Transfiguration Ceremony

transfiguration ceremony 1200x630

Transfiguration Ceremony

Here is a transcript of a transfiguration ceremony I led for 400 people in Santa Fe in February of 2015. Please feel to use this ceremony among your friends, loved ones, and in your local community. You can use it as it is or make changes as you are guided to keep the ceremony relevant to the group you are working with.

We are spirit, if we allow our spiritual light to shine through, we become a healing presence.

Take a few deep breaths…….We do this for every living being and the Earth itself. (I whistled and rattled to begin and then started drumming.)

Take a few deep breaths and let your thoughts drift away.

As you breathe, place your hands on your heart, feel and get in touch with your heartbeat.

With our heartbeat let’s connect with the heartbeat of everyone in the room who have gathered together in behalf of all of life and the Earth.

Let us connect our heartbeat to the heartbeat of the spirit of the land where we are gathered and the helping ancestors who have loved this land so much and join in with us in our work. Connect with the heartbeat of Mother Earth.

We are body mind and spirit. When you let go of the body and your daily thoughts, your mind, who you are beyond your skin is spiritual light. Before we were born and just a little tiny light looking down on this great earth, we were excited about this incredible adventure of being born into a body and being spirit that can manifest spirit into form just like creator and the creative forces of the universe.

I invite you to travel inside to your inner world just imaging traveling within….. and experience your light. Our light is like the beauty of the night sky, our light is like a star, star light. Stars do not try to shine, they radiate through you, effortlessly and they don’t say I think I am only going to shine just on this one place on the earth. They do not send their light, they just shine.

Our light is like the sun……our spirit is like the sun that shines above us feeding all of life with the energy to thrive, unconditionally never asking for anything in return so you might choose to experience your own inner sunlight. Our light is like the flame of life, all of life.

Travel within yourself into your Inner World and experience yourself merging with a star or the sun or experiencing a flame and let that light radiate through you, absorb it into every single cell of your being like a flower that absorbs the sun or a flower, plant or tree that absorbs the rain and soak it in………………………………..

And now allow that light, it is an allowing process, without effort, let that light radiate through you, throughout this place let’s connect our lights together………………………….. Now experience that light radiating within and throughout this entire Earth touching all of life and when you feel like that light is radiating within and throughout the Earth. I invite you to stand with your hands, palms facing our Earth (I use a photo of the Earth for the group to focus on)…….and as you stand allow that light to effortlessly radiate through you while we tone together the sound of creation………….(For people who do not know how to tone I gave examples of Om or just singing a vowel and letting it flow into other vowels- o ah ooh eee)  whatever comes through you………………………….(group toning)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

(3 -4 chimes of chimes to signal it is time to stop toning and then the drumming faded out – I had people drumming with me so I could do the chimes while they faded out the drum. You could just stop the drumming and do some kind of bells or Tibetan bowl or other sound to signal the end of the toning.)

Take a few deep breaths and be aware of yourself, take a few deep breaths. While it is important to come back and be grounded it is important not to disconnect from our light because we are light.  As you still feel that light radiating through you, experience your body, and the preciousness of being in a body. It is such a gift to be here in a body and to live on this Earth.

Imagine deep roots going down into the earth, grounding you. As you do this feel yourself coming back feeling fully present. Feel your heartbeat still connected to the heartbeat of all life. We do this work for ourselves and we do it on behalf of the web of life and the earth itself. We can all be a presence of healing and create positive change for all of life and the planet

Ended ceremony and thanked everyone for coming.

Preparing for Ceremonial Work

preparing ceremonial work 1200x630

Setting Up An Altar

You can set up an altar in a space where you perform your shamanic work. This creates sacred space providing a path between the visible and invisible realms. On a table or on the floor, place a special piece of cloth or a small rug. Place on the cloth or rug some crystals or stones from nature, some flowers, or even a candle you can burn when doing sacred work. Creating sacred space supports your spiritual work. Some people like to burn sacred herbs such as sage, cedar, or sweet grass. You can find incense that assists in supporting a sacred state of consciousness.

I replace certain things on my altar with new sacred objects when I feel I need a reflection of a major shift I have made in my life. My altar changes as I change.

Go to your altar when you are sending out prayers or asking for healing. I place names of people who are asking for help on my altar. I return to my altar during times when I need some comfort.

Drumming, Rattling, Singing, and Dancing

Shamans leave their ordinary thoughts and day behind and go into an ecstatic state in order to be a vessel of the helping spirits and the healing and transformative energies of the invisible realms. These are ways you can prepare for your sessions and also for your continued ceremonial work.

To prepare for our ceremonial work try to do some activity or take some action that moves you from work and the daily activities of your day so you can move fully into the invisible realms. Even a symbolic act can be helpful like washing your face or hands. It is important to leave your ordinary world behind. This is so important before we perform our virtual ceremonies together to open to the true power that can come through us as hollow bones.

Here are some suggestions:

Put on a special scarf, shirt, piece of clothing that represents you are putting your ego aside and your day behind so that your spirit can shine through.

Light a candle. Cleanse yourself by burning some sacred herbs such as sage, sweetgrass, palo santo, or your favorite incense.

Sit in silence and meditate before performing your journeywork.

Take a walk in nature.

Drum or rattle and sing or dance until you feel like you have let go of your ordinary concerns. Shamans sing a variety of power songs that assist them in moving their ego/personality out of the way so the helpings spirits can work through them. This is why shamans are seen to be “hollow bones” or “empty reeds” while they are doing their healing, divination, and ceremonial work.

To get a power song you can take a walk in nature and just let your soul sing. A traditional way of getting a power song is to sit by a tree and hold an intention for a song to come. You can drum or rattle for yourself and let your soul sing. Please do not judge your ability to sing. It is our birthright to sing. Everything in nature that is alive sings!! Singing is a great way to prepare for your shamanic work, and it also makes you feel good.

It is difficult to journey after a big or heavy meal. Try eating lightly in order to have journeys that have more clarity. Alcohol makes journeys fuzzy. Please abstain from drinking alcohol before you journey or perform a ceremony.

These are just suggestions. Find ways to prepare for your work that assist you in becoming a clear vessel to bridge the beauty, power, and healing from the invisible into the tangible realms. Preparation is key to any successful ceremony!!

 

Welcoming, Honoring, and Greeting the Helping Spirits

When you call in and greet the helping spirits make sure you use the intention to call in Helping and Compassionate Spirits. You are not just calling in ANY SPIRITS.

It is so important for you to find your own way to welcome, honor, and greet your helping spirits. This is simple courtesy. You are inviting your helping spirits to work in partnership with you and you want to begin by greeting them. If you repeat an invocation by rote it will have no power. The helping spirits read your heart not your mind. Speak to them from your heart. This is an invocation I have used simply to give you an idea of a way to create your own invocations.

