Transmutation News – December 2005

I realized at this minute that I was projecting a tremendous amount of suffering into the world. And I did remember that I had a choice. Now the issue that came up for me became was I moving into a state of denial about the world situation if I started to project light and peace onto the world and did not acknowledge my perception of the suffering.

At the same time this question arose I also realized that spiraling into a dark depression did not help me, the planet, and all of life.

I realized that if I wanted to be of service I needed to choose this new path that was being presented to me. Change my perception and change my reality. I wrote about this principle in Medicine for the Earth. And now I felt like I was experiencing a deeper feeling for this teaching.

Human beings project. That is the nature of being human. We can project darkness and suffering into the world. We can project hate and anger into the world. Or we can make the choice to project love, beauty, light, and peace into the world. I was being asked by the depth of my being to choose the latter and I did.

I am sharing my story with you, as I know many of you feel challenged by the situation in the world today. We can once again remember that the spiritual work we do does make a difference in the world.

The most creative forces in the world use the power of focus and projection. As a spiritual community are we tapping into this great power together? Can we be a greater force in the world by joining together our spiritual energies from a place of love for all of life to focus on changing the projection in the world?

I think we can. Here is something to think about to start your work. Use your imagination. Let’s say that you invited all the people around the world reading this Transmutation News to project a perception onto you of what kind of person you are and what you are experiencing in life. Would you want that projection to be one of a person who is seen as suffering and should be pitied? Or would you like to be seen as a person standing strong in your divine light? Would you like a projection of being a person at peace with life?

What would you like that projection to look like, feel like, sound like, smell like, and taste like?

Millions of people around the world are projecting a tremendous amount onto others through their perception. Let us make a choice to gather our energies together to be conscious and focus a projection onto the world that we would want projected onto ourselves.

I suggest that you spend some time this month thinking about the power of projection. I have met many people who have traveled to indigenous cultures where people live in extreme poverty. But yet when one looks into many of these people’s eyes a joy is seen that is surprising. On one level you can say these poor people they have no homes and food to eat. But yet many of them carry a joy and peace that those who have an abundance of material wealth don’t carry.

Is this a teaching for us that we often project suffering onto others who are not experiencing suffering?

I am not saying that everyone is at peace with his or her life. But we also must look at how we project darkness in the world.

One of the issues I have had people in my workshops journey on during the last few months has been the power of group mind. I have seen in my own visions that when we can let go of our egos and join together in a state of group mind changes can occur very quickly.

Let us use the power of group mind to work together December 21 in honor of the winter solstice and the return of the light.

The first step is for you to do your preparation work this month of really looking at what you would want a group of people projecting onto you. Look at what you are projecting into the world and if you would like to change that projection.

This work involves working spiritually with changing the collective consciousness through the invisible and imaginal realms. It takes a great deal of focus and all the other elements that go into our formula for transmutation and creation.

We have to set a strong intention and come from a place of love. We cannot perceive ourselves as separate from the collective field around us. We must become harmony to project harmony. Focus and concentration along with tapping into our imagination of what is possible are crucial keys to the work.

On the solstice you can work alone or in a group. Do your transfiguration work and get into a place of divinity where you experience a state of oneness with the web of life. With your breath pulse a vibration projecting divinity, light, and peace throughout the entire web of life.

This process involves more than mental imaging. You want to get your whole being involved. As you transfigure become peace and with your whole being project that out. Become light and with your whole being project that from the void deep within, the place before creation and out into the world. Become love, and birth love into the collective field.

Bring your children into this work. Teach them how to project light and peace into the world. This will help them stay in a place where they can carry light and hope into their own lives which will effect their own present and future.

This is a great gift that we can give to the planet right now which raises the frequency and vibration for all of life to step into.

Keep this work as a practice to continue. And use this same principle on the full moon which is December 15 as we continue to weave a web of light within and through the earth. We cannot truly weave a web of light if we cannot project that light into the world.


I am updating my book Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self as it is now being translated in French. I have contacted HarperSan Francisco to see if they would also like to do a new edition with updates in the work. I have not heard back yet.

In writing my updates I went back and read both Soul Retrieval and my second book on life after healing Welcome Home: Following Your Soul’s Journey Home. I was really amazed to find how much information in both of these books I have been sharing in my Medicine for the Earth work and in the Transmutation News.

Some of the messages I had remembered and refer back to these two books in my writing. But some of the material I have completely forgotten that it was already written.

This is a real lesson for me about timing. Some of the material I had previously written about clearly was not integrated into my psyche. Since I wrote the books and have had a chance to live the work the material is emerging from me with new understanding.

Happy solstice and the return of the light! I project out into the world peace, light, and love for all.

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Transmutation News – November 2005

I spent just about a month in Europe doing some teaching and traveling. I had an extraordinary trip. One of the workshops I led was my second meeting of my Two Year Teacher Training in Switzerland. It really makes my heart sing to watch how the teachers I am training are taking the work out into the world in a creative and profound way.

I also did a combination of Medicine for the Earth and Healing with Spiritual Light in Salzburg, Austria. And I am in deep gratitude for the gift of the group that showed up to do this work. They really embraced the work and got the importance of bridging the teachings of Medicine for the Earth into their daily life. I was left with a wonderful feeling, as this was my last workshop that I was teaching for the year.

At the same time I was experiencing the joy of the work going out into the world I was facing some challenges brewing deep inside of me. While I was at my Two Year Teacher Training I discovered that the media was not accurately reporting the truth of the damage created by Hurricane Wilma in Florida. When I found out just how bad things really were I became very concerned about my 91 year old parents who were in the path of the hurricane. For about 24 hours I suffered deeply as I could not find out if they were okay.

I find that when I really hit the depth of deep sadness it puts me into a very open place. As I left Switzerland and went to Austria I watched some CNN. To see the state of the people in Pakistan in tents really hit me when I was in such an open and vulnerable state. On top of all I was seeing on the news I kept hearing stories of abuse about species of animals during my workshops.

I found myself feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world. While I was at my Medicine for the Earth Gathering I was able to stay focused and inspired. The power of the work and the support of the group kept me moving forward and in a very positive state.

I left Austria to meet my husband in Amsterdam. During my airplane flight I found myself moving into a state of deep depression about the state of the world and the behavior of humanity towards each other and all of life.

I found myself facing a deep dark tunnel as the next step on my path. I have not experienced this opening into such a state of darkness since my soul retrieval in the 1980’s where I was cured of depression that had been with me for years.

There did not seem like a choice for me. Entering into this tunnel seemed to be the next step on my path and there did not seem any way around it. I knew the tunnel leading into darkness was very long. I also knew from my past that I would make it through. And I also knew that the only way out was through.

As I felt myself getting ready to move forward into this darkness I heard a voice from deep inside of me say that there is another choice, another way, another path.

I said to this voice tell me more. The voice inside of me said remember that your external world is all a projection. What are you projecting onto all of life?

There is a lot going on the planet right now. Our outer environment is mirroring back to us our lack of inner balance.

Of course there are outer changes we need to look at that bring our environment back into harmony. But for now keeping with the Medicine for the Earth principles I am going to direct you into your inner environment.

We have been so outer directed. Many on a spiritual path have also been directed into the outer spiritual realms. Evolution of consciousness as well as the times we live in requires that we reverse directions and explore the inner realms.

We need to find a state of inner stillness, balance, and peace. As a great spiritual master taught a couple of thousand years ago – the key to the kingdom lies within.

It is crucial right now that we take this teaching to heart. Those of you reading the Transmutation News are attracted to the Medicine for the Earth teachings for it does speak to a programming that lies within you. And it is now time for you to focus your intention on traveling within and allowing your own inner wisdom, knowing, and light to guide you through making the appropriate changes within that bring balance back to your own life and to the world.

Remember that every change in consciousness you make ripples through the entire web of life. And as each of you is willing to shift your consciousness to a place of inner light and balance there will be an effect in our physical world. Every small change in consciousness that you make does have an exponential effect on the world. This means that the spiritual practices that you are willing to commit to is a place that you have power to create change.

When I teach workshops on shamanism I often bring in some transfiguration work. Every time we do any transfiguration work in a group a deep stillness and quiet is created. No matter how many people are in the group, no matter what has been stirred up by the shamanic healing we have performed, and no matter how much social energy has been created from the community everything becomes so peaceful and still after one transfiguration journey.

As you really commit to a practice of transfiguration you do end up creating balance in the web of life which does create change in our environment.

But you must find ways to become more inner directed and find the spiritual light which lies within and continue to learn to be in that place throughout the day. This takes a lot of discipline and practice as traveling within is not what most of us are used to.

