth this does make a difference.

As I live in the Southwest where we are experiencing once again a drought I have been watching the water situation in the world. I know some of you live in areas where you have received a lot of moisture. But the bottom line is that a good portion of the world right now is in drought.

On a previous web page I wrote that as we are no longer feeding our relationship with the earth, the earth is drying up. Honoring is one step to creating harmony and balance once again in our environment.

As we continue to watch the devastation of our environment it is easy to fall into a place of hopelessness. It is important to know that where we do have power is working in this world on the spiritual realms.

We need to once again recognize the sentient nature of our environment. We need to once again honor the elements as living beings. We need to honor the elements inside of us as well as the elements outside.

Through honoring we begin to establish a strong relationship. We cannot work in cooperation with nature. without a relationship with nature. Establishing relationships take time and work. What we are talking about here is joyful work. The joy that comes from being in communication with the elements and other living beings creates a feeling of connectedness. We all crave connection with the rest of life.

I don’t think what I writing here is news for those of you reading this page. And you might fall into a trap of thinking that if the rest of humanity does not see that the earth is alive what is the use. Every shift in consciousness that each person makes creates an exponential change on the planet.

There are many thousands of people who do honor earth and the elements as alive. The more each one of us chooses to commit to be in service to the earth change will occur. But we must commit to concentrate our efforts on establishing a strong relationship with the earth and the natural world daily not on an occasional basis.

By the act of honoring and expressing gratitude and appreciation for all you receive from the elements you keep feeding the relationship. You know in your own personal. relationships where there is honor and appreciation there is a strong bond.

I have been doing a lot of shamanic journeying on the drought. My own helping spirits have not been saying much. The drought is really a symptom of the bigger issue of how out of balance we are with nature.

But the interesting message that the spirits keep sharing with me over and over is that places will weather the drought where the spirit of the land is strong. I started to think about our bodies and immune systems and the strength of our spirit. When our spirit is raised and strong it is much easier to weather trouble in our lives. When our spirit is low it is hard to temper tough times.

As you nurture your relationship with the land where you live, you build on the relationship which will naturally strengthen the spirit which helps to carry all life through challenging times.

In sitting with all this you might ask yourself what you are willing to commit to? Putting our efforts together we can temper the environmental changes. It does take a commitment from all those who are willing to be in service to the earth.

In my own spiritual practice it has just become habit for me to give thanks to the elements for all I receive. Everyday I give thanks to the earth. As I drink and use water I give thanks. At different times of the day I give thanks to air as I breathe. I look up to the sun and thank it for its warmth and the power it gives to all of life. The affirmations I make are simple. Simple is good. The effect on me has been quite profound. It not only feeds my own spirit as I feel my connection to the web of life, it opens me up on a heart level. I have also found that my ability to receive life has expanded which strengthens my own spiritual self helping me tap into my spiritual light. Spiritual light is really what all of us are truly seeking.

You want to establish a new habit of honoring and being in a state of appreciation of how you are part of a great web of life. You might want to put little notes around your house or your office saying: “Have you fed your relationship with earth, water, fire, air today?”

In many transmutation news I have written that some of us must be willing to “keep tending the garden” while all the disharmony continues on the planet. One way to tend the garden is through what I just wrote about love and appreciation. You have I am sure visited a garden that has been fed with love. I am sure the light, spirit, and beauty of that garden touched you.

We also must learn how to hold the space by holding the light. This is so important during a time where our garden is not being honored by many and is being trampled by unconsciousness and ignorance. To hold the space and the light takes a great deal of concentration. Remember “concentration” is one of the elements of the formula for transmutation. To hold the space we must also keep our hearts open maintaining a state of love for our garden.

Try everyday to do a simple meditation. Imagine breathing through your heart. Think about some place on earth that you really love that is precious to you. Or think about some life form that is really precious to you. Keep that feeling of preciousness in your heart allowing your heart to expand in love. Keep breathing through your heart experiencing love for the garden of life.

If you are new to meditation just start with five or ten minutes a day. Building concentration takes time. So you want to meditate on holding the light only as long as you can maintain concentration. Have faith you will build up your ability to concentrate it just takes practice.

This month we want to join together and honor air. April tends to be a time when the winds increase so it is a good time to honor this life-giving element. When we are born the very first relationship we bond with is air as we take our first breath. Our relationship to this life ends as we breathe out our last breath. With every breath we are in relationship with air. In indigenous cultures it is believed that air through wind carries messages throughout the world.