The following invocation is excerpted from Walking in Light: The Everyday Empowerment of Shamanic Life copyright 2014 Sandra Ingerman (Sounds True).

Take a few deep breaths and get comfortable. Think about a favorite place in nature that you enjoy visiting. This is a place of beauty, a place where you can relax and feel calm. It is a sacred place for you. Now imagine yourself in this place of peace and healing. Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Notice how your energy flows through your body. Place your hands on your heart and feel your heart opening with each breath in and breath out. Breathe out any disturbing thoughts and breathe in love. Breathe all the way down into your abdomen. Send the energy of your breath to any part of your body that feels tense and release the tension as you exhale. Notice the thoughts, feelings, sensations, and images that arise as you breathe. Notice the sounds around you as you breathe in and breathe out. And as you continue to breathe deeply, take a step back and leave your everyday life behind you for now.

Experience yourself standing in this sacred landscape as fully as you can right now. Open your senses to take in the beauty of the landscape you are standing in. Look around you.

     What plant life is here?

     Are there any animals?

     Are there any rocks or minerals?

     Is there a body of water?

     What is the quality of earth like?

     Are you in the mountains, or in a forest, in the desert, or on a beach?

     Is the sun shining?

     Are there clouds in the sky? What is the color of the sky?

     What are all the colors surrounding you? Drink in all the colors with your eyes.

     Feel yourself fully present in this landscape. Feel the earth beneath you.

     Feel the air on your skin. Is it warm or is it cold? Is the air moist or is it dry? Is the air still, are you being caressed by gentle breezes, or is the wind        blowing strong?

     Listen to the sounds of nature. Do you hear the sounds of any water, birdcalls, or animal noises? Do you hear the wind?

Take a very deep breath and breathe in the wonderful clean and fresh fragrances of this peaceful place. The fragrances might be ones you have smelled before bringing back happy memories, or they might be new to you.

 Feel yourself absorbing the life-giving light of the sun into all your cells. Feel the emotions that arise from being in such a sacred place filled with peace and beauty. Open your heart and feel love, peace, and gratitude within.

 As you open to your sensory awareness, experience your mind quieting and your energy expanding. Experience the peace and healing of this place. You are held in the loving arms of the power of the universe and life itself. You are not alone; you are part of a greater whole. The Earth has a heartbeat, and as you breathe deeply, you experience yourself becoming one with her heartbeat. As you feel the beat of your heart like the rhythm of a drumbeat, feel your heart pulse with love and gratitude for the beauty of nature and all it shares with you.

Begin by honoring the directions.

Honor and greet the East. The East represents the spring. It is the place of the rising sun always reminding you of new beginnings and the chance of unlimited possibilities.

Honor and greet the South, the season of summer. Give thanks for the protection you receive as you live your life from a state of love. The South can represent the direction of intuition and living from a state of awe and wonder as you did as a child.

Honor and greet the West, the season of autumn and the direction of the setting sun. The West teaches you about the power of death and rebirth. There is always the new that comes from letting go of what no longer serves you.

Honor and greet the North, the season of winter. Give thanks for the wisdom that is shared from your ancestral spirits.

Honor and greet the sky above and the earth below, and acknowledge that you bridge the great powers of Heaven and Earth through your open heart. Honor your inner divine spirit that is a reflection of the creator.

Next, give thanks to the spirit of the Earth who provides you with beauty and the nurturance to thrive.

Feel gratitude for the living being we call air, which is the first living being who welcomed you into the world as you took your first breath. Air is your constant companion as you are always in connection with it as you breathe. And air teaches you about your connection with all of life as you share some of your DNA as you breathe out and breathe in the DNA of others.

Send your gratitude to water. There is no life without water. Water held you while you were growing in your mother’s womb and then escorted you into the world. Water fills your cells with life-giving nurturance.

Greet and give thanks to the sun for the energy you need to thrive. The sun reminds you of the passion for life and reflects back to you the divine light that shines within. The sun is a teacher of unconditional giving, for it gives without asking for anything in return.

Honor, greet, and give thanks to the moon and the stars for sharing beauty and wisdom and for providing you with guidance. You honor the moon and stars by shining your light reflecting the beauty of the night sky.

Breathe out love to all the living beings who live in the elements, the spirit that lives in all things. Honor the animals, birds, insects, fish, reptiles, trees, plants, minerals, and rocks.

Honor, greet, and give thanks to the spirit of the helping ancestors who have sacrificed much so that you may live a life filled with peace, harmony, love, light, and abundance.

Acknowledge, honor, greet, and give thanks to the Hidden Folk who are the fairies, elves, little people, and forest guardians who remind you of the magic of life. These nature spirits caretake the Earth and love it so. Give thanks to the Spirit of the Land where you live for providing you with a home.

Give thanks to all the helping spirits who continue to share their wisdom, healing, and unconditional love. Give thanks to them for lighting your path, leading to a deep, rich, and joyful life.

Ending and Closing

ceremonial work closing 1200x630

Make sure you return fully from your journeys/meditation/ceremonial work. If you journey while performing a ceremony retrace your steps slowly back into the room you are journeying in. If you do not feel fully grounded then please repeat the return. You can do this by replaying the return beat on the CD you are listening to. If you are drumming or rattling you can drum or rattle the return beat again. Or you can find two sticks and just click the sticks together as you slowly return from the invisible realms feeling fully grounded and back.

After finishing a journey or ceremony you can do a meditation where you experience your body fully connecting with the earth. Imagine sitting with a tree and feel yourself rooting into the earth like a tree has deep roots connecting it to the earth. The stronger the roots the stronger the tree.

When you complete a journey or ceremony thank all the helping and compassionate spirits who joined in the work. Let them know your work is done. They already know this but it is simple courtesy to thank and close the circle.

 

Transmutation News – May 2020

transmutation news may 2020 1200x630

In 2000 I began teaching a workshop internationally titled Medicine for the Earth and Healing with Spiritual Light. This work ended up being so powerful for so many who learned that this work not only heals us individually and also showed through scientific experiments how we could transmute toxins in our environment.

In introducing the work, I always share that there are two phases. There is the personal work we need to do to change unhealthy habitual patterns of how we act in the world. There are shadow states, anger, fear, old wounds that live in all of us. And as we live our lives we want to heal from our past and become the best people we can be. There are daily spiritual practices we must perform to transform our state of consciousness so that we treat ourselves and all of life with kindness, honor, and respect.

The second phase of the work is the ceremonial work that we can join together to perform. Ceremonies are the shaman’s vehicle for creating change. But performing ceremonies without integrating the daily personal work you need to do will not be successful in getting good results. Doing the personal work to transform yourself into a more evolved person and performing ceremonies as you work is the perfect combination to actually see successful results.