You might want to do some experimentation with other ways besides transfiguration to find your inner stillness, balance, light, and peace.

For those of you who can maintain this state through silent meditation please continue to do your inner work.

For those of you who find that you need more active meditation experiment a bit. What activities bring you to a place of stillness? Here are a few things to try while maintaining your focus on traveling within to your inner light and stillness:

Drawing or painting
Crocheting, sewing, knitting
Dancing
Walking
Cleaning
Taking a shower or taking a bath
Cooking
Baking

Do these activities with the intention of getting to a place of stillness which allows your own spiritual knowing, wisdom, and intuition to come through.

Do these activities with the intention of creating peace and allowing your spiritual light to shine through you.

Learn to hold a state of peace throughout the day no matter what is going on in the outer world. From a spiritual perspective this is important work to do to create balance and harmony in the world.

Keep holding the preciousness of this great earth and the spirit that lives in all things in your heart. Keep being in great love and appreciation for your life.


I have written throughout the last few years about the creation process and working in the void. Using what I have just written make sure you are traveling into your inner void to do your creation work. The void is the place right before creation and is the place that seems empty yet so full. It is where all life is created.

Travel within to the void or if you wish to your own spiritual light. Begin to see, feel, hear, taste, smell the world you want to live in being birthed from within you. Have passion for the world you are creating. And experience it as if your creation has fully manifested right now.

This practice is keeping with the spiritual teachings that the creator or the creative forces of the universe are within. As I have written over the last few months we are living in a time of paradox. On one level we must surrender to the coming changes of evolution. On another level we must keep doing our creation work as we are dreaming the world we live in into being with every thought, every breath, and every step we take in the world.

To experience the world being birthed through you is an evolution of the creation work. Try it and see what comes up for you.


Try keeping a mantra and decree going throughout the day of:

The light of __________(God, the goddess, the creator, the creative forces of the universe, source, the power of the universe – find the phrase that works for you) surrounds me.

The light of ___________is within me.

The light of ___________shines through me.

I am radiance.

We need to find a bridge to walk across to move from a state of fear, divisiveness, and anger to a state of embodying love, light, and joy. This is easier said then done.

Keep working with the transmutation work of transforming the energy behind your thoughts, attitudes, and emotions to a state of love and light.

And tap into your own inner guidance for other ways to work.


Make a choice to be one of the weavers of the web of life that creates harmony, peace, and balance in the world. This is work that is done underground to go with the brilliant work that many are doing in the outer world to create change. I know deep inside you know how important this inner work is, so commit to a practice of inner journeying now.

The full moon is November 15. Join in with all of us around the world who continue to weave a beautiful web of light around and through the world that creates balance and harmony in all of life.

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Transmutation News – October 2005

 I have no doubt that humankind is here to caretake this great earth. Unfortunately we do not know how to caretake each other, the earth, or ourselves. We have been and are right now experiencing the consequences of this.

We live in a world out of balance and the environment is mirroring back to us how out of balance we are. We are experiencing environmental changes at an exponential rate. In December there was the devastating tsunami in Southeast Asia.  As I was away during this time I did not get a chance to write about it until the February Transmutation News. In February I wrote about spiritual practices for us to work with during times of disaster where there is a pain and suffering for all of life.

 Once again I wrote the September Transmutation News before hurricane Katrina had devastating effects on all of life in the U.S. And the same spiritual practices apply. There were also the biggest floods in recorded history in Europe and fires in Portugal.

  You might look at the Transmutation News February 2005 for a summary of spiritual practices during challenging times.

 It is so important not to blame the elements for our troubles. Earth, air, water, and fire are reflecting back to us our own inner state of consciousness as well as our actions toward the earth.

 It has been known that by humankind making a conscious decision to destroy the wetlands in New Orleans that problems could occur with a hurricane. But yet the thinking and actions in destroying wetlands was very short sighted. Some of the destruction that occurred in Thailand was also from humans destroying the wetlands.

 We have made very shortsighted decisions based on the belief that we are disconnected from nature. We have made choices to change landscapes in a way that don’t serve the viewpoint that future generations will be still living on the earth.

 We need to look at how we can caretake the earth so that we are not just destroying and taking what we want for the present time. And this is not news for any of you.

 I still believe that one of the keys is what I wrote about in the Transmutation News in September. We must journey within to find our internal strength and wisdom that can and will guide us in the coming times.

 After seeing the pictures of New Orleans, Mississippi, and Alabama I decided to take some time to close my eyes and be in silence. I found myself connecting with the web of light that we have been weaving for the last few years. There are other spiritual groups that have also been working with weaving a web of light throughout the planet.

 In a vision I witnessed thousands of people around the world from all spiritual traditions as sparks of light weaving this great web. And I observed that as the outer world is being destroyed a bridge is being built for inner consciousness to grow.

 We can choose an inner road without so much destruction. It is a choice we all have to make right now.

 Caretaking and being taken care of is an equal relationship. When giving and receiving are in balance there is harmony.

 So where do we start? A good place to begin is to throughout each day take time to be grateful for the land you live on, the food you eat, the water you drink and have to wash in, and the energy which comes from the sun. When we are grateful we begin to move into a state of cooperation which is key to healing the environment we live in.

 As you go out into your daily life – the market, the bank, etc. make comments to others about what you are grateful for. For example at the check out counter you might say to someone “Aren’t we lucky to live in such a beautiful place?”

 Plant “gratefulness seeds” everywhere you go with the knowing this will stimulate a place of appreciation in others. This is powerful earth medicine and is something we all can do.

 For years I have been telling people to watch the signs of what is to come. And the signs have showed us what is coming to pass now. Many have just not been paying attention. But the signs have all been pointing to the environmental challenges we are now facing.

 We are living in a time of many paradoxes. On one level we are part of an evolving organism and need to learn how to surrender to some of the changes ahead. On another level we are creative beings who also have the opportunity to create changes. Living with this dance can be quite challenging.

 The future is created from the present. Be an inspiration to others and spread the power of appreciation. As people drop into the energy and power of appreciation their behavior changes. By just this one simple act we can change the course of what’s to come.

 And please continue to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste a world filled with love, respect for the environment and all of life, harmony, and peace. This is important work. We are dreaming the world into being with each thought.

Recently a student of mine shared an inspiring story. She had this experience years ago and now wishes she had more information. But you will get the point and also be inspired by it.

She was standing on line in a Ladies Room. As the lines can be very long in the United States one can have a long time for conversations.

The woman she was standing next to was from Cambodia and they struck up a conversation. The woman said that she came from a prominent family in Cambodia. During a change in administration her father was assassinated. After her father’s death her family went into hiding for they were all also in danger.

They had come from affluence and now they had no money, no place to go, and nothing to eat. They were really hungry and they came upon some very dirty rice in a place that no rice should have been. They did not see dirty rice, they only saw food and they ate it. And no one became ill.

They were also very thirsty and they had no water to drink. They came upon a river where there were dead bodies floating in it. They were very thirsty so they did not see dead bodies. They only saw water and as they were thirsty they drank the water from the river. As they only saw water no one became ill in any way from drinking what we would call polluted water.

She talked about this not from a place of please pity me or from a place of bitterness. She spoke from a true place of gratitude that when her family was in need of food and water they found it and were nourished by it.

Then the woman left leaving my student in a deep place of wonder. She then took a Healing with Spiritual Light workshop with me. And in the workshop I teach people to perceive pure light as we drink and bathe in water, as we take in our food, as we breathe air, and as we absorb the energy from the sun. If you believe you are eating, drinking, and breathing in toxic substances you are. And if you perceive everything you take in as light from a source of abundance and love then you are being nourished by what you absorb into your body.

This family in hiding in Cambodia learned this out of pure need of survival. And they did it and are an inspiration for us all.

This month make sure you practice absorbing light from the abundance of all we have been given for our nurturance on all levels.

You might need to write a note somewhere to remind you:

Absorb the light from the food I eat, the water I drink, the air I breathe, and from the rays of the sun.

Add this to your practice of transfiguration experiencing the light within. You might write the phrase “I am radiance” and leave it in places where you will see it often.

If you combine these practices with intention, concentration, and focus you should feel a major difference in your emotional, physical, and spiritual sense of well being.

When you live these practices you not only heal yourself but you become a guiding light for those who have lost their way.

The full moon is Oct. 17. Let us continue to truly focus and concentrate on transfiguring into our true nature, which is spiritual light. And in that state let’s together join together to weave a web of light within and through the earth.

