Transmutation News – May 2006

Even if I did not watch the news, just listening to the predictions of the times ahead that my friends and students talk about in conversation I can find myself moving in a state of fear and hopelessness. I listen to people predicting the demise of civilization through the bird flu, the potential of terrorist attacks, and climate changes.

I think that people are sensing a great deal of tension in the air. And also changes are speeding up. But personally I do not believe that any of us are privy to exactly how the great changes will occur. Climate changes of course are obvious – they are happening right before our eyes.

The fabric of reality as we know it is breaking down. And I keep repeating that everything manifests in the spiritual realms before it manifests in the physical.

True shamans have always worked on the fabric of the invisible worlds by weaving new patterns of harmony through the use of art, song, dance and ceremonies.

In this great time of change we must continue to do our work. I have been outlining key practices the last few months and I hope you will continue to do them.

This month spend time merging with the earth or transfiguring into earth- whichever practice you know how to do or prefer to do. If you are new to this work review the section on merging with the elements in Medicine for the Earth.

The soil is very active during this time of year as new growth is bursting forth. As you become one with earth connect your heartbeat so your heartbeats are one.

Start all of your shamanic journeys or meditation practices from this place of one heartbeat and deep connection. Once you are in this connective state embrace the earth energies with the understanding that you and the earth are one – one organism, one heartbeat.

From this place of connection ask your questions, do your healing work, and/or meditate.

If you are connected the information you need abut coming changes will be given to you. From this place of deep connection and oneness with the earth you will weather the changes of the coming changes.

And remember thoughts and words create action and form. Keep looking at the energetic pattern behind your words and thoughts. Look at how you can help to change the pattern so new forms are created.

And as I keep writing it is so important to:

Stay positive

Stay focused

Stay centered

Do your work and stay focused no matter what changes are manifesting around you. You came here this time around to be part of and to help birth a new evolution of consciousness.

The full moon is May 13. From a place of being one with the earth and heartbeat spread your light into the web of life embracing all of life with love.

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Transmutation News – April 2006

When one watches the news there is so much hate and fear being reported. And we can all see for ourselves the rapid climate changes creating challenges we all have to face. The world situation can feel very overwhelming.

As I said last month it is the simple practices we do incorporate into our lives that have an impact. Last fall I took part in a ceremony at a workshop I was leading. I met a spirit who gave me an important message. He said that the purpose of humankind was to be a bridge between the heavens and the earth. He said that because we have forgotten this the earth is trying to reach to the heavens and the heavens are reaching down to the earth. Earthquakes, flooding rains, hurricanes etc, are the heavens and earth making contact with each other. If we would remember to be this bridge the heavens and earth would not have to work so hard to “touch hands” and reach each other.

Bringing attention and love to what you do as I suggested last month is definitely a powerful way to be a bridge between the earth and heaven. And we should continue living our lives in an intentional way.

Also by grounding the light of our transfigured state into our body is a way of bridging these energies.

Life on this planet is so precious and such a gift. But we forget the joy of life as we get caught up in survival. The pace of life has quickened so we forget how to appreciate the simple joys of touch, the beauty of nature, the fragrances, the incredible sounds, and tastes. We distract ourselves with gathering more and more information and forget to stop to just experience life in the moment.

To experience the simple joys shows honor and respect to nature and the natural forces. Balance is the result of acts of honor, respect, and appreciation.

Every day take a few minutes to be grateful for the simple pleasures of life. Listen to the sounds in nature, taste your food, feel and see the beauty of the earth, and smell the wonderful fragrances from a place of joy and gratefulness.

Performing ceremonies of celebration are also a potent way to create change. Ceremonies open the veils between the realms where miracles can happen especially when we keep our concentration and focus.

When we work in ceremony and with attention in our daily lives we work in partnership with the invisible worlds and helping spirits in behalf of all of life.

This month lie down and breathe and harmonize with the heartbeat of the earth. Hold a larger earth energy in your body than you are used to and bridge into that energy light, oneness, and divinity.

Let’s do the greatest ceremony we can do for the earth and earth our appreciation and prayers by planting a seed or a stone of love on the full moon.

The power of group mind is great. Let’s create a group mind that is focused on the honor and respect for the earth and all of life.

Continue to do the work of coming home to yourself and learning to center so you can ride out the storms ahead.