People’s lives have been changed in a positive way from doing this work. And students continue to communicate with me via email and through social media that they cannot tell me how well they are riding the current wave of change we are in due to the corona virus in ways that they feel calm yet empowered. They are just loving engaging in the practices daily.

As I shared last month one teaching in shamanism is epidemics are birthed through the flooding of the collective with negative thought forms. And as I wrote last month, we have had such a string of trauma that has triggered pretty much all of humanity. We don’t all agree, but we are doing a great job shooting poison darts into the collective negatively impacting all of life.

We have been doing our work, but this is time to really step up our minute-to-minute practices, so our lives are filled with sacred acts such as bringing ceremony into how you cook, clean, communicate with others, and so on. Everything in life is a ceremony. Perform your ceremonies with consciousness.

I found myself before the corona virus needing a lot of alone time and quiet time. By the time we were in isolation I realized I have been in isolation for a long time

I have needed time to listen to my soul. My own inner voice, my body, my heart. It has become so loud “out there” that I can’t hear my voice anymore. So, I spend every free minute in silence. Just to meditate and be with my own thoughts. Such inspiration comes through when I do this. I also felt like I had lost my own sense of flow. Finding flow is critical to good health on every level. And then I feel my own strength and don’t get lost in the wild collective states people are immersing themselves in right now.

may 2020 1200x630

A key to our survival will be listening to the wealth of information coming through you – not others.

I do as part of my work in the world glance at Facebook. I have been so inspired by the wealth of wisdom the native people from different shamanic cultures are sharing right now.

And what touches me the most is how all the information matches what each elder from different tribes are bringing through. The guidance was brought through from being in all night ceremonies for nights.

Life is a ceremony. A ceremony performed for a few minutes without building a strong relationship with nature and the helping spirits simply falls flat.

Create a sacred life. Honor your life throughout the day. Be diligent with emanating love, Light, kindness, honor, and respect to all that is alive. This is just one action we can take to heal the field of energy we created.

In the 1980’s I was woken up in the middle of the night by a loud booming voice. The voice shook my entire room. The message of the Voice was “Humans have been looking for God outside of themselves for 2000 years and the next 2000 years humans will be looking for God within”.

I definitely felt the truth in this message and of course can see so many on this inner journey.

It was interesting that the voice returned 2 years ago. My husband and I were booking an adventure. As we were filling out the paperwork, I heard that same voice say, “You won’t be there.”

We do get important practical information if we learn to listen.

It is so powerful to bring transfiguration ceremonies to your loved ones and your community. If you click on the button for The Transmutation News you find a transcript of a transfiguration ceremony I led for four hundred people. Feel free to use it to bring this vital work into your community. Adapt it or use it as it is.

The full moon is May 7. Let’s step up the frequency of our work. Certain harmful energies cannot live in higher frequencies. Fill yourself with your divine light, absorb it into every cell, and then radiate this brilliant light and frequency to all of life.

If you are new to reading The Transmutation News please read Creating A Human Web of Light on the homepage.

Stay well and filled with light.

Transmutation News – December 2019

transmutation news december 2019 1200x630

On December 21 we flow into a new season as well as moving quickly to the end of the year. We greet winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere. What a ride this year has been.

In truth we have no control to stop a change in seasons. We also have no control on where life will eventually take us.

But do you notice how much we fight against where the flow of life and the river of life is taking us to.

What if we are being asked to let go of trying to control changing flows and cycles, and we embrace the flow knowing it will lead us to a beautiful place. This takes unconditional trust in life and in the process of evolution. We can continue to fight, try to control, and resist the flow of life. But we cannot control where the river of life is taking us to.

Our primal life force is moving us in a way it has been programmed to. But what if we can add consciousness to our life force.

We will still flow with the river of life. But using the ancient teachings of bringing consciousness to energy is a way to also transform any energy we meet during our ride. The flow keeps leading us to greater states of awareness, spiritual abilities, and how we can work in partnership with where life is taking us instead of kicking and screaming all the way.

Adding consciousness to primal life force energy will be my exploration in the coming year as I had such a powerful visionary experience of what is possible.

During this time of the solstice reflect on the great turning and the flow of life. Really ask your soul by spending time in nature, using journeying, or meditation to reflect on where you are fighting, resisting, and trying to control where the flow of life is taking you to. For like the changing seasons we have no control over where the flow of life is leading us.

On the solstice perform a ceremony to release old energetic patterns allowing you to enter into this next season of life. Perform a releasing ceremony of your controlling behavior. Call in your helping and compassionate spirits to help you in this. There is a wealth of divine and transcendent forces that are welcoming you into their protection as you drop the false beliefs that your ego or personality can control the flow of life.

Reflect on the old stories that have been anchoring you to the past. Also reflect on the projections others have put onto you covering up your passion for life, your beauty, and internal divine light.

What stories do you wish to carry into the New Year? Perform ceremonies to release the stories and projections that no longer serve you. Spend time in nature filling yourself with colors, images, fragrances, sounds, feelings, and tastes that are absorbed into your landscape. When you do this true beauty is what you will see whenever you open your eyes. This is the field of energy you want to embrace for the New Year!

If you need ideas for ways to design a ceremony please read my book The Book of Ceremony: Invoking the Sacred into Everyday Life.

 

Once you relax into the flow you will notice more beauty and peace flowing into your life.

The flow will continue to move you in ways that are beyond your imagination and understanding.

Embrace the flow of life and all of its twists and turns. Let’s return to a state of awe and wonder as we watch the beauty and perfection of the path unfold before our eyes.

The full moon is on December 12. Let’s start with our preparation work and then journey deep within to our spiritual light that is eternal and immortal. This light has the ability to transform all that is put in our path. As we radiate our light as a global community, we step into the role of truly being in service to all of life and the Earth.

Let’s join our light and spiritual strength together to weave a radiant and luminescent light within and throughout the Earth.

If you are a new reader of the Transmutation News please read Creating A Human Web of Light on the homepage of this site.

As this year is spiraling into a new year, I want to take this opportunity to thank our translators who continue to engage in so much work to bring The Transmutation News to our global community.

Let us join our hearts together and radiate and emanate love, light, and deep appreciation to all who help to bring the Transmutation News into our mailboxes each month.

Please join me in thanking Sylvia Edwards who pulls together what I wrote into a beautiful format for all to read each month.

And let’s give a heartfelt thanks to our translators:

Petr Němčanský   – Czech
Tea Thum –  Finnish
Carole Laplante  – French
Bea Salgado – French
Barbara Gramlich  – German
Astrid Johnen  – German
Nello Ceccon – Italian   
Flavia Cavallaro – Italian
Els de Graaff – Nederlands
Sandra Koning – Nederlands
Sofia Frazoa – Portuguese
Tatiana Starikova – Russian
Ines Fermoso  – Spanish 
Lena Anderheim – Swedish   
Simin Uysal  – Turkish

Please join me in holding our circle in love during the solstice. May your ceremonies be filled with joy as we honor the Earth, the elements, and all of life during this powerful time of change of dismemberment and rememberment.