The air we breathe gives us life. On the full moon of this month, April 26 (because of the time of the full moon it will be full on April 27 for some of us) throughout the day whenever you can remember to honor air for the life it brings to all life. Imagine the air as you take it in to be pure and holy. Imagine the air you breathe back out to be pure and holy. As we do all do this through out the day we honor the element of air and remind it that air is loved and appreciated by many.

Last month I invited you to write to me if you wanted to make a comment on the honoring ceremonies we have been performing.

A friend wrote me that I didn’t put in my address. I apologize for this faux pas.

You can reach me at:
Sandra Ingerman
P.O. Box 4757
Santa Fe, NM 87502

As I will be traveling and teaching most of the month part of it in Europe, please give me some time to respond to you.

Last month I did travel back to Brazil to visit Joao de Deus (John of God). I wrote about my extraordinary first trip to him in the August 2001 Transmutation News. He is in service by allowing his body to be a vehicle for spiritual entities to work through him to relieve the pain and suffering of others. It is quite extraordinary to watch him work and be worked on by the entities he brings through.

I choose to go to see Joao de Deus with Heather Cumming who serves as a wonderful expert guide and translator. You can take a look at her web page
http://www.healingquests.com

Heather and I planning to combine a five-day Medicine for the Earth training in Brazil with a week trip to visit Joao de Deus. Right now we are thinking about June 2003. 1 will give you more details, as I know more.

Please remember to join in on our full moon creating a human web of light meditation on April 26 or April 27 (depending on where you live).

Remember, it is only love that heals.

Transmutation News – January 2002

A key ingredient of alchemy is heat. Heat is power and heat and power create change. The end result of alchemy is transmutation, transformation, and change.

Some form of “heat” is involved in creating change in our lives. When one is suffering from emotional or physical pain there is heat thus resulting in some kind of change and transformation.

When one is in love with someone, a cause, some form or work, life, nature, etc. the passion of love creates heat. This passionate heat also contains the power to create change.

As we step into the new year, typically a marker for many of us in linear time where we hope for change, let’s use the basic and fundamental principle of alchemy. We can transmute, transform and create change with the heat of our passion. The door has always been through our hearts.

Think about what you love and have passion for. Commit to doing what you love. Heat up the alchemical cauldron of your life with what you have passion for and watch and observe as your life unfolds to a new level of evolution empowered by love.

At the beginning of the new year many of us work with making resolutions. Besides committing to what you love, I will plant a seed of something to think about and be with during this time.

Last month I wrote that everything manifests in the spiritual before manifesting on the physical. This is a truth known in all spiritual traditions.

In working with this spiritual principle there might be some “spiritual corrections” we need to make so what starts on the spiritual is not created as chaos on the physical.

During the next few weeks use shamanic journeying or your meditation practice to ask for guidance on what spiritual corrections are required for you to truly manifest “your heart’s desire”.

In the last few months I have written about using focus as well as the rest of the formula for transmutation to create a new dream. The need for visionaries and new dreamers include the children of the world. How do we help children become visionaries? Nancy has given me permission to share a project she was directed to start. I hope this inspires you in some way.

This is a letter that Nancy wrote to art teachers:

Dear Art Teacher, Like you, I am sure, the range of emotion I have experienced since the 9/11 terrorist attack on The United States has left me feeling helpless and somewhat exhausted. For the last week I have been looking at ways to empower my community, and empower myself so that we face what the future holds with a secure vision of what our ideal world is.

The more energy we can generate to hold such a vision, the more power we will have to make it visible to other communities and the rest of the world. Less time will be spent on fear of the unknown if we can hold the known close to our hearts, and one way to know our vision is to make it concrete.

While thinking along these lines I envisioned an art project that could be used by Schools and Libraries, and perhaps museums to help people, and especially help children, to hold a secure vision of community, and understand that their voice is heard within their community.

This project would involve making or acquiring a large container, appropriate to the scope of the project in your school, and making it beautiful. This container would represent an ideal community. Then each participating student would be encouraged to think of something that in his or her opinion is necessary for the vitality of a perfect community. The student would then make a visual effigy of his or her thought with art supplies appropriate to the age of the student. These effigies or symbols of the ideal would be placed with some care or ceremony into the container. A book might be kept listing the contents of the “Community” and the finished project could be displayed along with the book.