The work we are doing this month is the work of a gardener. Tend your garden with joy and love and reap the rewards of a beautiful harvest.

It’s the simple acts of love, honor, respect, and appreciation that create the biggest magic.

The full moon is April 13. Let’s continue to weave a web of light throughout the planet. And let’s plant our seeds of joy and love into the earth. Let’s connect our minds and hearts together to create a collective of love.

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Transmutation News – March 2006

I think that most of you who have been reading the Transmutation News have been engaged in spiritual practices for quite a long time now. You have probably read numerous books, attended a lot of workshops, and listened to many lectures.

The world is changing at a rapid pace. And it is important for all of us to find ways to put into action all that we have been learning. And of course over the years of writing the Transmutation News I have been giving you ideas of how you might do this.

As the stresses in our lives continue to increase I am just not sure how seriously we are watching the signs and following the energy of what is being manifested for all of life. The changes we are seeing are showing us just how disharmonious the collective is.

I think that we get caught up in how overwhelming everything seems. So it is human nature to move into a place of passivity and start to believe that either the situation is hopeless or “someone” will figure out how to fix things. And we all know that this is just not going to happen.

I still maintain that it is the simple spiritual practices that we bring into our lives that can change the collective. So I want to encourage putting what you have been learning into action and at the same time keep it simple.

The last few months I have been encouraging you to find your way back home to yourself and journey within to find your light, spirit, power, and center. It is so important in the coming times to continue this practice. This is where your strength and inner guidance comes from.

This month I would like you to add to the practices you are doing by looking at how you can live your life with more intention.

In January a friend came to Santa Fe and taught me spinning on a spinning wheel. To my surprise I immediately took to the practice of spinning. And the practice that I have brought into my life is to spin fiber while keeping a certain intention. I might choose a fiber and while I spin I focus on love, unity, light, and oneness going into the yarn. Or I might spin healing energies into fiber I am spinning to help out a friend. I also spin yarn in honor of the elements, the hidden folk, the ancestors, and for all of life.

I love to spin. And you are probably familiar with different stories of how spinning was how women went into altered states and received visions. I wish I could spin for hours a day. And I find that life pulls me out and I have to settle at this point anyway for about an hour a day.

But an hour a day of doing something with great intention, focus, and staying in a place of prayer does create great change in the collective. As you bring intention into simple acts and practices that you do throughout the day you break down the veils of illusion and open the veils between the imaginal realms and physical realms. You end up working in harmony and from a place of love and joy. This creates enormous healing in the world.

Modern technology is wonderful, and it also has taken us off course. Most of us no longer eat food that was prepared with the intention of love. People who are working under substandard conditions make a lot of our clothes. You can only imagine the lack of love going into the clothes and fabrics that we wear against our skin. And the list goes on.

This month to add to the spiritual practices that you already do make a commitment to do one task during your day with intention. If you are really busy keep it simple so that you do not feel overwhelmed. Cook one meal with maintaining your full intention and attention to putting love into what you make. Take just a moment to remember where this food came from and the elements and life that gift you with this nurturance.

If you are into a craft such as sewing, knitting, crocheting, carving, painting, sculpting, or writing create something small that carries the intention of love into the collective. Sing or dance sending love out into the world.

Use your imagination and do one task everyday that carries the intention of love and notice if you feel a difference. I find that I experience a lot more peace and joy in my life as I live with intention.

Every minute you live your life with intention changes the web of life. Think of a ship that has gone off course. We need to work in the invisible realms to change the course remembering that everything manifests in the spiritual before manifesting in the physical. Work energetically and with intention. And if we all engage in a life with intention the collective will shift and so will our world.

The spring equinox is March 20. When we think of the energy of spring we think of new birth and creation. Let us put our creative energies together to honor the new birth of life coming into the world. And on the spring equinox let us all together perform every task during our day with carrying the intention of love into the collective in celebration of our lives and for all of life.

There is a wonderful woman I have been in frequent communication with around the Medicine for the Earth work. She recently sent me an article that comes out of Yes! (the Spring 2003 issue of Our Planet, Our Selves). In this issue there was an article written by Francesca Lyman titled “Restoring Nature, Restoring Yourself”.