Transmutation News – November 2019

transmutation news november 2019 1200x630

Over the years I have mostly used two metaphors to describe much of what I teach and write about.

In recent years I have been writing about building an inner landscape/inner garden filled with beauty, love, light, and harmony so that your inner world informs you on a new perception of life.

In years past, when I wrote A Fall to Grace in 1997, I kept referring back to the river of life. For in reality, we are all flowing down the river of life through the smooth and turbulent waves. We often disturb our flow by trying to move against the river of life resisting the flow of nature. We hold onto our outcomes and judgements that keep rocking our boat preventing us from surrendering to the flow of life. And we often try to follow the flow of others journeys instead of letting go to our own flow.

In October I had very deep visionary experiences as I am still feeling a need to go deep within and reflect on all that is happening in my life and in the world.

It is so evident to me that I stepped out of my own flow as I entered into the chaotic flow of others and the collective. I experienced how water carves out rocks into amazing beings of beauty. But there cannot be any resistance to the sculpting process as it is all part of life and evolution.

I witnessed how I lost my connection with the heartbeat of the Earth as I allowed myself to keep up the frantic pace that has removed me from the true vibration of the Earth and nature. For nature’s frequency and vibration is actually quite slow. This moving too fast in life is impacting the power of our work as our speed has removed us from the flow of the river of life.

I love ice cream, so the helping spirits gave me a fun metaphor to describe the initiation experiences we are all going through. They said we have been put into ice cream makers to churn us into new flavors. This initiatory and evolutionary experience brings us fuller into the beautiful river of life with all its twists and turns.

I was told to return my energy into a harmonious flow I should carve out some time every day to relax into the true rhythm of the Earth. The guidance was to drum everyday versus listening to drumming. What was shared is that all the drumming tracks we listen to actually creates a disembodied experience. It is important to really connect with the vibration of the drum which then connects me to the true heartbeat of the Earth.

I was shown that all the initiations we are going through are to help us move with how the Earth is evolving. I had the beautiful experience of speaking to the Earth as she shared with me her next step of evolution.

The Earth told me that she is moving into a more luminescent body with less density so that eventually she will be very balanced as a light filled form. Everything in nature including humans will be more luminous and a lot less dense. What this will do is transform us into beings who are equal light and form allowing us to flow more gracefully and shifting our consciousness to a new way of being.

These are just some of the insights I have been getting. This is a very rich time for me on a spiritual level.

november 2019 1200x630

Reflect on what I shared about flow and rhythm. Does this speak to you? If it does, drop into your inner knowing and make changes to your life that allow you to move freely with the river of life. Look at how you resist the natural flow. Find your own rhythm and truth and stop trying to compare your experience. For you are in your own unique flow.

Allow the river of life to take you to a place that your mind cannot embrace yet, but your spirit knows. Let your heart and life be your river guide.

In November many people celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. Let’s make every day a day of thanks for our lives and for of all of life.

The full moon is on November 12. Reflect on what I shared about a new Earth forming – one less dense in form. Keep up your transfiguration practice to allow yourself to drop into your luminous being. Slow down when you perform your spiritual work, so you are aligned and attuned to nature and the heartbeat of the Earth. Radiate your light and let it flow freely embracing all of life and the Earth.

If you are a new reader of The Transmutation News please visit Creating A Web of Light on the homepage to read the instructions for our full moon ceremony.

Life is a ceremony. Ceremony is a sacred act. Let’s bring back the sacred into how we live our lives.

Copyright 2019 Sandra Ingerman. All rights reserved.

Transmutation News – August 2019

transmutation news august 2019 1200x630

I was offline in July. I went on a pilgrimage to be in nature and be immersed in beauty. Whenever we immerse ourselves in beauty we step into a new dimension of life. Due to my time away, I ended up writing both the July and August Transmutation News at the same time so I would not need to skip a month.

For the August Transmutation News, I decided to share just a portion of the chapter I wrote in The Book of Ceremony: Shamanic Wisdom for Invoking the Sacred in Everyday Life on the topic of honorable closure in which I share ceremonies to honor endings in our lives and also to honor our loved ones who died.

In times of such environmental challenges as we are dealing with right now, we can also perform ceremonies to honor the beings in nature who have died. These can be our precious pets, or nature beings in our locale, or in other places on the planet.

We grieve for all species we are impacting as humans forget to honor all that is alive and how they contribute to the web of life. By honoring their life and death is a way to create honorable closure. This helps with our own grief. But most importantly honors all of life.

Adaptations for Honoring Death

You can use adaptations and improvise on the ceremonies I shared to honor the death of a pet, an animal from the wild, species who have died in mass, trees, a plant, and so on. Every living being on the planet should be honored while it is alive and once it transitions.

Burying a Pet

If you perform a burial ceremony for a beloved pet, you can place food and maybe a bit of water or milk in the grave. Share words of love for this precious animal who was a family member. Then raise your arms while wishing your pet a loving journey home that is filled with light, love, grace, and ease.

Plant Ceremony

I wish I had a green thumb, but I love plants and grow many.

I actually created a plant graveyard in an isolated part of my land. I bring the deceased plant to the graveyard. I thank it for sharing its beauty in my home and on the Earth and wish it a good journey home. I apologize for anything that I did that did not support its life by overwatering or not being able to provide optimal growing conditions. I leave offerings of blue corn meal.

I visit my plant graveyard frequently to pay my respects. Yes, I am a bit of an eccentric.

Honoring Trees

When a tree dies on my property, I visit with it. I thank it for the beauty and grace that it shared with all of life on this great Earth while wishing it a good journey home. I leave an offering of blue corn meal in honor of its life.

I have received quite a bit of correspondence from people who were once loggers. They feel so much guilt about killing beautiful and oftentimes ancient trees. I share the ceremony I do with my trees. You can perform the same ceremony for a mountainside where logging has occurred. You might not be able to talk to each tree individually, but you can stand in the affected area.

After preparing, say what is your heart to the deceased trees, even if they have been removed. Drum rattle, sing, and/or dance while praying in your own way that the trees have a good journey home. Thank them for their beautiful and powerful presence on the Earth. Leave heartfelt offerings. This same ceremony can be performed for trees lost in a blight or during a forest fire.

Honoring Environmental Losses

There are sad events that we are witnessing where many die due to pollution in the land, air, and water where they live or during an environmental disaster. Climate change and war have created tragic situations for humans and all living beings. Floods, fires, earthquakes, tornados, and other disasters can force living beings to flee their homes and lose their lives. Even more heartbreaking is the mass extinction of so many precious species who could no longer survive in their natural environment.