I have put a bowl, a small pad and some colored pencils, and fimo clay in the entrance to my home for this purpose. Family and guests have made images of the sun, the moon, food, a heart, animals, and different colored people hugging. There is a vial of pure water, and a little bundle of fertile soil in the bowl. There is an acorn, some rice, and a peace sign. There will be a cross, and a symbol of Buddhism by the weekend. There are little folded pieces of paper with words and poems. Someone put a dollar bill in the bowl, and someone else added a chocolate bar. The enthusiasm and positive emotion put into this project are less visible but by no means less tangible.

On another note some friends of mine have alerted me to a situation little known to the public. Michael and Lori of Wild Angels have great passion about this issue, as I am sure many of you will.

Here is what Michael wrote:

The Hopi elder pointed to a bend in the parched, sandy river bed and said, “This was always our swimming hole”. But now the water is gone. The springs and streams that the Hopi have depended on for over a thousand years are dry, or going dry. The cause? Peabody energy pumps more than 3.3 million gallons of pure, drinkable water from the Black Mesa area’s sole source aquifer every day to move coal through a pipeline to a power plant 273 miles away in Laughlin, Nevada.

Wild Angels, the nonprofit group working to save the dwindling freshwater resources of the Hopi and the Big Mountain Navajo, has achieved some breakthroughs in this crucial effort. The group got a revealing article published in Time magazine and initiated a shareholder’s resolution in the parent company (Lehman Brothers) urging an end to the draw down of the aquifer for coal slurry. In other words, there is, at last, some significant movement on this issue. Active participants and funding are needed to propel this important work to success.

If you can help with funding or have funding ideas please contact www.wildangels.org or phone Wild Angels at 505-989-1818.

Continue to practice staying in your heart and let the power of love and appreciation fuel the changes in your life.
Please join us as we continue to create a human web of light on the full moon January 28.

I wish you a joyous and passion filled New Year.

Transmutation News – November 2001

I hope you have been able to stay focused on holding the light and tending the garden during this great time of change. There are many aspects of environmental pollution. We are experiencing a great deal of troubled energy in our psychic space from all the fear and anger that is being generated from people around the world.

Although all parts of the formula for transmutation (intention + love +harmony + union + concentration + focus + imagination) are needed to be used right now it is important to really work on your ability to focus. During unknown times it is so easy for us to be pulled outside of ourselves and lose focus. We must also be able to focus our imaginations to believe that we can create a different reality. It is important to use the tools you know and those discussed in Medicine for the Earth to stay centered and focused.

I have received a lot of feedback of how relevant the material in Medicine for the Earth is in helping people stay centered during this time.

As you bring small practices into your life to shift your consciousness, you will notice a shift of awareness happening. As you continue your reflection you will notice that your energy field changes and that it is easier for you to maintain your focus on your spiritual path. Please remember that the benefits come with daily practice.

It did not take many people to create such a drastic sudden change in our world. Any work that you are willing to do by yourself or in small groups will have an impact on the collective conscious. Know that every change in consciousness you make does make a difference.

In October I led a five- day Medicine for the Earth gathering on the East Coast for a group of people who had worked together for years. In my journeys I had been getting that it was important to do some transmutation work for the energy of fear, anger, etc. that was floating around the air waves.

I was given a vision of a ceremony to lead to work with the transmutation of energy in the collective. The ceremony was so powerful I would like to share it with you. For those of you working in groups where you do journey and you have been working with the material in Medicine for the Earth I hope you will try this.

First we all wrote down on pieces of paper what energy around feelings, beliefs, and thought patterns needed to be transmuted. For example, one might write down fear, hate, despair, and hopelessness. We then put all the pieces of paper around the altar that also had a beaker of water with ammonium hydroxide in it.

I asked half of the group who would transfigure into a divine force to sit in the middle. The people who were to transfigure were to keep their arms and hands outstretched and be a vehicle for healing energy to pass through. I asked the other half of the group to stand around those seated. This half was to merge with a power animal or teacher used for healing. During the first stage of drumming the people in the middle were to transfigure into a divine force where they could just be a vehicle, a hollow bone, for energy from the helping spirits to pass through. The group standing was to merge with a power animal or teacher. After a few minutes of giving people time to transfigure or merge I signaled with the drum that it was time to work. Then I began drumming again. The transfigured group was to tone to keep the transfigured state and once again just be a vehicle for healing energy to pass through. The power animals and teachers kept circling the group placing their hands on the transfigured group sending through healing energy for what needed to be healed.

When it felt like a lot of healing happened I did a return beat. The people merged were given the instructions beforehand that during the return beat they were to disengage from their power animals and teachers. The transfigured group was also instructed to disengage during the return beat.