In the article she talked describes a man by the name of John Beal who was broken by war healed himself by physically cleaning out the garbage in a stream by his house. John Beal was recovering from bullet wounds, was haunted by flashbacks, suffered from PTSD, had gone through three heart attacks, and had been in a serious motorcycle accident.

Instead of moving into a place of despair he literally started to pull out garbage. When he yanked a big refrigerator out of the stream he was not hurt by the activity. Instead he found himself feeling better.

He has directed his energies to cleaning up and restoring this polluted stream flowing out of Seattle’s industrial south end. He moved on to restoring the entire watershed of which it is part of.

The Dunwamish River and its estuaries had been written off as a lost cause. And due to John’s efforts restored them to health.

Beal has recruited hundreds of crews to clean up and replant the streams.

His efforts have been hugely successful and there is one story about his work on the Hamm Creek. Within days of a huge effort to daylight and replant the area little salmonids began appearing. What was once a culvert dripping with waste is now a beautifully recontoured and replanted stream brimming with beaver, salmon and other fish.

Not only has his efforts been healing to nature but the people who engaged in his projects also benefited by the work. He describes dozens of cases of people disabled physically or psychologically helped from the exercise and the feeling of accomplishment.

John talks about a young man who had been in a wheelchair for eight years. He came out to help weed and plant. After two years he was almost walking.

John says that no matter how stressed, angry, depressed or troubled they are, whether it’s a jail crew sent to clean up litter for the day or a class of disabled students, they seem to find pleasure from the work.

This is one example of how bringing intention to what you do heals nature and all the people engaged in the activity. I hope this story inspires you to gather a community of people together to work in your locale.

Francesca Lyman, the author the article, writes the Your Environment column for MSNBC online. She was recently awarded the Society of Environmental Journalists’ first prize for online reportage.

For those of you looking for a copy of the article it was published by the Positive Futures Network, PO Box 10818, Bainbridge Island, Washington 98110-0818.


Here is a summary of practices that would be great to continue working with throughout the day. Keep your focus when you can with the understanding that you will deepen the practices the more you continue working with them.

Keep transmuting and transforming the energy behind your problematic thoughts, emotions, attitudes, and belief systems. In this way you continue to send the energy of love and light into the collective.

Keep watching the words you use. Words are magic and have great power. Be aware of the vibration you send out into the universe and what will manifest from that vibration.

Continue to work with the projections as I have written about in the Transmutation News December 2005.

As much as possible live your life and perform daily tasks with the intention of putting love into what you do.

Keep up your practice of transfiguration so you embrace your light and divinity. This is healing for yourself and for the world.

Get out into nature and connect! This is healing for both you and the planet.

The full moon is March 14. Let us continue to weave a web of light, divinity, and love within and through the earth. The spiritual work we do with the web of life and the web of light ripples throughout the planet healing the collective as it moves. This work does make a difference!

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Transmutation News – February 2006

I had a wonderful year in 2005. Yes, there were also many challenges, but that is all part of life. Sometimes in the river of life the waters are smooth and sometimes we find ourselves in the rapids. The key is not to get stuck in the tough places but keep moving.

I led many wonderful gatherings and ceremonies during the year. I was really touched by the groups I worked with. And the bottom line is that I was always around a lot of people.

So this winter I really made a choice to be more of a hermit and go within as I suggested you do last month. And it has been wonderful to feel myself coming home to myself again.

For the outer world is changing in ways that my egoic self has no control over. The climate is changing quite rapidly. Where I live we are in a severe drought and all the storms are coming through as wind. The wind is definitely bringing messages of changes ahead. Fire season where I live usually starts in May or June. This year it started in January.

If I look to the outer world for peace and security there is none to be found. To find peace I must find it within. Security lies within. It is so important with all the changes around us to journey within and find our internal center and strength so that we can gracefully move through the territories of the river of life even during turbulent times.

Continue to do the work that I suggested last month of finding times in the day where you can disconnect from the outer world and take some time out to fully go within.

Find time to go out in nature and be in deep love and appreciation for this glorious earth garden we live in. And then also find the same beauty within. The beauty of the night sky is within. The beauty of the forests, oceans, rivers, deserts, etc. is all within us.

It is important to really nurture our inner landscapes where all the beauty of the outer world is truly experienced within each of us. As you appreciate the beauty of your inner world you will notice a positive effect in your own sense of physical and emotional well being.