There is such a power in performing ceremonies for living beings who have suffered devastation, whether these are human communities, animal and plant populations, or species lost to extinction.

You can perform a ceremony inside or outside to honor those who died. Thank them for the energetic signature they shared with the web of life and the beauty and preciousness they brought to the Earth. Say what is in your heart. Drum, rattle, sing, or perform your ceremony in silence as you honor the beings that have transitioned.

Since these are issues that affect us as a global community, you may find many people who want to join you. Performing local ceremonies or global virtual ceremonies helps us honor the lives lost and create a graceful journey home back to Source.

Virtual Ceremonies for Honorable Closure

A powerful way to work is by using the virtual altar that I suggest in my book. You can create an altar room in a journey. Travel to the altar room alone or with a group. You can bring your group together remotely by phone or online. The leader should do most of the speaking in the ceremony, since cross-talk is even more disruptive over electronic connections.

Lead the group to the altar room using a guided meditation or journey. Be cleansed by loving guardian spirits while leaving your ordinary thoughts and burdens behind. Gather at the altar cloth and greet each other. You might use a shamanic instrument and sing and dance to begin and end your ceremony.

Take turns to share words and feelings. Once the sharing is complete, reach your arms up to the sky and wish the beings who have transitioned a good journey home. Thank the helping spirits.

Travel home. Take time to share your experience of doing this powerful and heartwarming work. Some members of the group might have received spiritual messages of love to share from the beings you honored.

august 2019 1200x630

Spontaneous Ceremonies

You might witness an accident or a traumatic event or come across the body of a deceased animal.

Many shamanic practitioners carry offerings in their car or on their person for such an event. At the scene of an accident, say a prayer for those impacted and leave an offering on the land. With a creature found dead on the road or while walking in nature, you might, say prayers of honor and respect for its life and gracing this earth with its presence, leave an offering, and even bury it in a ceremonial way if the situation allows.

While grieving any death, we often feel heartbroken. Though this is painful, it gives our hearts the opportunity to open, expand, and embrace more compassion.

Honoring Grief

In shamanic cultures, ceremonies were performed to honor the transition of a community member. But ceremonies could also serve to honor the grief of loved ones. Grief has its own process. We go through different phases of grief. Ceremonies might not heal grief immediately, but they can begin a process that is an important passage in life.

All of life grieves. Even animals, trees, plants, birds, and so on grieve the death of a partner. Each individual’s grief has its own timeframe. Whether it takes days, months, or years to heal from grief, honoring the process through ceremony can help us through each step on the journey.

I feel strongly that it is important to honor the death of the nature beings we so love. It holds them in love and creates a field of energy of honor and respect. This makes a huge difference for all beings who are part of our web of life and contribute so much to all of us.

The full moon is August 15. Let us continue to build a strong relationship with the moon. Request to step into the moon’s field of energy. Keep building your relationship with the moon so you feel as if the moon is part of your family. Learn about its exponential power to support us in our work. Take time to prepare before performing your sacred ceremonial work to transfigure. Allow your inner divine light to flow while emanating unconditional love for all of life. Let’s continue weaving a brilliant web of light within and throughout the Earth touching all of life.

If you are a new reader of The Transmutation News please read Creating A Human Web of Light for the instructions of our full moon ceremonies.

 

Copyright 2019 Sandra Ingerman.  All rights reserved.

Transmutation News – July 2017

transmutation news july 2017 1200x630

I have been diving deep into the writing process of my new book on how to design and perform ceremonies. It is being published by Sounds True in the fall of 2018. That is the scheduled publication date for now. But I suspect the book might be published earlier.

I have so enjoyed writing the book, and it has brought back such incredible memories of performing ceremonies with groups for over 35 years. Participating in ceremonies at my workshops are not only some of the happiest memories of teaching, but also have produced positive and miraculous healings for so many. The healings that have occurred have been beyond my imagination showing that joining with the power of the unseen worlds does work to create positive change for us personally and globally.

Performing ceremonies is a way for our inner divine to commune with the divine forces in the universe to make our prayers for healing and blessings so.

I feel this is an important book for the times we live in. For in our modern world people often fear performing ceremonies and relate them to dogmatic teachings that many experienced while being raised in different religious traditions.

But in reality, ceremony is a magical process (in the highest sense of the word) where we can work in partnership with our helping spirits and divine forces to change the dream we are dreaming for ourselves and all of life.

When I wrote my book How to Thrive in Changing Times (now titled The Shaman’s Toolkit) I wrote about the science of neuroplasticity and how it teaches us to change our brain chemistry by shifting the negative thoughts we focus on to holding a positive vision.

I started to use the principles of neuroplasticity as I shifted how I performed soul retrievals. For so many clients who come for shamanic healing are stuck in a trauma loop, and I felt based on the science of the brain we can help people shift out of this loop to be inspired that health and joy is possible in their lives.

My power animal, who works with me in all my healing work, encouraged me to move away from talking about past traumas to focusing on sharing healing stories that would start to create new neural pathways in the brain. New neural pathways are created by thinking about the positive things in life.

I started sharing healing stories with my clients about the gifts, talents, strengths that their lost essence returns with during a soul retrieval. I also started talking to clients about “soul” being “essence” which is light. And after performing my healing work I began the process of asking clients to absorb the light of their soul into their cells before even telling them any story I was shown in my journey. This led me to write a new Afterword in my book Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self.  For I felt working with telling healing stories instead of embedding the story of the trauma deeper into the client’s psyche was such an important factor in creating true and long-term healing. And I found when I shifted to this way of working the results of my soul retrieval work became more powerful.

This is not about denying that we have all suffered different forms of trauma. But unless we stop carrying our past around we do not have the opportunity to create a better life for ourselves. Last month I wrote about how carrying our past burdens can become too heavy for us on physical and emotional levels and can create illness.

The principle of changing brain chemistry, by shifting our looping thoughts, was what prompted and inspired me to create the Transmutation App. For the app is a way to stop and reflect on our thoughts and help to create positive energy by looking at the Library on the app to be inspired by an encouraging word, blessing, phrase or uplifting photo.

Although I created the app a few years ago I still use it everyday. The sound of bells, a Tibetan bowl, or chimes alert me to stop every two hours to reflect on what I am thinking about and transform any negative thoughts and dreams I am imagining to something I do want to see manifest in my life.

Now every website I visit, interview I listen to, books I see advertised are all talking about neuroplasticity. It is really a powerful form of healing, but as with all powerful ways of working it takes discipline.

I am finding that many people are in such despair about what is happening on the planet that they simply do not have the energy to engage in spiritual practices. For the challenges being experienced seem so overwhelming and more people are feeling hopeless and powerless. Of course there are many people who feel their power returning as they are becoming social activists and deepening their spiritual work.

In the times we are living in only focusing on the challenges and what is not working is perpetuating the bad dream that we are imagining. For when we imagine things so completely we bring them to life.