After people came back we switched roles so everyone could get a chance to merge and transfigure. The next morning the papers that had been in the middle of the room were burned. There was so much spiritual energy in the room we decided to leave the papers to continue to be worked on.

There really were and are no words to describe the sense of healing that took place that evening. We were all just left in awe. For me the spiritual energy in the room was so expansive and planet earth seemed so small in comparison. I also received information that the water in the middle along with the ammonium hydroxide both helped take on and transmute the energy worked on. The pH did change from 11 to 10.

The evening was so powerful I want to incorporate this ceremony into all my Medicine for the Earth gatherings. But I wanted to share it here for those of you who are already working in journey groups where the members have experience with the material I have already written about.

If you have any questions about how to perform this ceremony or if you want to give me feedback once you have done it with a group, please write to me at P.O. Box 4757, Santa Fe, NM 87502.

I have continued working with groups in working with the transmutation of water infused with ammonium hydroxide. The work continues to go well. I have learned something in the last few months that I wish to share with you. The results of the work are definitely stronger when we work in collaboration and cooperation with the ancestors and spirits of the land. Please take some time to establish a good connection with the ancestors and spirits of the Land where you live. And if you attempt any long distance healing work for water or land, please take plenty of time to establish a good relationship with the spirits of the place where you are trying to work. The work will only be successful if you work in cooperation with the spirits of the land.

Debra Chesnut in Fairbanks Alaska participated in one of my five-day Medicine for the Earth gatherings in Santa Fe. When she journeyed for a vision for the earth she was told to start a company to test soils for toxic contamination and start clean up using the transmutation method. In her vision she was shown that the main culprits of environmental contamination in Alaska, the military and the oil companies, need to see numbers and be convinced that it is worthwhile financially before they will accept the “transmutation” technique. The real goal is to convince them that it is good financially then “train” them to change themselves. Debra was told that we shouldn’t just go around cleaning up after the military and oil companies without making them responsible in some way because they will have no reason to stop contaminating, in fact, may contaminate more because it can be cleaned up so “easily”.

Debra was given a tremendous amount of Information in her vision including what to call the company, how to work, who to contact, etc. She has already acquired the necessary materials to start soil testing. She has taken this information and has moved forward to make her vision a reality. I am extremely excited with the direction Debra is going.

If anyone reading this has worked with soil and might be able to share some information with Debra you can contact her directly at:

Four Winds
P.O. Box 83486
Fairbanks, Alaska 99708
907455-9067

I will also keep everyone posted on her progress in upcoming transmutation news.

In October I presented at the Bioneers Conference. The annual Bioneers Conference is the pre-eminent gathering of environmental visionaries with practical solutions for our most pressing environmental crises.

At the conference I conducted a 90-minute session on the material in Medicine for the Earth. I led participants on two journeys. One journey was to merge with an element; learning about the elements outside and inside of us by becoming an element. The second journey was to find a method to transmute the energy around problematic emotions, beliefs, and attitudes.

There were between 400-500 participants in attendance during my presentation. The work was received incredibly well. I really believe it is important to add a spiritual component to all the brilliant environmental work going on today. I felt this was a real opportunity for me to begin to infuse the environmental community with some of the spiritual practices to use in combination with other work being done. I look forward to bridging more the Medicine for the Earth work with other environmental work.

Be very observant by watching, listening, and feeling the changes that are happening in nature as the seasons change. Notice changes in the plant and tree life. Notice the changes of all the animals that inhabit, the land where you live. Nature doesn’t just survive, nature thrives. Learn how you can thrive with seasonal changes by observing the natural world around you.

The earth is a living breathing being. How connected do you feel to earth? How are you supporting the earth’s life?

Please join us in creating a planetary human web of light on the full moon which is Nov. 1. As I keep initiating people into the web of light during my trainings it really feels as if the web has become electric. It feels very strong and very healing. Lets keep up the work.

Transmutation News – September 2001

I continue to reflect on my trip to Brazil. In being with Joao De Deus I am now left with the absolute knowledge that all miracles are possible and that it is our own limiting beliefs that blocks us from being able to experience more miracles in our lives.

Joao De Deus, being a full medium, is a vehicle for other spirits to work through his body. In the shamanic work that I practice, teach, and write about the key is working in partnership, collaboration, and cooperation with the spirits. Our own consciousness is still present as we do our spiritual work and healing. In mediumship, as John of God does his work, he has no memory of what happened.