In December I wrote about projecting light and peace into the world. The more you can truly experience these states within the more powerful your projections will be.

If I am afraid of how my trees where I am living are doing in the drought I am limited in how much light I can project onto them. If I can experience deep states of love, light, peace, and joy within I can project those states onto the land.

Again the key to this work is remembering that everything outside is also within. And where we have power to create change is to work on our inner landscapes. We can nurture the inner states of beauty, love, peace, harmony, unity, and light. We can transmute the energy behind our negative thoughts and emotions which stems from living in the egoic state of separation.

Our egos cannot change or control the world right now. Where we have the power to create change is in nurturing our own inner garden.

There are so many distractions that pull us out of our inner work. This month reflect on what activities you engage in that end up distracting you from truly coming back home to yourself. Going to workshops and reading can be inspiring. These activities can also be just another trap if you are looking for “entertainment” or if you are seeking power from a teacher or from methods. True power lies within.

If you are truly on a spiritual path you will keep finding that all roads and paths lead you within. Allow yourself to be inspired by others to go within. Don’t get trapped in paths that keep you from experiencing your inner home, security, power, strength, beauty, love, and light.


The full moon is February 13. Let us all gather our inner light together and continue to weave the web of light of oneness within and throughout the planet.

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Transmutation News – January 2006

I wish you a New Year filled with great growth, wonder, and the appreciation for the beauty in all things.

I do believe that this will be a year of deep inner growth for all of us.

As many proverbs have said over time constant change is part of life. It does seem that changes are coming faster and our ability to adapt to change needs to be swift.

Part of adapting to change means being open to unlimited possibilities. We must continue to look at our limiting beliefs and also to be willing to change our way of thinking over time.

I am always looking for page turning novels for when I am on long airplane flights. One of my favorite writers is Michael Crichton. He is a brilliant man, an incredible writer, and he uses his fame to spread important political and environmental messages.

For a recent trip I picked up his new novel A State of Fear. I thought the story was going to be a thriller about global warming. It is a thriller about global warming, but with a twist. He researched his statements, used footnotes, and includes an extensive bibliography.

The bottom line that he communicates is yes we are seeing climate changes. But the actual proof for whether or not these changes are due to global warming is in question. He shows the problems in research that occurs when political and environmental groups have an agenda and how we can easily be misled.

He does not say that climate changes are or are not due to global warming. He just raises interesting questions about the research on this subject.

The reason I am bringing this up is my mind had already attached the label of global warming for the changes we are now seeing on the planet. In reading this book I found myself having to rethink my putting the world situation in “a box” and to look at how vulnerable I am to the media.

I had to stretch my mental constructs and I feel this is really healthy for the times we live in. I had to remind myself that the work I have been sharing with Medicine for the Earth goes beyond all labels.

We need to continue to look at how our outer environment is a reflection of our inner states of consciousness. We need to move deeply into a state of honor for nature and all of life. And we need to remember that everything is connected to a web of life and that all my thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs effects the web. There is no separation only connection and unity.

I remembered once again that I need to go beyond labels and just do my work. My work is being not doing. Yes, I have a responsibility to take action in the world that reflects a state of consciousness that embraces oneness, light, and love. But if I have not become those states my actions have a limited effect on the web of life.

With our work we are trying to balance out the masculine and feminine energies. In working with the feminine we create change through being.

It is so easy to get lost in the illusions created by the outer world. The only way to move though these illusions is to go within and sit in your inner truth. This means taking some time “to stop the world” and go within.

During this month take some time “to be” instead of “to do”. Allow yourself to drop into a deep state that truly effects the entire web of life.

To start just take a few minutes a day. Find a quiet place to sit. Begin by taking some deep breaths into your heart allowing yourself to connect with your own heart and inner being. Visualize and experience yourself cutting your ties with the outer world for a brief time. Experience yourself actually cutting all cords that tie you to the world and others.

Keep breathing and experience yourself going within. It is okay to stop the world and take a brief time out. After a few minutes you should start to feel your center.

Continue to do this everyday and notice how you start to experience your own inner wisdom coming through as well as experiencing your own inner light shining through you.

The outer world will always present traps that create illusions that imprison us as well as mislead us from the truth. It is only through going within and tapping into your own intuition, your own inner knowing that will lead you on the path of truth.