As always, I will encourage you to use the gift of your imagination to change your brain chemistry and start creating neural pathways. Yes, it takes work, but it is how we will change our lives and that of the planet.

We must continue to step into the new dream we want to live and engage all of our senses of seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, and tasting. We need to step into the dream as if we are living our new life now and live from the dream. In this way, we start to shift what we are calling into being through our imaginations.

Performing ceremonies embraces all the teachings of neuroplasticity and helps to change our psyche. Performing ceremonies is a wonderful tool to help you shift your thinking and visioning. Journey or meditate on a short ceremony you can perform inside or outdoors to release what is burdening you from you past. And then you can perform a blessing ceremony to commune with divine forces to invite in a new vision, a new way of life for yourself and the world.

I think that performing ceremonies alone or with a group has great power to transform our lives and the world we live in. And this is why ceremonial work was performed so widely by shamans around the world for thousands of years. It was a way to change thinking and to call in harmony for the community.

We have so many tools to use right now to be in service to the planet. We just have to make a choice to break out of the trance we fall into as we watch or read the news and listen to the media. This just leads to feeding the negative thoughts we keep looping. We have to choose to break this pattern and use our imaginations to envision, live, and manifest a different dream.

And the practice of transfiguration is such a powerful way to change our own health and well being. Transfiguration is also a way to heal our environment, all of life, and the Earth.

The full moon is July 9. The full moon is a powerful time to perform ceremonial work as spiritual work is magnified during this time.

Perform your preparation work so that you are not carrying your ordinary thoughts and concerns into the sacred space of our collective. We want our collective energies to be positive and safe for our community to join into.

Travel inside through journeying or meditation and experience your divine light flowing through you while it weaves together with the light of our global community within and throughout the Earth.

If you are a new reader of the Transmutation News please read “Creating A Human Web of Light” on the homepage for the instructions for our ceremony.

 

Copyright 2017 Sandra Ingerman.  All rights reserved.

Transmutation News – June 2017

transmutation news june 2017 1200x630

We continue to hold all who are impacted by challenging environmental and political events in love and light. We continue to perform our spiritual work from the deepest place of our soul to change the vibration of the collective consciousness. It is important to keep our focus on the spiritual work we need to do to make a difference in the world. There has never been a more important time in our lifetime to stand together.

I have been receiving a number of emails and Facebook messages from people all over the world requesting prayers for different environmental issues in cities, local areas where spiritual help is needed. This is why I share the transfiguration practice and Medicine for the Earth work so widely. For we need communities of people to gather locally to perform transfiguration ceremonies in desperate need of assistance.

Together we celebrate the solstice on June 21. In the Northern Hemisphere we cycle into summer while the Southern Hemisphere cycles into Winter.

The solstice is a powerful time for us to do some work together.

In April, I was a guest on Michael Stone’s New Moon call. He creates the calls to talk to a guest presenter about a deep subject on spiritual practice, and then the guest on the show facilitates a ceremony.

I am using an adaptation of the ceremony I shared during my presentation for all of us to gather as a global circle to bless our community on this solstice. For it is important for us to receive the blessings of love and light to support us in keeping up the practices we are doing together. We might have different beliefs about what is happening in the world, but we come together out of love for the Earth and all of life.

On the solstice begin with your preparation work so that you are not taking into the unseen realms your thoughts and what anchors you to ordinary reality. When you are ready join in the ceremony I have written up.

You might want to put on a favorite drumming or shamanic music track that can support you while you perform the ceremony. You can also drum, rattle, sing and dance, after you have read the ceremony a few times, and continue to work in your own way.

Start by placing your hands on your heart. Think about something in life that you are in awe and wonder of. We all have something that is precious to us. Maybe it is your favorite flower or another nature being. What is your favorite fragrance or your favorite taste? What are your favorite sounds? Place what is special to you in your heart.

Breathe into your heart. As you breathe, imagine yourself stepping away from your ordinary thoughts and your concerns for now. It is such a privilege to have the opportunity to join together as a dedicated, collective, in service to life and the Earth. Use your imagination to experience yourself stepping into a loving circle. Breathe deeply and connect to your heartbeat.

Connect to the heartbeat of the Earth. We are always connected to the Earth’s heartbeat. Connect to the spirit of the land where you live. The more you connect with the land where you live, the more gracefully your life will flow. As you connect with the helping ancestral spirits of the land you live on your ceremonial work will be more fluid and successful.

Feel the power, love, and the spiritual light of our virtual circle. We can’t see each other, but we can feel the presence of each other with our non-ordinary senses. Feel the power, the love, and the spiritual light flowing through you. From your heart, let’s welcome each other. No matter how you are feeling right now, no matter what is going on in your life you are welcome in our circle.

We welcome and greet our helping compassionate spirits and the spirit of earth, air, water, and fire. We greet the spirit that lives in all things as well as the moon and the stars. We know the creative power of the words we use. Words are seeds, and what you plant grows. With your words you bless yourself, loved ones, others, and all of life and the planet.

It is also well understood that thoughts are things. Our thoughts feed into the dreams that manifest in our physical world.

Close your eyes and focus on your heart.

Imagine yourself standing up from the place that you are journeying or meditating in. Step out of your front door. As you do this, imagine yourself lifting a veil between the ordinary world to the power of the unseen and the invisible realms.  As you lift the veil between the worlds, you step out onto a beautiful path in nature.

As you walk the path you might be surrounded by trees or find yourself walking through another beautiful landscape. Feel the earth beneath you. As you walk reach down and touch the soil, the earth, or the sand, and feel its texture. As you continue to walk, gaze upon the beauty of nature that surrounds your path. Observe the greenery, the rocks, the animal beings, the insects, the flowers, and other nature beings.

What a gift to live on this amazing planet. What a gift to be in community working through our personal and planetary challenges together. No matter how dark we feel as we walk the path there is always light ahead. In nature, there is always the darkness and the light. There is always death and then rebirth. There is the dissolution and then the illumination.

Continue to walk this path. Take a deep breath and smell the fragrances. Listen to the sounds of nature and even taste the air. Notice how you are feeling right now as you do this. Acknowledge that you are getting ready to stand together in community with openhearted people like yourself.

You come to a meadow where you are greeted by guardian spirits waiting for you. As you are greeted by one of the guardian spirits he or she will spiritually cleanse you. The guardian spirit might use incense to cleanse you or a feather to wipe away anything that needs to be cleared. Before you move into sacred and holy space, you have to let go of your burdens for any ceremony to be successful. As you are cleansed, you will notice that there is a powerful fire burning in the middle of this meadow. Enter into a circle forming around the fire. You might be drumming, rattling, singing, dancing, or you might be silent.