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Transmutation News – September 2005

We live in a time of transition. As a world culture we have lost our sense of connection to one source. We are not connecting our hearts beat with the heartbeat of the earth. And we have forgotten that there is one web of life in which we are all connected.

I don’t have to explain to anyone reading The Transmutation News the effect that this is having on all of life. And so we are in changing times. But right now as a collective we are in a trance. And we continue to be kept in the trance by the distractions of the outer world.

There will continue to be great suffering on the planet as life as we know it is so out of harmony and balance. The wake up call keeps getting louder and louder. And unfortunately for many the wake up call comes with a great deal of pain and loss.

For some of us doing the work this can be a frustrating time. For we are beginning to wake up and see the error of the way life is being led and how we have become lost in a trance. It is like we are waking up from a bad dream.

So how do we take care of ourselves during this time of transition? And what is needed from us to be in service during this transition? I shared some spiritual practices in the August Transmutation News to continue to work with.

But I think we have to take a deep look at how we are staying so busy by buying into the collective trance of “busyness”. People are so overwhelmed right now while time is speeding up. Why are so many spiritual seekers still choosing to stay busy and lost in the collective trance of overwhelm?

So many spiritual teachers and organizations are feeding into the trance by saying just read this book or take this workshop and your life will be changed forever. We continue to allow ourselves to be charmed by the spiritual supermarket.

As I continue to say over and over again you can be inspired to go within and do your inner work by reading some books, listening to CDs, and taking some workshops. But to spend all of your time reading or taking workshops is just one more distraction. For the truth and all the answers lie within. As long as you keep looking without you will not be doing “The Great Work” that the alchemists talk about.

Busying ourselves does not change the world. Breaking out of the collective trance and doing the deeper inner work does. As I have written before I had received a strong message during a dream back in the 1980’s that humankind has been looking for God outside for two thousand years and that humankind will look for God within for the next two thousand years.

When do you make the choice to take the inner journey within? We all have the knowledge within to heal ourselves and the world around us. But are we distracting ourselves from our deep inner wisdom and knowing by the journey without into the outer world?

To choose the path into the inner worlds takes a strong intention and making a very clear choice. You can choose now to stop the distractions and go within. You will find true wealth, joy, and peace as you do so.

As the world chooses to get lost in the outer there is great hurt in that journey. Stop looking to the outer skies. Choose to journey to the deep still waters down below where we will birth a new time.

I recently received a long account about Reinee Psarow who had a near death experience. She was 16 years old when she had an allergic reaction and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. The account I was received was from a talk in Reno, Nevado in 1989. So this dates back a bit. She was shown some very interesting things about earth and humanity.

I thought that I would just copy here a few paragraphs that I feel are relevant to our work. You can read her full account at http://www.near-death.com/forum/nde/000/64.html

As Reinee went deeper into her death experience she says:

“The earth was alive and the earth was singing. It was singing a single song and in that song everyone had a voice. Every human being had a very important note to add to this precious song of the earth. It was a song of love and every living being had something to add to the song of the earth. Every one of these essences was very much connected. I was seeing it not like we see normally. I was seeing it both from a macroscopic (from the point of view of the spaceship) and from a microscopic vantage point. It was microscopic in that I could see that an amoeba in the ocean was connected to the song of the heart of all humanity and that this world was responding to the song in our hearts in a miraculous, unified, and beautiful way. I too began to sing. I was so overcome with joy. It wasn’t a song obviously with the mouth. I had no mouth. I had no body. I simply was. I became a part of that song and very full of joy that I could have something to contribute to this sacred beauty of our earth and of all people.”

She goes on later in her talk to say:

“Reinee described a number of things that she was shown, such as a group of individuals on the earth that she referred to as “the just” who were working towards the unity of mankind instead of focusing on the divisions like many countries and religions do. She described seeing groups of individuals that she ‘knew as her own parents’ who were living and working in other non-physical worlds.

She then described an encounter with a ‘Being of Light’ who showed her various elements of her past past life and reviewed them with her. She talked in general terms about how little acts of kindness were far and away more important than the activities we usually give so much value to in normal life. She described how the most positive thing she did was to give special attention to a not so lovable boy at a summer camp so that he would know he was loved. During the review, she saw this act of kindness was more important from her viewpoint of expanded awareness than if she had been president of the United States or the queen of England.”

I hope that this month you will try to find some time alone in deep silence to experience the song of life Reinee talks about and connect with it.

Reinee speaks about what other people who have near death experiences share. And I find her words inspiring and a great reminder of how we can make a difference in the world.

Over the last couple of years I have facilitated in two different workshop settings long distance transfiguration work with a plant that belonged to Mark Dammer in Findhorn, Scotland. I have written about the results we have received.

In the spring I was teaching the Medicine for the Earth work in Findhorn. Mark was present at the workshop and he brought in a plant that he hooked up to a device that could measure the plants activity. The plant was present during our transfiguration ceremony.

Please visit Mark’s website to get an explanation of what we did and the results. His website is http://www.mdammer.net/secretlife/010605/

The Fall equinox is September 23. The trees and plants around us drop what is no longer needed on the outside to support the time within during winter. What external distractions do you need to drop to make the journey within during the dark rich time of winter?

To journey within and stay focused on your spiritual work is how you can be of service to the planet right now. You must disconnect from the pain and suffering that comes from being disconnected from source. You must find your own inner light. And you can focus your prayers that others do the same.

What commitment are you willing to give the earth this equinox that includes doing deep inner spiritual work that will increase your ability to be in service to the planet?

The full moon is Sept. 17. Let’s journey deep within and transfigure into light and love and weave that light and love deep within and throughout the earth. Focus on creating a web that connects and supports all the lightworkers on earth right now.

Happy Autumn!!

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Transmutation News – August 2005

There have been a series of planned terrorist attacks in London since our last Transmutation News. And I know our prayers and thoughts have been with all who were hurt and impacted by the attacks. I also know there are daily terrorist attacks on many people around the world that don’t make the news. For example to read what is happening in the Sudan is heart breaking.

As long as we see ourselves as separate from each other we forget that what we do to each other we do to ourselves. And as long as there is so much inequality there will be separation and hate. As long as there is fundamentalism around the world there will be separate camps and religious wars.

And as long as we do not honor our connection with nature the elements will keep coming through as hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, and earthquakes to remind us how out of balance we are.

So what can we do? We can continue our spiritual work. We can find peace within. We can go inside and get very still. We keep praying and connecting to the web of life and doing our work to experience harmony within no matter what is going on around us.

This is not an easy task. And I will summarize some of the work that will be helpful to each of us as well as the planet later on. I would like to address a few other issues first.

A few years ago I had begun visioning leading some teacher trainings both in Medicine for the Earth and in Shamanic Journeying and Healing Methods. In a dream I had been given the word “alliance”. I saw myself setting up an alliance of teachers who would work in cooperation and without a hierarchical structure.

I really feel as if this vision is coming to fruition. There are many Medicine for the Earth teachers doing their work in the world. I have four on-going teacher trainings in shamanism two in Santa Fe, one in New York, and one in Europe.

It has been really great for me to watch how the teachers are communicating and problem solving with each other, as well as networking together. I am not involved as an authority figure, but rather when an issue comes up in a workshop they consult with each other. To read about the solutions being shared with each other gives me great hope.

For it is truly time for us to work in the spirit of cooperation and as a community.

A couple of years ago I also became involved in The Society for Shamanic Practitioners. This society has a board of very brilliant teachers. In the last conference that was held in Asilomar in June it was clear that the members want more input so that they can work together as a community instead of looking to the board. In this way they want to network together and problem-solve together what is happening in their own shamanic healing practices. (For information on the SSP please visit www.shamansociety.org)

I feel as a spiritual community we are leading the way in making a great shift into the phrase I have been using for years: “A community of people have gathered together to change the world.” It is a very exciting time and much needed. For it is time for each and every one of us to step into our power and share our brilliance. There are no more leaders for us to turn to. The time for one hero or heroine to create change is truly over. As we work together in coherence sharing our gifts in symphony we will be rewarded with rebuilding a new way of life that supports all life on earth.

And at the same time I also feel we have to go deeper to really bring forth what is possible and to dream a new dream.

I have received a lot of feedback about what I wrote in my June Transmutation News about my wonderings about shamanic healing, psychotherapy, and trauma.

The shamanic community was very grateful for what I shared as those who are really out there doing the work feel the same. On the other hand I certainly ruffled some feathers from the therapeutic community. So I thought I would stir the pot a bit more. I always think it is good to stir the pot.