So in looking deeper into the miracle of transmutation of toxic substances using transfiguration, what are some of the key elements that need to be addressed. In chapter 14 of Medicine for the Earth I wrote that one of the keys to embodying our divinity is to look at what is burdening us and blocking us from the absolute state of transfiguration.

In past writings on this web page I have written that anger about the politics around what is happening with the environment can block the ability for the divine to work through us. It is one thing to be a spiritual warrior and stay true to our principles and ethics and state the truth of our beliefs. But if we move into a state of anger and judgement this blocks our ability to keep our hearts open. As the vehicle for the spirits is our hearts any blockage will prevent true spiritual healing from taking place.

Being in an empathic state can also block the spirits from being able to work through us to accomplish the miracles that are possible to create. When we are filled with the pain of others or the attachment to wanting to make things better for others once again our hearts are blocked from being a true vehicle for spiritual energy to come through.

Now I ask that we look at how our egoic desires can also be a block to the creation of miracles. And first I would like to look at the issue of humility, which I mentioned last month.

What keeps us functioning in the world is our ego. In our spiritual work it can block the process of getting in touch with our own divinity as well as bringing spiritual energies through for healing.

When I hear about spiritual pilgrimages that people take to shamans and healers outside the U.S. I typically hear a common theme of what people found so powerful. What I hear is that it was not that any technique was taught, but that a true transformation occurs by being in the presence of a great spiritual healer. And what everyone notes is the power of being with a spiritual person who carries the energy of true humility. We see this all the time in indigenous cultures. But it is rare to find this in modern day teachers and practitioners. When we begin to take credit for the spiritual healing whether it is for a person or the environment I do believe that this blocks the veils between the worlds from truly opening for miracles to occur. And in this culture where the process of individuation has become so important to us it is difficult to stay on the razors edge of the spiritual path of not taking credit for the successes. But it is so key for the results that we wish to happen.

So during this month I ask that as you do your spiritual practices to really examine your motives of what you are trying to attain. Do you want to be of service to the planet and the spirits unconditionally? Are you looking for some personal gain? Do you need personal recognition? Again to walk the razor’s edge of any spiritual path it is important not to judge yourself or others. Just look and be observant to where you are with your own egoic needs. Examine without judgement of where you are and what you might still need to work through.

By doing this work we will also end up forming stronger communities to work with. We weaken the link in our communities when we are not working from a place of true cooperation where we put our own egoic needs aside.

Another issue I would like to bring up this month is honoring our ancestral connections. In most indigenous cultures shamans and healers suffered tremendous religious and political persecution for continuing their work. Today we draw on cultures from all over the world as we bring ancient spiritual practices back into a modern day culture. We emphasize honoring the spirits we work with for all that they have given to us. Do we honor the ancestors for all that they have given us? Do we honor our own biological ancestors for the gifts they have given us so that we might thrive in our lives?

Honoring the ancestors is work that must be done on a continual basis for obvious reasons. But by honoring our spiritual and biological ancestors we also open up the lines of communication so that our ancestor’s ancient wisdom of transmutation can be heard by all of us who opens our hearts and souls to listen.

Please add to your spiritual practice opening up your hearts to the ancestors of this great earth who have given us such wisdom and gifts. Speak to them from your heart. We have so much to be thankful for and so much to learn from those who have gone before us. We must give love and appreciation for that line of knowledge to be honored and for it to continue.

When I reflect on the work we have done with the water so far I can say that through embodying the divine through transfiguration and through working in cooperation with the spirits we have seen some good results. When I think of the amount of environmental pollution in the world today I am humbled by how far we still have to go. The spirits are showing us that we are walking on the right path but we are not there yet.

In America it is staggering of how much of the population does not realize that we have an environmental problem. I find in Europe there is more of a consciousness to the problem, but a feeling of powerless to finding a solution

So we continue to do the work required to do the transmutation work from a true spiritual path of emnbodying divine energies and working in partnership with the spirits, the spirit of the earth and all the elements, and the spirit of all living things. As we continue to examine our motives of doing this work and embrace true humility and the desire to be in service we will continue to unburden ourselves from our egoic desires and the next steps will be shown to us.

And when finally the consciousness of the public at large perceives that there is a problem the foundation will have been laid for the spiritual work to step in and offer viable solutions for healing.

During the month of September we celebrate the fall equinox. Personally this is my favorite season and I look forward to the change in cycle. Find a way to honor the equinox. As we honor the change of seasons we move into harmony with the river of life and learn how to live by going with the current instead of against it.

And please remember to join us in creating a human web of light that continues to shine through our planet on the full moon. The full moon this month will be September 2.