Smell the fire burning and listen to the crackling of the fire. As we stand together in the circle, let’s take a moment to look around and gaze into each other eyes, see the light, and feel the love of every person in our circle. We have gathered outside of time to bless each other, to stand strong together in unity and in love for ourselves, for all of life and the Earth. You will notice that on the ground there are offering bowls and exquisite flowers. Fire is a living being and intelligent and is reading your heart and soul right now. Fire knows your wishes.

You will notice that there are bowls filled with sticks that have yarn wrapped around them. Walk up to one of the bowls and pick up a stick that has yarn of your favorite color. Notice what color that you have picked, what it means to you, and how it makes you feel on a cellular level. Now, travel within and imagine a word whose vibration holds beauty, power, and love. The vibration will travel up into the universe and will manifest back on the Earth.

Every word that holds the frequency of love, light, and unity is perfect. It is a word of blessing, a gift that you want to contribute to our community. Blow the power of this word into your prayer stick. As you do that, walk up to the fire and put your prayer stick in the flames with the intention of blessing yourself, our community who has gathered together, all of life, and the Earth.

As you place your prayer stick into the fire, the fire will take this blessing up to the creative forces of the universe. The universe will join you in partnership in this blessing ceremony. Once you place your prayer stick into the fire you will notice there are sacred herbs to put into the fire in thanks and gratitude. Place some herbs into the fire in gratitude, and come back into the circle. Gaze into the eyes of each person, seeing their light shining through them. Experience the vibration of unity.

Let the love and light you are feeling flow. Now I ask that as you look around the circle you state out loud the same word you chose to bless our circle.  I will join you as you do this as I share the words “exquisite”, “magic”, and “luminescence”. Then let’s hold hands, and continue to feel the power of love and light flowing through our entire circle.

june 2017 1200x630

As humans, we are the bridge between the earth and the sky. We bridge the power of the universe through our hearts. Feel the love flowing. Let us be that bridge of love as we stand strong together in service to the planet. Once again, look at the beauty of the fire and of nature. It is now time for us to take our leave. Let’s give thanks to our circle, and drop hands.

Turn around and start to walk back down the beautiful path in nature into the room that you are journeying or meditating in. Thank the helping spirits who we called in, who have supported our work, and who have held each of us in unconditional love. Return to the room that you are journeying or meditating in. Step through the veil of the unseen realms into your ordinary space. Notice how you feel right now. Make sure you feel grounded, making sure you feel deep roots connecting you with the earth. Take some deep breaths and open your eyes. Our work is done for now.

You might choose to put the word of blessing onto your altar continuing to bless our circle and hold us all in love.

We join our hearts together to wish you a glorious solstice!

If you would like to listen to the interview and conversation I had with Michael Stone and/or listen to the live ceremony as I drummed and sang for the group please click on the link below. Michael does these free calls each month and you can learn more if you are interested.

Here is the link for the New Moon call. https://im332.infusionsoft.com/app/form/sandra-recording-signup

The full moon is June 9. There is so much going on in the world today that needs our attention and love. Let us drop into our Inner World and experience the depth of our divine light. Feel it being absorbed in all your cells so you are being healed by it. Let it continue to flow effortlessly connecting your light to the inner starlight radiating through our entire global community. Let’s radiate that light within and throughout the Earth touching every precious being in the web of life.

For new readers of the Transmutation News please read “Creating a Human Web of Light” for instructions of our full moon ceremony.

We have two new volunteer translators who will help to bring the Transmutation News to communities who do not speak English. Bea Salgado is joining Carole LaPlante in translating the column into French. And Jorjette Cristescu is now translating the Transmutation News in Romanian. Let us join our hearts together to give deep thanks and gratitude for helping us to expand our circle. And let us share blessings with them for their generosity of spirit as translating this column each month is a lot of work.

Copyright 2017 Sandra Ingerman. All rights reserved.

Transmutation News – April 2016

transmutation news april 2016 1200x630

We can still wake up from the current destructive dreams that the collective is dreaming into being. But this will take a tremendous amount of mental concentration and focus. This kind of mental energy needed to change the dream is a dormant skill or does not always come naturally for people living in a busy modern-day culture.

Steps can be taken to sharpen our concentration and focus. And nature is such a great teacher to help us exercise spiritual “powers” within that have gone dormant. I cannot encourage you enough to spend more time in nature to heal, increase your level of awareness, and to learn how to tap into your own psychic gifts. Spend time in nature and start to use the practice of Deep Listening to learn what the earth, air, water, and fire have to share with us at this critical time on the planet.

Before you do any journey work or meditation make sure you prepare so that you can step away from your ordinary thoughts and daily activities. You have to pull up the “anchors” to your ordinary thoughts to go deep enough to access the guidance and perform spiritual practices needed to create true change and transformation.

This month I invite everyone to perform a shamanic journey or meditation to a territory in the invisible realms called the “Land of Dreams”. You can put on some expansive music and listen and just dive into your own inner landscape to find this territory. Once you arrive in this landscape request to meet a master or mistress teacher of dreams. With the assistance of this teacher ask to be shown what you are daydreaming into being. Watch your current daydreams all the way through to see the final outcome they lead to. This is a truly enlightening practice. Consult with this wise helping spirit and, ask to be shown what you and also the collective are dreaming into being by the use of your imagination. Once again consult with this helping spirit and ask for practices to use concentration and focus to shift what you daydream about during the day. We truly do use our imagination to create the dream we are living in. If we are not willing to use our concentration, focus, and imagination to shift the dream we are living in then you can see the path ahead. There will be no surprises. We must step up our dreaming work as a collective. We have important work to do as dreamers, and the work can’t wait.

Honoring our dreaming work, let’s perform a simple ceremony this month. Choose a day to perform this when you can hold a relaxed but focused attitude, close your eyes and begin to travel into the invisible realms. As we have done in the last couple of months, walk the path from the room you are journeying or meditating in. You might find yourself walking down a path that is surrounded by tall, beautiful, strong, and healthy trees. The earth you walk on is fine and you are stepping on rich dark soil. You can feel your footsteps making an impression on the earth. As you walk you listen to the beauty of the sounds in nature and take in the exquisite fragrances shared by the local trees, plants, and air which give us life. Is there grass growing? What other nature beings are in this place? You can even experience how the air tastes. Notice if there is a body of water in this place, and if you can hear running water. Feel the power of the sun as it is setting, and the stars and moon above start to shine their beautiful light.

As you walk feel your heartbeat and just notice what you are feeling. We have taken the time to open our hearts in love to each other. Feel your connection to a family of like-minded souls who do everything possible to be in service to others and to the Earth.

As you continue to walk you arrive at a large clearing. Use your imagination to see, feel, hear, smell, and taste all that is around you in this clearing. Step fully into this clearing rather than watching your journey/meditation/daydream as if it was a movie. Be here now. Give thanks to all the helping spirits you continue to work with who are now also part of our circle.