I do not want to invalidate the wonderful healing work that practitioners are doing. I am just asking practitioners to keep looking at how to take their work deeper.

I have been watching the soul of shamanism becoming lost as it is being integrated into so many other systems. The power of the healing work is becoming diluted. Even what the practice of shamanism is has changed to meet how people are marketing themselves. The word shamanism is put onto systems that are not shamanic in nature.

We can and are integrating shamanism into other systems. We just don’t want to lose the balance.

Part of the healing is becoming diluted because clients are wanting a quick fix and don’t know how to find the power within to take the healing to a deeper place. This is the life after healing work I keep writing about in my books and teaching about in my training workshops.

But on another level many shamanic practitioners have stopped doing their personal work. Years ago I read an article of different interviews of shamanic practitioners. Some practitioners who performed soul retrievals admitted to not having a personal shamanic practice and only using shamanic methods professionally. This of course is an extreme of what I am saying. I hope there are not many practitioners out there who are working in the same way.

I have really been searching deep about how we have blended shamanic practices in our modern day culture. Part of being on a shamanic path was the sacrifice and the initiations which carved away at the ego so that the shaman really could be “the hollow bone” and bring through the power of the universe.

I know some teach that when the shaman suffers the spirits take pity and offer help. I don’t work in this same way. I believe that all the spirits are here right now waiting for a vessel to work through.

But I do believe that we as “the vessels” have become clogged. Practitioners often don’t take the time to be in solitude and in nature where the deepest shamanic work occurs. There is not much fasting and praying going on in the modern shamanic community. There isn’t the carving away at the ego and being sculpted into a vessel that can really bring through the spirits.

I am writing this three days into a fast. Fasting is part of my spiritual practice. And there is definitely a difference in how the veils between the worlds open through fasting.

A lot of practitioners have gotten caught up in methodology instead of working with the spirits in a unique fashion. The spirits have so much healing to bring and we often don’t let them as we force them to work within our methods and framework.

I have never watched two indigenous shamans work in the same way. But today I watch hundreds of people work with a ritual or method learned from someone else without the deep connection to the unique gifts of the spirits.

When I teach soul retrieval I tell my groups that the best practitioners will be the ones who burn all their notes at the end of the training and find their own way.

A shaman is a person who performs ceremonies. Shamanic journeying is also a ceremony. And this part of the work is being lost. And some of the healing ceremonies lasted hours or maybe days not just for a few minutes. Oftentimes the whole community was present as it was understood that the health and well being of each individual affects the entire community.

As practitioners have huge expenses in the modern day world to survive more and more ceremony is being left out of the work. Often too many clients have to be seen to pay the rent.

Shamans are famous for telling healing stories. They have always known the words and the stories needed to be told to stimulate the imagination of clients for healing to happen.

This is definitely being lost which I can say from the hundreds of people who have not had good experiences working with shamanic practitioners who did not understand the power of words and stories. Words are like seeds. Every time you say a word to another human being you plant a seed which will grow into a plant.

It is important to understand the difference between inspiring a client to heal and keeping him or her stuck. And so many shamanic practitioners do not know the difference. And I find this the saddest part of all.

Every workshop I teach no matter how basic it is in a skill level I talk about the power of word. And also that the spirits communicate in metaphor and poetry. And we all know what happened to the world when the bible was translated literally. Now shamanic practitioners are often making the same error.

A lot of people who come to shamanic workshops are only looking for simple spiritual practices to bring into their own personal life. And that is fine. The people who are drawn because they want to become shamanic practitioners and heal others need to do a lot more personal work than is possible in a classroom. No classroom setting can replace the deep initiation experiences needed to sculpt the practitioner into a powerful healer.

You cannot certify a shamanic practitioner because he or she has taken a course or has taken a class over the internet. Doctors used to be gifted healers and were called to their healing work by a deep calling within. The whole medical profession has changed today. And I see the same thing beginning to happen with shamanic healing.

Shamans are people who see with their hearts not their minds. And the point I was trying to make in June is that too much shamanic work is going on that keeps both the practitioner and the client in his or her mind.

The body knows how to heal. When we can move our energy from our head into our bodies healing takes place. And this has been shown with many different forms of therapy and healing.

Bringing back true ceremonies, working with metaphorical stories, and working with movement is classic shamanism. And I hope the great power of classic shamanism doesn’t get completely lost.

Please do not become complacent with your shamanic work. Please open yourself up to truly be in service. The planet needs people doing “the real work” right now. All life depends on it.

I have been talking to some other shamanic teachers and practitioners about what I just wrote. Most of the ones I have talked to have also been feeling themselves being in a questioning period about their work. And they have all come to similar conclusions. So something is definitely happening in the collective as the energies moving us are requiring us to go to a deeper place.

How do we integrate shamanic practices in a modern day culture without diluting the work so much that we lose the unlimited possibilities of how the work can truly heal others?

We have only begun to explore what can happen as we keep opening new veils between the worlds. If you stop working you get stuck in only one level. I have been shown a deeper level or clairvoyance, clairaudience, and clairsentience that is possible as we keep lifting more veils. And we need to do more than shamanic journeying to get there.

I know many of you reading this website are not shamanic practitioners. But if you are I would like to suggest something to try this month. Take at least one day out of your life to begin to wake up from the ordinary reality trance. Go out into nature, fast for a day, be in silence. Give prayers to the spirits and state that you are opening up to how you can best be in service to the spirits and mother earth. Watch the omens that appear in nature in response to your prayers.

Notice the difference in your state of being when you disconnect from your ordinary reality life. As you do a vision quest in your own way, even if it is short, you begin to slowly remember the path of the shaman. This is just beginning. I do believe to be in true service right now we need to do more praying, more fasting, being out in nature, being in silence, more visioning, and adding more deep ceremonies to our work.

Let’s get back to reviewing some of the spiritual work that will help the planet and all life. As you continue to do your spiritual practices especially transfiguration let’s again focus on concentration. As we share our brilliance in the world it is so important to concentrate and focus on the journey within ourselves to find the abundance of light that feeds us on all levels.

It is very easy to get distracted from our inward journey. The world around us becomes a distraction and the continual looking outside of ourselves for light and solutions is a great distraction.

This month let’s focus our intention on doing our transfiguration practice on journeying very deep within ourselves and experiencing source, divinity, light within. The deeper you can go within yourselves the deeper changes you will experience in yourself and in the world around you.

Notice what keeps you distracted from really going within to do your work. Make a choice to work the muscle needed to journey within. Notice the peace you feel when you truly do your work.

I know how hard it is to keep up spiritual practices. We have been conditioned throughout our lives to live in a particular way. We often make priorities for ourselves that don’t always promote a healthy life style. We are on automatic drive.

We have on some level made a concession to live a life where we survive but we do not thrive. And we often feel we don’t have the time or energy to change this although inside we would love to thrive.

I thought I would write just some simple things to integrate into your day. None of what I am suggesting here takes extra time. It just creates shifts in our awareness as you continue to do what you do.

Remember to breathe. As you engage in conversations with people, as you are at work, as you watch TV, as you do tasks around the house breathe through your heart. Think of an image or feeling of something that is precious to you and place it there. And keep breathing through your heart.

Notice if your energy starts to shift. Notice if this helps you move out of a mental state of consciousness and connects you to your body. This will naturally create healing for you.

As you have a negative thought or feeling ask that the energy behind this thought or feeling be transformed to love and light. Whenever a problematic thought or emotion arises ask yourself the question to where and to whom am I sending this energy? This takes constant awareness to observe where we are sending toxic energy. And it takes just seconds to say I need to feel what I am feeling right now. Please just take the energy and transmute it to love and light. In this way love and light is raining back down on you and on the earth.

Observe the words you use throughout the day. What vibration are you sending into the universe that will manifest on earth? There is psychic warfare going on today just as there are physical wars going on. We must be diligent about the energy we are sending to others and the planet through our thought forms and words.

When you eat remember you are eating light and love. When you drink water you are drinking pure light and love. As you breathe you are breathing light and love. The sun is filling you with healing light and love.

If you do just this one practice it is amazing the difference you will feel. Put a note somewhere that will remind you to do this.

Throughout the day take a minute to see, feel, hear, taste, and smell a healthy life as if it is here now. See yourself living this life, feel what it would feel like in your body to be living a healthy and joyous life, what would the sounds around you be? Let yourself hear people acknowledging you for the incredible changes you have made and the life you now have. Smell the air in the room you are in. Taste the food you would be eating. And experience all of this as fully as you can as it is already here now.