As we begin a new year let’s remember the work that is so important for all of us to be doing that contributes to the state of being which truly nurtures the web of life.

It is crucial that we keep up our personal work of looking at the energy we are sending out into the world. We want to make sure that the energy behind our thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes are transmuted to an energy of love and light. You must keep asking the question, “What energy did I just send?” “Who did I send that energy to?”

We must continue to do our work to raise consciousness so that we are truly weaving a web of light within and throughout the earth. This work takes raising our awareness in our moment to moment way of living.

It is important that we continue to watch what we are projecting onto others and the world as I described in the December Transmutation News. We want to project divine perfection onto all of life.

And this month I would like us to focus our attention on creating strong local communities so that we have the support needed to thrive in the coming times.

In 2005 many challenges occurred on a large scale all over the world. I have different Teacher Trainings and I am on the yahoo groups for the different circles I am leading. And this discussion of how local communities are supporting each other has become part of our communications together.

In the United States we had Hurricane Katrina that impacted New Orleans. We had Hurricane Ivan and Hurricane Wilma impacting Florida.

The effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and Hurricane Wilma on Florida are long lasting. And one of the lessons learned is that the US government will not be there to help with such natural occurrences.

In speaking to students and friends who live in New Orleans and Florida it is real clear that local communities coming together to support each other and also rebuild replaced any support from government organizations.

Out of the discussion of local community support a student of mine in Florida who is also a brilliant teacher and practitioner shared the following story. She shared a story that came from Dr. Sorah Dibitsky and it is a bit similar to the story I shared last year about the woman from Cambodia.

Here is the story as told by Dr. Sorah Dibitsky who is the author of A Chorus to Wisdom: Notes on Spiritual Living. Her website is www.drsorah.com

South Florida was hit with a great cleanser in the form of Wilma. Wilma taught my husband and I that Love is the most important thing in the whole universe. Keeping Love in awareness became a moment by moment conscious focus. I’m sure many of us experienced many frightening moments during the storm.

Right after the storm, one of my friends phoned and said that she had an odyssey. Since speaking with her, I’ve heard many odyssey stories. An odyssey is a perilous journey. I’m sure we all have perilous tales we could tell about the past week. But, I’m sure, too, there are also many miracles we could share. There were times during the “week-without-power” we just had, that I thought I was reliving the Maccabee saga: our resources lasted longer than we expected. Our propane stove worked fine for five days without running out of propane; so did our propane lantern. Our fridge stayed cold for almost four days; our radio ran constantly on the original set of batteries. Our candles lasted, as did our flashlight batteries. And more miracles: we met our neighbors who were really, really, really, really, really helpful.

A Course in Miracles says “God is but love, and so am I!” I watched love in action this past week as I kept allowing Love to come through me and to fill me and to heal the fear.


While I was at my Teacher Training in Switzerland there were other stories about the need for local communities to stand strong together. Right now there is a need to speak about the incredible injustice towards refugees in German speaking Europe.

One student in Austria was telling stories about the mistreatment towards people of African descent in Austria and the need to bring public awareness to this.

During my workshop one student had a phone call from her husband about a terrible event with her neighbors. The police broke down the door in the middle of the night. The husband was separated from his wife and children and their cell phones were taken away from each other so they could not be in contact.

After a few days the media did find out about this and came to do a story. The government is looking into this but no decision had been made at the time of this writing.

My group and their own local community have sent a tremendous amount of support to this family. The father has said that his family throughout their entire life has never felt as much support and compassion as in this present moment. It gives them hope and strength in this very difficult time.

The story of this family is one of many. There is too little publicity, support, and justice in these matters. And it will be up to local communities to change the injustice that is occurring.

My student who is grateful to the support of our circle shared the following Advent’s tale that comes from an old storybook.


The Four Candles

The four candles were shining their light on the wreath. There was silence. It was so silent you could hear the candles speak.

The first candle sighed and said: My name is PEACE. My light shines, but mankind does not have peace, they do not want me. The candle’s light got weaker and weaker and finally faded away.

The second candle was flickering and said: My name is FAITH. Yet I am superfluous. People do not want to know about God. There is no reason for me to burn on. A rush of air went through the room and extinguished the candle.

Very quietly and full of sorrow the third candle started speaking: My name is LOVE. I have no more power to burn on. People put me aside. They focus on themselves and have no more compassion for all beings on earth. Also this candle died.