As you enter the clearing you will be met by a guardian spirit who will cleanse you on a spiritual level. This compassionate spirit might cleanse you with incense, or a feather, or sing over you, or touch your hair, or whisper a message into your ear. Be open and know these are helping spirits who wish to help you feel unburdened by your ordinary thoughts and concerns.

Notice the fire burning strong in the middle of the clearing. This is the same fire that has been burning for months receiving the blessings we wish to manifest and the wounds we wish to transform. Step up the fire and listen to the crackling sound and smell the smoke. Sit with the fire for awhile and ask it for a message. Fire is intelligent, alive, and a true source of wisdom. Share with the fire a dream for yourself and the planet you wish to see manifest. Feed the fire with the beauty of this dream for all of life.

The full moon is April 22. Let us imagine our divine light being woven together in rainbow colors that embrace the earth and all of life with love. Perform your transfiguration with passion. Combine intention + love + unity + harmony + concentration + focus + imagination to experience your divine light and connect and merge this light with others doing the same.

For those of you new to reading the Transmutation News please visit Creating A Human Web of Light on the homepage.

Copyright 2016 Sandra Ingerman.  All rights reserved.

Transmutation News – February 2004

When we transfigure into our divinity, source, and light one of the effects is to experience a feeling of peace. These feelings of peace might carry on after our experience for some time. For many of us the chaos of life can easily disturb those peaceful feelings.

As it has been important for us to experience our light throughout the day, it is important for us to focus on staying centered and peaceful in ourselves.

I have had many conversations and received letters from friends and students all stating that they are looking for a more peaceful and balanced life in 2004. It seems like the world and life is spinning faster and faster. Time will not slow down for us until we slow it down ourselves. We will continue to get caught up in “the spin” until we find peace inside of ourselves. We tend to get caught up in life moving too quickly when we become dependent on the outside world for a sense of identity. When we can get still and peaceful and feel one with ourselves and our divinity we can step out of the chaos and spinning energy of the world today.

Throughout last year I wrote about how gifted shamans and healers eyes sparkle and hold a joy that we don’t see in many practitioners eyes today. That sparkle and light emanating from these healers comes from being in touch with their divinity and light. But it also comes from finding peace with themselves, the world, and their pain and suffering.

As we can find peace with what life brings us it allows us to emanate a state of peace once again changing the field of energy in the world. I am not saying that we should stop focusing on creating changes in our lives. But I do feel there is a delicate balance of actively manifesting our dreams while at the same time finding peace with what is.

In Chapter 6 of Medicine for the Earth I wrote a section on the power of putting one’s attention on an issue. It is a nice idea that we can create a feeling of inner peace that will last throughout the day. But some of you might not know the steps of how to get there. One way that I have found helpful is to hold the intention. As I hold the intention and keep my prayers focused on wanting to create a state of being into my life, I find over time I do notice shifts in a positive direction.

In December we began to dream into being the world we want to live in. Part of this requires rescultping our inner world. We want to add to our regular transfiguration practice the intention to also maintain a state of inner peace.

Some of you perform spiritual practice for your own enlightenment, growth, and evolution. Whatever practice changes ourselves will naturally affect the web of life. I wrote about this last month.

Some of you also want to be actively affecting others in the world. Those of you who are in some helping profession are actively trying to help others to shift their awareness. And as we know teaching, healing, and serving comes in many forms. We all can affect people around us no matter the profession we are in.

As I have stated during the last year many people are asleep right now. The trance is very deep and people are kept in this trance by very powerful and controlling forces.

I do not believe that words and preaching to others is a way to wake people up. Your words might stir people a bit, but the lure of sleep is too strong to really wake people. I believe the way to wake people up is by showing through example the rewards and what is to be gained.

If people around you notice you are healthy, happy, “glowing”, and you carry the energy of peace in your being they will want to learn about what you are up to.

If your garden, land, houseplants emit a quality of health and growth people around you and in your community will want to know what you are doing.

If your house, apartment, or office emits an energy of peace, serenity, and life and soul affecting those who enter your space, a desire for knowledge becomes stronger.

If you only preach to people about spiritual concepts it doesn’t provide enough incentive to create momentum in the sleep and apathy that society supports.

This month attempt to bring the light, energy, and peace stimulated by your spiritual practice more into your daily life. The more you “shine” and seem happy and peaceful the more curious people around you become about who you are and what you are doing. Let’s focus our energies on giving people a reason to want to change.

The work toward emanating light and peace through your own being is called “The Great Work” in alchemy. Remember it is the light within which connects us all. Experiencing your light and a state of peace as much as you can throughout the day will be the daily ceremony we perform together as a global community this month. Continue to be in a state of love and appreciation. Reframe your problematic experiences so you see the beauty. Be in a state of appreciation for all you are being given – food, water, air, sunlight, the people who cross your path and life situations.

Let’s make every day in February a ceremony.

I have finally decided to take advantage of the internet to list shamanic practitioners who have trained with me who perform soul retrievals and other shamanic healing methods. Up to this point people have had to write me to obtain a list of local practitioners.

As I have announced in past Transmutation News I now have a website www.shamanicteachers.com that lists local shamanic teachers. There is now a section on that website that lists practitioners. The list is not totally complete as I am still waiting to hear from some of the shamanic practitioners I have sent letters to. But there are many practitioners listed now.

Some of the practitioners in Europe chose not to be listed on the website. So for a list of all the practitioners in Europe people still have to write me or email Ruth Aber at aruthabelle@aol.com. If you email Ruth for a list you need to include the country you are looking for practitioners in.

I have been a fan of Alex Grey’s artwork since I was introduced to it a few years ago. Alex Grey’s unique series of 21 life-sized paintings, the Sacred Mirrors, take the viewer on a journey toward their own divine nature by examining, in detail, the body, mind, and spirit.

His most recent book Transfigurations is Alex Grey’s second large format monograph containing over 300 color and black and white images of his work.

He has two websites you might want to check out: www.AlexGrey.com and www.SacredMirrors.org.

He is working on creating a Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in New York. I have been trying to support his project and one way I can do this is by letting you know about his websites.

I know many of you are familiar with Alex Grey’s artwork and hope you will visit his websites and see what he is up to.

A friend of mine recently wrote me and asked me if I ever considered working with an editor to clean up some of my writing on the Transmutation News. Although I love to write and enjoy writing the Transmutation News I am aware that there are grammatical errors.

As I write the Transmutation News once a month in the midst of traveling and teaching it is not possible for me to also work with an editor. The time involved would not allow me to keep the Transmutation News going on a monthly basis.

So I do apologize for the lack of editing. I know how appreciative people are that I keep writing the Transmutation News and hope you can continue to read beyond my grammatical errors.

February 6 is the full moon. Let’s weave our inner light, peace, and love into the web of light we continue to create around our great earth.