If you only see it as something you want in the future you will keep it from being created now.

And have love for what you want. Passion and love for your creation acts as fuel to make it happen.

You can do this throughout the day. You could do it for one minute when you wake up. Or you can do this if you are waiting on line at the bank or gas station. A potent time to do this is right before you drift off to sleep.

Write down on a piece of paper right now the word radiance. Or I suggest writing down on a piece of paper I am radiance. Put this paper in a place where you will see it throughout the day.

If there is another word you prefer write down that word.

And remember before you go to sleep at night ask for a healing dream. Just hold the intention before you drift off to sleep.

Throughout the day for just one minute close your eyes and see your light shining through your cells and body. You are more than a body, a mind, and your past experiences. You are spiritual light. Take a couple of deep breaths and let that light shine through you. It will heal you as well as those around you.

If you can just do one of the above exercises each day you will notice a significant shift. And they do not take time to do. As you notice your energy and health changing you will be inspired to add a bit more into your daily practice.

Try the different practices once and see which ones are the easiest to integrate into your daily life.

Set an intention for your life. Intention creates action.

And remember just as there are weather patterns in life you will have similar weather blowing through your life. There are days when the sun is up and you feel great. There are times life seems cloudy. And there are also those stormy times. Weather is just weather and it always passes. But also remember just because you are having a bad day doesn’t mean you have to send psychic daggers to others.

Allow yourself to experience whatever your present states are and know that this too shall pass.

If you are looking for a great read I highly suggest Flight of the Goose by Lesley Thomas.  It is an amazing story and I am recommending it to every one I meet. I loved this book!!

 Lesley grew up in rural communities in the Alaskan Arctic, on a fishing boat in Southeast Alaska, and on a small farm on the Puget Sound prior to its development.  Her families of birth and intermarriage are from different cultures. And her interest in shamanism and birds began early. She has also studied arctic ecology.

 Flight of the Goose is an amazing novel combining a love story, with some deep teachings about shamanism in the arctic, the complexities of life of a small village, and deep ecology.

 It is very rich. It was one of those books I simply could not put down. And Lesley Thomas is a brilliant writer. I cannot say enough about this book.

 Flight of the Goose written by Lesley Thomas is published by Far Eastern Press in Seattle, Washington. As it is a small press I thought I would give you the ISBN number to make it easier to order: 0-9678842-1-7. You can order this book through your local bookstore, Amazon, or through Far Eastern Press at fareasternpress.com.

The full moon is August 19. Let’s gather our energies together to continue to weave a web of light within and throughout the earth touching the spirit of every living being and connecting us all.

Let us add to our full moon ceremony. On the full moon fill up a bowl with water. It can be water from your house or from an outside source.

Do a transfiguration ceremony filling your room with light and love. This light and love will of course fill the water. The water will reflect back to you your divine state of consciousness.

Leave this water outside allowing the light of the full moon to infuse it. Then on the following day bring it to a natural source of water where you live. Allow the light and love to fill the waters of the world. This will create healing in our web of light and in the web of life.

Remember if you celebrate life, life will celebrate you. To do this you must find peace within.

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Transmutation News – July 2005

My journeys and meditations have continued on the theme of the May and June Transmutation News. So let’s continue with the understanding that we are part of an organism and not separate fingers or body parts having an independent life.

Think about how all the organs and parts of the body are fed by the nutrients flowing throughout the body. If a part of the body does not take in and absorb the nutrients it becomes ill.

I was told in my meditations that it is so important for us to settle into our place as part of the organism to receive the nutrients of the organism of which we are part of.

We chose as divine and spiritual beings of light to come and be part of a physical organism during this life. As divine spiritual beings we are also part of a divine spiritual organism.

There are many ways that we have created separation from the whole web we are part of. Just one way is how we have separated ourselves from nature. Animals and other life forms live on the earth and are part of nature throughout the day. We have built houses with artificial materials which cut us off from the elements. We often eat artificial food and our food usually comes “packaged”.

During this month focus on settling in and receive true spiritual and physical nurturance from the organism we are all part of. Allow yourself to receive abundantly from the earth, air, water, and the sun. Reconnect with the natural forces which are feeding us and giving us life.

In the past as I have spoken about the practice of transfiguration I have said it is a way to reestablish coherence in our bodies. In a state of coherence our cells are communicating with each other in perfect symphony allowing cellular repair to occur. When that communication breaks down illness occurs.

As we allow ourselves to reconnect with the organism we are part of and evolve with it and receive and absorb nurturance from it we reestablish coherence for the organism. Healing and evolution can occur in a harmonious fashion.

As part of earth we are like the trees and plants growing through the sun. We each grow into our own uniqueness and beauty as we continue to grow towards the sun.

As humans our life cycle is longer than some of the other species here. We have more time to grow, evolve, and to keep flowering. That is where our continued creation work comes in as we keep evolving into our beauty and shining our light in the world.

Part of experience here is to learn about surrender and part is to learn about how to develop our growth and evolution. If you watch the growth of plants there is a great deal of concentration needed to burst through the seed and manifest form onto the earth.

Years ago I journeyed back thousands of years and asked to meet the ancient ancestors who were responsible for creating such things as the pyramids. Scientists really cannot adequately explain how such structures were built.

When I met with the ancestors I got a very short answer which was the people of your time don’t have a clue what the word concentration means.

Growth and creation do take concentration. We have to surrender to some of the conditions we are given in which our growth occurs. But we are responsible for how we create our lives given certain events and conditions.

I have been writing quite a bit about concentration. It is so key and it is an element we are so lacking in our busy lives. Here is a short exercise for you to try this month.

Take some simple task that you perform in your life or at work. It could be watering plants, or preparing a meal, or writing a short report at work. Give it your full concentration. You can even try singing a song with complete concentration. Notice the difference in the energy that you feel in your body as you do this. Notice the difference of the energy surrounding the task you completed. This will give you an idea of how you can change the world around you if you learned how to concentrate and focus more in living your life and performing your spiritual work.

In workshops where concentration is needed to perform spiritual practices it is common for participants to complain that they are distracted by their mind chatter. We have allowed ourselves to get distracted so easily as we have not learned how to train our minds. Our minds are like a muscle that needs to be trained. If you can start with simple exercises more and more you will learn the power of concentration and focus.

This has also been part of our transmutation of negative thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs practice that we have been doing for years. The more you learn how to stop your reactions and learn how to work with the energy coming up the more you train your mind how to focus on a positive way of being. This impacts your own life in a positive way as well as the entire web of life. For every change in consciousness you make affects the entire web of life.

The full moon is July 21. Let’s continue to weave a light filled web within and around the earth. Let’s do this with concentration and focus and with a strong intention of what we want to create in the world. Let’s open our hearts to all of life as we do this with love. Do this from a place of transfiguring into source and a state of oneness in union and harmony with all. And let our imagination dream the world we want to live in into being.

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Transmutation News – June 2005

I have the great opportunity to mentor teachers and practitioners of spiritual healing. There is the wonder and awe of the power of sharing teachings and spiritual healing. And of course all the shadow stuff of jealousy and competition comes up. Our work together on the planet is to work through these shadow states of consciousness so that we can embrace the consciousness of love.

I wrote a bit last month about how many of us need to install an update into our DNA code to move out of competition to a place of working as an alliance.

I was journeying/meditating on this issue some more. I met up with Lao-tzu. I was thrilled to have such an amazing teacher talk to me about this issue. His advice was that when one walks down the middle path there is peace and freedom. The energy from other people including jealousy will pull you off of the middle path. This will pull you away from freedom.

He encouraged me to keep cutting the energetic ties with others who pull me off my path. He also encouraged me to keep walking on the path toward the light, peace, and freedom. He encouraged me to teach this way to others.

The work of transmuting the problematic energies we experience as egoic beings is our greatest work. And we have been working on doing this for years. As you continue to do this work visualize, feel, hear, smell, and taste yourself walking on the middle path towards freedom. As you find yourself being pulled off the path by others cut the energetic ties binding you. As you experience being pulled off the path by thinking about the past or future experience yourself shifting your focus to the present.

It is clear to me that the middle path that Lao-tzu is talking about is the path of being in the present moment.

Years ago I wrote that life forms that live on the earth seek out light. Plants compete for light. Humans compete for resources and love which I think are misperceived as light. When we seek to buy objects on an unconscious level we think we are buying light.

Light gives life and light provides the energy for life forms to live.

When we find the light within us all the light that is needed and desired is available to us. We will no longer have to compete for that which we believe is outside of us.