A child came into the room. Seeing the four candles it cried out: You should burn and shine your light into the world! It almost started weeping. Then the fourth candle raised its voice: Don’t be afraid. As long as I burn, we can light all the other candles again. My name is HOPE.

The child took the candle and lit all the others as well.


This month find a way to create a gathering with some of your neighbors. Get to know them. We don’t have to come together in community only in tragedy. Learn about your neighbors. They are people who also want to thrive just like you. This begins a process of creating loving and supportive communities. And this process brings change itself.

Find the vocabulary that you can use within your local community to share with them creating a human web of light. You can click on Creating A Human Web of Light on this site to see the words I used and change them in ways that can touch the heart of each person.

This is a way to further the work I have written about before. I have shared with you that I strongly believe that generations in the future will read stories of how communities of people gathered together to change the world.


A few months ago I wrote about a wonderful book I had read titled The Flight of the Goose. This book was written by Lesley Thomas and is published by Far Eastern Press (www.fareasternpress.com).

This book is beautifully written and I really loved it. An Inupiaq elder who grew up on the Bering Strait reviewed the book. I am sharing this review with you as I feel this elder has some potent words to share that go beyond the book.


Review of Flight of the Goose by Lesley Thomas
— Fred Bigjim, Alaskan Inupiaq author


Flight of the Goose: A Story of the Far North is a novel about loss and loneliness, alienation and fear, acceptance and forgiveness, natural and supernatural. Lesley Thomas has carefully crafted a complex story set in Alaska at a time of rapid change, competing economic and social interests, and national crisis.

Her characters seem drawn from life. Both they and the circumstances in which they find themselves are believable, memorable, tragic, and hopeful. Although the novel is set in a time and place where inevitable conflicts must arise from clashes of cultures, communities, and beliefs, and from change itself, the real depth of Thomas’ work derives from the way she examines conflicts within individuals themselves. To an even greater extent, she illuminates how we are all responsible, through our own choices and actions, for much of the tragedy and alienation that afflicts all of us, regardless of our culture, country, or religion.

One of the most interesting and thought-provoking aspects of Flight of the Goose is the portrayal of the clash of beliefs in the Arctic. We see there is little basis in the common idea that Christianity is a “white man’s” religion, for none of the non-Native characters in the novel are practicing, nor even nominal, Christians. Instead, to find meaning in their lives, the bird man places his faith in scientific rationalism, the teachers in education and humanism, and the hunters in hedonism. Among the Native peoples, too, there are clashes of belief. Some families are Christian, some are not. Even those in the novel who are drawn to shamanism demonstrate an understanding of Jesus that is richer than that shown by any of the non-Native characters. We begin to realize that the real conflicts arise from individual choices related to exploitation, greed, selfishness, misunderstandings of others — all of which have less to do with the precepts of any particular religion than with true practice of the precepts of these. Either way, we learn how dangerous it can be to delve into the supernatural carelessly, without understanding and preparation.

To a great extent, we watch tragedy unfold before us, brought about less by a clash of “great religions” than by refusal by all individuals involved to practice the moral precepts, common to these, to do good to one another. Instead, we find rejection of others, in both Native and non-Native settings, and as a result, alienation, confusion, and misunderstandings on multiple levels.These lead ultimately to loss of innocence, loss of culture, loss of family, loss of belief, loss of land, loss of life.

Yet, we are not left hopeless. Tragedy has not meant total destruction. This is also a novel about triumph over despair; maturity gained through pain; forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration made possible through acts of the will.

Flight of the Goose is a remarkable achievement. Its memorable characters, believable setting, and complex treatment of problems that face us all in a world of unavoidable change and contact, will haunt the reader long after the covers have been closed.

I ask that we join together in deep appreciation and thanks for Bob Edgar, the webmaster of this site and to all who volunteer their time to translate the Transmutation News.

The Transmutation News is now in German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Slovakian, and Dutch. All who do the translation do it out of love for the work and receive no compensation for their time. We do pray that they all receive compensation on many other levels.

And we give thanks to Eva Ruprechtsberger who has created a web and links to read the Transmutation News in other languages.


The full moon is January 14. Let’s strengthen our focus on gathering together as a world community to weave a web of light that goes within and around the earth. And let’s bring light to the entire web of life.

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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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