Keep up your practice of absorbing light from the sun, the air you breathe, the water you drink and bathe in, and the food you eat. Keep doing the inner work of transfiguring into light and allow your cells to absorb the light from within nurturing you on every level.

As the earth absorbs light, water, and nutrients it bursts forth with an amazing amount of abundance that creates nutrition for all of life.

The earth gives and gives. There is only abundance. It is like chi. There is no such thing as limited chi in the universe. There is no such thing as limited abundance in the earth. It is the collective energy of fear that creates scarcity.

To receive the gifts of the earth and give back gratefulness and appreciation keeps the cycle going.

Mabel Mckay, who was a Pomo elder, wrote that the trees gave people food and that was one thing that kept the trees going. I believe it is important to get the physical, emotional, and spiritual food from trees and plants and give back to them with love. This keeps the abundance flowing.

Both the summer solstice and the full moon are June 21. Create an appreciation ceremony in nature that others can come to where as a community love and appreciation are given for all that we receive so that we might thrive.

Be flexible about how you perform the ceremony so that you might include others who are not initiated into spiritual work. We can all go outside and be in appreciation for the abundance that we receive from the earth.

And as you do your ceremony of appreciation for the abundance that you are receiving from the earth as well as the sun, the water, and air the energy you share will be magnified by the full moon.

Incorporate weaving a web of light within and around the earth into your ceremony. Again bringing in as many community members as you can. The light within and around the earth connects us all.

Many of you who read The Transmutation News are also students of classic shamanic healing. I recently attended a psychology conference where one of the speaker’s presentations inspired me to share some of my thoughts about performing soul retrievals today.

The presenter’s name is Dr. Bessel Van der Kolk. He is a trauma specialist and is the author of more than a hundred papers on trauma. He directs the Trauma Center in Boston, possibly the largest trauma specialty center in the U.S. He has also written some books on trauma.

He shared with us some research that he was a part of where brain scans were performed on patients who suffered trauma.

What was found is that during a trauma it is the limbic part of the brain that is affected by trauma. During a trauma the right posterior part of the brain lights up. This part of the brain doesn’t have language.

The left anterior part of the brain literally shuts off during trauma. This is the part of the brain that is associated with speech and being able to talk about events.

Other neuroimaging studies also show that the impact of trauma sits in the amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and brain stem. It does not sit in the verbal and understanding part of the brain.

van der Kolk says that it is our bodies, not our minds, that control how we respond to trauma, what we do and don’t consciously remember, and whether or not we recover from it.

This means that in the midst of trauma civilized discourse is not possible. It also means that people don’t need to talk about trauma to resolve it.

As we have always known talk therapies are not successful with people who have suffered trauma.

Bessel van der Kolk shared about the successes of working with the body to resolve trauma. He talked about the power of chi gong, tai chi, yoga, dancing, and breathing in order to quiet the body down and teach people self-regulation.

All the above methods came out of shamanism. In teaching workshops I keep trying to get participants to understand how important song and dance has been to shamans. I personally believe this is more important to shamans than the journey itself.

The fact that trauma lives in the body makes a lot of sense to me. When I perform soul retrievals I experience all the sensations that the client felt at the time of his or her soul loss. I have always experienced all the information in my body.

In sharing my experience with clients I have felt greatly challenged. I feel so much and yet I don’t ever have the language for what I feel. Based on what Bessel van der Kolk discovered along with others who have performed neuroimaging this would make sense.

In soul retrieval trainings I try to teach practitioners about the importance of bringing ritual and ceremony into working with clients. And one of the most powerful experiences for many in my soul retrieval trainings is the fire ceremony that we perform. During the ceremony I do have people dance and move what is being released into the fire.

Many practitioners of soul retrieval have been more moving their work towards a psychotherapeutic way of working. Many practitioners ask the client to talk way too much.

Brain scans are showing what shamans always knew. I ask those of you reading this page who do perform soul retrievals to journey on how to work with less talk and more of what would be called body psychotherapy.

We don’t need to turn to other systems to do this. Shamanic healing in itself does embrace what is taught in chi gong, yoga, tai chi, and breathing. We just have to bring it back into our work. As shamanic practitioners we need to engage our creativity. I feel a lot of practitioners have become trapped in trying to move shamanism into old forms of psychotherapy that are not effective. I think we need to bridge psychotherapy into shamanism and not the reverse.

And I want to remind you that I am teaching with my husband Woods Shoemaker this August at Omega Institute. The workshop is intended to teach concentration practices along with teaching the shamanic journey. Please look at my calendar posted on Trainings and Announcements for more information.

I saw this great sign on a church in Santa Fe:

“If God seems far away right now – who moved?”

  “The divine energy in itself is infinite potentiality and actuality. Creatures are localized manifestations of it. If there is no obstacle in us, no false self, we become transmitters through whom the divine presence as boundless love and compassion communicates itself to others in ever widening circles of influence.”

–       Thomas Keating

 Happy summer! Enjoy the beauty and be joyful in your life.

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Transmutation News – May 2005

There are many paradoxes that we all must live with. We live and function as the ego small “i” and also as we transfigure embrace the principle that we are source and are also the big “I”.

In this paradox we are facets of the creator and are unique as creative beings. At the same time we are part of an entire organism. Sometimes we get lost in the aspect that we are the only ones creating change in the world. When really it is the organism that we are part of that is changing. We feel responsible to make a change as independent from the organism we are merely part of. Go back to the metaphor that I have been using where we are fingers that think we are independent from the rest of the body.

Yes, we are all aspects of the creative forces of the universe and in this way we do create in the world. At the same time the organism we are a part of is evolving and part of our work is to surrender to the life force we are part of. This means that we are not always in control of the changes that are happening. The metaphor that I keep getting in my journeys is that we have to learn to surf the waves of transition and change. We have to understand that the organism we are all part of is changing and taking us as “fingers” along with the changes.

This does not mean that we should stop doing our creative work as facets of the creator. But this also means that we have to surrender to the process of evolution. This is part of the paradox we all need to live with right now.

In the February Transmutation News I wrote about Chase Carter’s music CDs. He sent me a sample of a new CD he is working on. The vibration on this CD is pretty high so I find myself getting transcendent information when I listen to it.

While I was listening to the CD I was looking at transmuting the energies of fear and jealousy. I received some very interesting information.

Fear and jealousy are part of our DNA code for survival of the fittest. As we act out of our animal nature there is the experience of competition for resources and the energies of jealousy as we have a drive for procreation.

As the organism we are part of is evolving the need for these behaviors is changing. We are part of an organism that is evolving to working with psychic powers such as clairvoyance and telepathy being the norm instead of being extraordinary powers. The organism is evolving to sharing resources instead of competing for resources. And procreation will not be the overriding force of life.

Our DNA code needs to change to embrace this new evolution. Many teachers are writing about how we have the ability to change our DNA code for healing the body. I see that we need to change our DNA code for this new evolution of consciousness where we are more in touch with our psychic powers and the energy of love and light. Most of us work towards experiencing love and light. The new evolution of consciousness is where this is a natural state.

The children coming in will naturally have this new evolution of consciousness coded in their DNA. We already see this with many children coming in only experiencing love and are clairvoyant and are telepaths. But we will see more of this.

Think about computers. The new computers you buy already have the upgrades installed. For those of us who are the older model we must install an upgrade.

In your meditations and journeys hold the intention of changing your DNA code to evolve to the new frequencies of the organism we are part of. We are all evolving together.

I do believe that those who can evolve with the new frequencies will survive and thrive in the coming times ahead.

As we are spirits embodied our bodies are the vessel for our spiritual work. As the frequencies on the planet keep raising we must strengthen our bodies to be able to contain these higher frequencies.

So please keep finding exercise programs and practices such as yoga, Tai Chi, and Chi Gong to support your body. And of course pay attention to the kind of diet that keeps you strong and healthy. We can’t do a spiritual bypass. Our bodies must be supported to keep being a strong container for our spirit.

On this note it is spring. Get outside and be in nature. Experience all the new growth and take in the beauty. This is the best exercise for our body, mind, and our spirit. For nature nurtures us on all levels.

Continue the practice of absorbing light from the sun, the food you eat, the water you drink and bathe in, and the air you breathe. Take in the light as you inhale and give it back as you exhale.

Keep doing your transfiguration practice to experience a state of radiance and oneness. But also try to meditate and connect with the physical organism that you are part of. Experience your connection and the growth that is happening. Experience the changes in the earth and the frequency. And most of all experience the abundance of life force.

Victoria Hoch wrote this wonderful poem after being at a Medicine for the Earth Gathering. She gave me permission to share this with you.

Sunflower’s Song

Everyday I devour the fire of the full sun like a lord’s feast.
Protected by my sheath of leathery leaves, dry winds cannot harm me.

Sun sprung from earth-warmed seeds scattered by storms, I bloom intensely yellow.
The blue sky is my feathered crown and I am rooted in happiness.

My sun-saturated petals are victory flags for bees.

This full bloomed summer self will end when nights grow cold.
I loosen seeds about me like a shower of worlds.

But today is a sun-gilded one and I a petal-ed trumpet.

Nothing diminishes my burning bloom, the blaze of life’s fire.
I claim my bold brightness and sing the song that comes-

Fierce happiness.

The full moon is May 23. Let’s continue to weave a radiant web of life within and throughout the earth. And as much as possible keep initiating others in your community into this practice.

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Transmutation News – April 2005

Spring is a time for us to nurture the new growth that is being dreamed into being by the earth, the sun, the air, and the water. It is a good time for us to see how we are nurturing our own garden of life.

I continue to receive feedback from students that a regular practice of transfiguration is responsible for a positive change in health and sense of well being.

To inspire you to continue your transfiguration practice I will review the principles of the practice.

The definition of transfiguration in Webster’s Dictionary is “shapeshifting”. When we talk about the practice of transfiguration we are experiencing who we are beyond our skin. We are experiencing who we are beyond our ego and our thoughts. The spiritual essence of who we are is divinity, oneness, source, and spiritual light. We are experiencing our divine perfection and radiance which is our true nature.

All world religions and spiritual practices teach about the experience of divinity in the use of healing.

-In Christianity Jesus taught that the kingdom of God lies within. One of his teachings was that we all must shine our light in the world.

-The Kabbalah teaches the principle of oneness and divinity.

-In the Hindu tradition mystics and healers transfigured into a deity in their miraculous healing acts. They did not merge with a divine force; they dropped their experience of separation and became divine.

-In Taoism it is talked about being in harmony or in one with the Tao.

-Buddhists observe who they are beyond ego and thought and experience the Buddha nature.

-The old Alchemists taught that the self -possessed man must die for the “Great Work” to be done. This means that the ego must be put aside to experience divinity and oneness.

-The great shamans have been women and men who traveled to the other realms through a near death experience or a life threatening illness. Once on the other side they remembered that they were more than a body and ego. They remembered the source from which they came. And through the experience of spiritual light and experiencing unity with all they got their clairvoyant and healing abilities. True shamans have always taught about the unity of the web of life.

In my books I shared the message I received from a being I call “The Voice” in a dream I had in the 1980’s. The voice said that man has been looking for God outside of himself for the last 2000 years. Man will be looking for God inside of himself for the next 2000 years. This is the task of humankind at this time. We must reverse directions in our spiritual practice and go as deep inside of ourselves as we have been traveling outside of ourselves.

When we talk about the practice of transfiguration this is what we are talking about. We are moving into a place of union. We experience our own divinity, God, the goddess, the Buddha, Krishna, the wealth of gods and goddesses we experience outside of ourselves, or whatever terms fit your religious and philosophical beliefs.

The creator or creative forces of the universe are within us as well as outside of us. We are working with the esoteric principle of as above so below, as within so without.

In Medicine for the Earth I describe this process in both the chapters on dismemberment and transfiguration. I give a guided visualization in the exercise section of the dismemberment chapter to work with to dissolve the body and ego which keeps us separate from our divine nature.

On my CD “Miracles for the Earth” I lead people through the process of transfiguration in one of the exercises on CD2. Some toning is also included as part of the experience. As I have written before I have found toning to be a good way to hold the transfigured state. It is a way to keep the ego from coming in and creating an experience of separation again.

I still listen on occasion to the guided visualization on “Miracles for the Earth”, as I find it helps me deepen my transfiguration experience over time.

If you do not have a copy of “Miracles for the Earth” you can order it at www.soundstrue.com.

At first you might find it helpful to go through the formal steps of letting go of the body, the ego, and thoughts to get to a place of source, unity with all, divinity, and spiritual light. After practice you might be able to just use a decree of I am divine, I am source, I am that, I am spiritual light, I am radiance, or I am love. Any one of these decrees can be used to get into a transfigured state of consciousness. Another decree a student shared at a workshop is “Thank you for taking from me that which keeps me separate from my divinity and spiritual light.”

Putting on some music that supports an expanded state of consciousness will help you experience and remain in this state for a longer period of time. Doing some toning will continue to create a vibration and frequency that not only allows you to experience a transfigured state but also on its own changes the resonance of your body. Toning alone creates emotional and physical healing.

 

You are not merging with an outside spiritual power to do this practice. You become that spiritual power. You do not go outside of your body; you go within. As I have written many times, it is who we become that changes the world and not what we do. As we become source, divinity, and spiritual light we create healing within. For when we experience a state of separation communication breaks down between our cells and our DNA. This lack of communication creates illness. When we experience a state of oneness and spiritual light this creates a state of coherence. Coherence is that perfect state of communication between the cells and our DNA, which allows cellular repair to occur.

When we experience a state of oneness and spiritual light we move into harmony and in sync with the river of life. In this state we can manifest good health and a feeling of well being. In this state what we need naturally comes to us as we are in harmony with life.

I had received a powerful metaphor for all of this from a descendant I had met during a shamanic journey. She said imagine a finger dropping off a hand. That finger decides it is independent from the body and can have a life of its own. She said that this is a preposterous thought. But this state is what our planet is experiencing today causing a tremendous amount of illness. Illness comes from the perception that we are separate from source and the web of life.

She said we must reach down and reattach all the fingers that have dropped off the hand and disconnected from the body. This has been a powerful metaphor for me to work with.

So yes, I do transfigure as much as I can. Some weeks I do the practice daily. And some weeks I can only do it once or twice a week. As I continue the practice my goal is to keep shining my inner spiritual light as much as I can throughout the day. The real work is can I shine that light while I am standing on line at the grocery store or at the bank? Can I continue to shine that light when I am stuck in traffic? If I can I not only heal myself by setting up a state of coherence in my body, but I effect the world around me as I lift all who are in my presence. That is our true work or “The Great Work” that the alchemists speak of.

Again key words that describe the experience of being transfigured is experiencing your divine perfection and radiance.

Again the definition of alchemy is working with and through the dense darkness inside. So part of our practice is also to learn how to transmute and transform the energy around our problematic thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and attitudes. This heals ourselves and all of life on the planet. The more we do this work the more we move into states of love and appreciation for what the earth, water, air, and the sun have to offer us. We move into a state of love and appreciation for all of life healing states of separation which lead to fear, depression, anger, and violence. We heal those states inside and in the outer world by incorporating the practice of transforming energy into our minute to minute lives.

As we can truly absorb and receive the light from our food, water, the air we breathe, and the sunlight we keep transmuting what we are taking in creating healing in our bodies and psyches. This is such an important practice at this time on the planet where we are surrounded by so much toxicity.

Both of my parents are 90 years old. They live in an independent living facility. Although their bodies are wearing down, their minds are still good. As they are both independent thinkers living in an institution brings up a lot of issues and challenges for them.

 As I observe their challenges I have realized that the institution they are living in is a microcosm to the greater macrocosm in the world today. As we are all living in an institution where we need to behave in certain ways to be accepted by the cultures we live in.

 On one level we are all one and there is no separation. And we are also a reflection of the creator or the creative forces of the universe. Like a diamond there are many facets to the creative forces and we all reflect back a unique facet to the creator. So we are one and also at the same unique facets. And we live in cultures that want us to repress our brilliance and uniqueness and fit in. It is all part of the paradox we are living in. And the question remains how to we honor the brilliance of all of us while remembering that in truth we are all one being? How do we shine our brilliance and experience oneness at the same time?  I feel that this is one of the challenges of our time. This remains a work in progress. 

As I observe weather patterns around the world it is interesting to note how different the weather is behaving than what many of us are used to. In areas where there is typically a lot of moisture there is now drought. In areas that don’t always get moisture there has been a lot of rain and snow. In areas of the world there is greater precipitation and ranges in temperatures than has been seen before.

Mother nature is attempting to get our attention. And it is time to listen. I suggest that each of you journey to the spirit of the city in which you live. If you do not work with shamanic journeying use your practice of meditation to set an intention to meet with the spirit where you live.

There is only one earth and one sky. But there are cities around the world that also are facets of the creator. There are cities that also contain collective beliefs.

Find out from the spirit where you live what is trying to be communicated to your community through the change in weather. Ask how you can be in service to the spirit of where you live. Ask what messages and teachings you can share with other members of your community.

Let’s listen to the wake up calls so they don’t have to get any louder.

If you want to read the Transmutation News in another language please go to the home page to find the link to other translations.

The full moon is April 24. Let’s continue to weave a radiant web of light within and around the earth. Let’s continue to invite and teach others in your community to create a human web of light.

In Medicine for the Earth I shared a quote from Manly P. Hall, author of The Secret Teachings of the Ages:

“The purpose of alchemy was not to make something out of nothing but rather to fertilize and nurture the seed which was already present. Its processes did not actually create gold but rather made the ever-present seed of gold grow and flourish. Everything which exists has a spirit- the seed of divinity within itself- and regeneration is not the process of attempting to place something where it previously existed. Regeneration actually means the unfoldment of the omnipresent Divinity in man, that this Divinity may shine forth as a sun and illumine all whom it comes in contact.

Here are words of wisdom from Ghandi to inspire you:

“Keep your thoughts positive because they become your words. Keep your words positive because they become your behaviors. Keep your behaviors positive because they become your habits. Keep your habits positive because they become your values. Keep your values positive because they become your destiny.”

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Transmutation News – March 2005

Why do fundamentalist groups in the world have so much power? How is it that corporate groups have the power in the U.S. to change policies to ones that disregard the health of the environment, animals, plants, trees, humans, and all of life?

Focus. It is all about focus. These groups have learned the power of focus to manifest what they want in the world.

I get a wealth of emails about laws that are being passed and that will be passed that disregard all of life.

If I allow myself to get distracted by this information I will just go and buy a lot of ice cream and try to comfort my egoic self. I would be buying the concept of well we won’t survive anyway so let’s eat, drink, and be merry.

If I write about the details of all these broadcast emails circulating around the world I am feeding the negative and destructive impact of the words and energy. In other words I am not feeding the heart filled with love, harmony, light, and unity.

The key is how I react to what I read and then how I act. It is important to maintain balance. Yes, I feel sad and sometimes get lost in “what’s the use”. But I do not stay in this state. I focus. I move into seeing every living being on this great planet as divine light. I see the earth and all the elements in their divine light.

People working spiritually in this way might be a minority. And that does not matter. What does matter is if you do your spiritual work and hold the focus.

Remember: intention + love + union + harmony + concentration + focus + imagination = transmutation and creation.

Now more than ever we must hold this planet and its inhabitants in spiritual light. Now more than ever we must drop our differences and bond together in absolute harmony and unity to create change.

When people used to ask the great Indian sage Ramana Maharshi, “Shouldn’t we go out and take social action?” His response was first find out who you are and then respond from there.

In Medicine for the Earth I wrote about Ramana Maharshi and his great work. His message is that there is no ego or “I”. This is just an illusion.

Krishnamurti another great Indian sage would respond to people who wanted to run out and take social action. He would say that if you go out without transforming yourself first then you will create more chaos.

We see this as groups of people get caught in their ego and move into states of division. From this place true change does not occur.

So we keep doing the work to remember the truth of who we are. The alchemists called this “The Great Work”. And as we watch the news and read letters, emails, and newspapers talking about the state of the world we respond by perceiving the planet and all living beings in their divine light.

This is one way for us to take social action. This is the way I choose to work. I know in every cell of my being that who I become has a huge impact on the web of life. And I know as has been taught for thousands of years that everything manifests on the spiritual level before manifesting on the physical level.

Focus, focus, focus!

Here is a prayer by St. Francis that I find helpful:

hold in our hearts love

Honor and adore,

serve, praise, and bless,

glorify and exalt.

magnify and give thanks.

For over a year now I have written from time to time about a pilot research study that I am engaging in with the University of Michigan Medical School. We had been working on the research design for close to two years.

The study is to look at the effect that the Medicine for the Earth work has on people. We know the changes we have seen in water. As we are mostly water the changes will also occur in us. Over the years of teaching Medicine for the Earth I have received letters and case studies about miraculous healings coming from engaging in a practice of transfiguration.

Sara Warber, MD, the primary investigator for Michigan Integrative Medicine was a participant in a Medicine for the Earth Gathering in Ohio led by Dr. Greg Miller. They got to talking about doing a research study, and they contacted me after the training.

We began doing conference calls on a monthly basis. Kate Durda who is a Medicine for the Earth teacher in Michigan joined our team. Vera Moura who is also a student of Medicine for the Earth and works at Michigan Integrative Medicine did an amazing amount of work to pull the work together on paper and also do the screening of volunteers. We came up with a great research design. We decided to work with a population of people who had had a heart attack.

There would be three randomized groups. One group would go through a Medicine for the Earth training with me. One group would go through a Lifestyle Change training learning yoga, meditation, and how to work with their diet. And one group would get their regular cardiac treatment with no other interventions.

Once we got the research design money literally started dropping from the heavens so that we could move forward. Our one obstacle was getting approval from the IRB (the board at the university who approves studies) which is known to take forever.

We set a date for Feb 10-13 2005 and had to wait to fully advertise for volunteers until we got the approval. Before we could advertise in newspapers, magazines, and radio in Michigan we had to wait for approval.

Approval came at a very late date and we didn’t think we had time to get enough volunteers. But another miracle happened and we did.

So we did meet this Feb. 10-13 and what an extraordinary experience it was. We had 23 participants in the Medicine for the Earth training. All participants got psychological tests and blood tests measuring immune function before we began.

I taught the group all the Medicine for the Earth principles. We worked with how to transmute negative states of consciousness, how to transfigure, and how to work on creation and manifestation. It was an incredible circle of people and we created a sacred and loving space where change and healing could take place.

Some of you who participated are reading this month’s Transmutation News. And we welcome you into the global community working together to create harmony within which manifests as harmony without.

The key of course is for all to continue the practices taught as I have been encouraging all of you who read this page to do.

There will be quite a lot of group support to make sure that this happens.

The Lifestyle Change group will meet next month.

After 3 months and 6 months everyone will get blood tests and surveys about how they are feeling emotionally. A medical paper with the results of the study should be published by this time next year.

It really is the first study in the world of this kind. And it all just came into place naturally. I was contacted by the University of Michigan to do the study. Money came effortlessly for the study to happen. The perfect group came together. And without thinking about it our training ended right before Valentines Day. So for all of us looking at how Medicine for the Earth could heal our hearts with the power of love we ended at a time where people celebrate the heart and love.

It will be interesting to watch the results. So far every step of the way has been truly miraculous. I have no doubt the miracles will continue.

And I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with such an incredible group of people!

I also want to thank all of you who had been reading the flyers I posted on the Transmutation News and helped to create support for the work in non-ordinary and ordinary ways.

I cannot say more about the study until a paper is published. But I will keep you informed in whatever way I can.

The possibilities are endless!

I had a powerful dream one night after I returned from Michigan. I was told that as people heal through alternative practices the field of energy would change so much that others would experience spontaneous healings. My dream definitely had to do with changing the morphic resonant field. I was very encouraged in the dream by how much healing can take place naturally as more people incorporate spiritual healing practices into their lives.

On this note it is now time to introduce as many people as possible into the principle that we are one, source, divine, and light. If you have been reading the Transmutation News for awhile you will remember the journey I had that in our world we operate as fingers that have fallen off the hand thinking we can have an independent life. We are part of a whole and none of us are truly independent from the web of life.

March 20 is the spring equinox. This is a time where we celebrate the possibilities of new life. We celebrate this month the change in season circling into a time of new growth.

To celebrate this time of change I ask that you find a friend, family member, co-worker, or neighbor who you can introduce one or more of the principles of the Medicine for the Earth to. Depending on the person you talk to you will have to choose your words.The Medicine for the Earth work bridges all world religions. Every world religion has the practice of transfiguration but it is explained in different ways.

Read over the section Creating A Human Web of Light. Initiate someone in your circle and community to this work. As we do this on the spring equinox the ripples of new growth, evolution, and unlimited possibilities will also ripple across the entire web of life.

I also wanted to let you know that as we talk about expanding our circle the Transmutation News is now translated into German, Italian, Spanish, and Slovakian. It is also in the process of being translated into French and Portuguese and Dutch. It’s exciting how our circle is growing.

March 25 is the full moon. Let’s continue weaving a web of light, divinity, and love within and around the earth. New life is sprouting and light and love is encompassing our great earth now.

Happy spring!!

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