As you might be able to tell from my ‘blogging’ absence, much has been rearing its head and under foot (well, on-my-foot, as I have managed to break a couple of toes). But it is all part of the experience, as we say. A huge part of my recent experiences, that I would like to share, has been meeting up with Grandmother Jean (see picture taken in Taos over Easter) recently in America. I have had the honour of knowing her for over five years now and in her position as a Cherokee Elder and ‘medicine-woman’ she brings so much to the table, upon which we can all feast.

A great example of her nurturing ways showed itself when I asked why the pueblo at Taos was closed to the public. She explained that at this time there were men and boys in the Kivas beneath the sacred site, in profound prayer – sending healing for Mother Earth. As great as the changes that our planet is experiencing, the strength of the human spirit matches these changes, holds our ‘Mother’ together, as peoples all over the world, in sacred and beautiful places, unite to pray for peace, harmony and unity for all. Never, for one second, despair at the thought of being alone. Know that around this precious Earth men, women and children are praying for us all. One prayer, one voice, one heart together.

Blessings

Barbara X

So here we are, all in this together. 2012 unfolding offers us the possibility to grow, evolve, express our true intentions. We can do this in oh so many ways, often a good place to start is to set our intention with thoughts and words… With this in mind I am sharing with you three ‘prayers’ any of which might resonate with you at this time and become a part of your ‘goood practices’.

A Wiccan Prayer

Let us give thanks from our hearts, for the blessings of all our good harvest, for the hard-won lessons of life, For the people who bind us together, making joyful warm hearts out of strife.

Ancestors

Oh Great Spirit of our Ancestors, I raise my pipe to you, to your messengers the four winds, and to Mother Earth who provides for your children. Give us the wisdom to teach our children to love, to respect and to be kind to each so that they may grow with peace in mind. Let us learn to share all the good that you provide for us on this Earth.

A Prayer for the Mother Earth

Oh Divine Source of all life, may your love go out to the Mother Earth, for Her great sacrifice; may your light go out to the Mother Earth for her profound compassion. May She be blessed now and always.

Love & Blessings

Barbara

Hello to You

On a whim, well a nagging thought in my head, I went a little off path and took myself, my dear friend Flavia and my sister Jacqui to Birmingham to exhibit at a huge commercial festival… sold on the idea that based on sheer numbers we would reach those who needed us. (Even if no one was expecting to see us there). Well, it was an ‘interesting’ time and a sobering experience for me. A reminder that you can lead a horse to water, but that’s no good if the horse just isn’t thirsty. And even when it comes to the matter of our soul’s path, of our conscious evolution, a person has to have the ’thirst’ in the first place. As I tended the emporium smiling at the grey sea of suited and booted bodies washing past, I realised there is a time and place for all things.

And whilst most people questioned if we were a ‘fancy dress’ shop, I had my nagging thought exorcised… Where I once thought part of my teachings were about reaching ‘everyone’ I was reminded again that it is about reaching every single one who asks. There is a vast difference. Again I was reminded, unlike so many things in life, uniting our hearts, minds and spirits is never a numbers game… it is a”one person at a time’ unfolding. I am very grateful for this lesson and move onto my next venture with renewed sense of ‘knowing’ and validation that nothing we ever do is really a ‘waste’.

Love & Blessings Always

Barbara X

Is it just me, or is there a bit of tension in the air? I was out in the high street just recently when I was taken aback by the normally calm and level-headed local butcher, having a bit of a rant. Not like him at all. And at the shows and events that I have attended in recent months I have noticed a huge increase in ‘volatile’ emotions making themselves known. There are a lot of frustrated people right now. It got me thinking…are we being pushed, or tested in some way to see if will we bend or break? Are people simply ‘fed-up’  to the eyeballs on the garbage we have created to stuff into our bodies and our minds? Or is all this just an expression of our energetic essence – is the negative charge a last cry for help before all the power seeps away? And where is this ‘power’ going?

I didn’t need to wait long for my answers… In very quick succession I lost a cheque book, dropped and broke my mobile phone and lost a credit card. And have now come to understand more about the energy I was blindly investing into the technology that we have all become so reliant on. This technology seems to have all the power now. Thing is the minute I acknowledged the third item to break, my phone, I realised that letting go, though not convenient, was a healthy reminder that the real power was still within. Those people who mattered would find a way to reach me if they really needed to, my cheque book, credit card and phone could all be replaced. I was no longer angry and the power came back to me. I realised then that, the ‘tools of technological advance’ should be treated as just that – tools, not taskmasters.

So whatever it is that is causing you frustration, pain or anger, be sure to have a good look at it and choose. Are you giving your energy to it and so losing your power, or worse still turning your personal power from a positive attribute to a negative weapon of destruction? If your current situation is not serving you well, firstly look to see if a simple change of perspective can help or take positive measure to change the situation. Talk to people not shout at them, ask for help not just cry at the injustice and if you have to, walk away rather then fight a losing battle…that way you stand a much better chance of keeping your head when all about you are losing theirs.

Love & Blessings

Barbara

I am on my way to visit one of my brothers, but before I get immersed in family I wanted to write to thank each and every one of you who have, over the last couple of weeks, connected with me to wish me a speedy recovery and good health. I have felt quite overwhelmed on more than one occassion by the shear generosity and pure intent of your kind words and genuine embraces.

I have been remined again of what it means to be truly ‘cared’ for. It has lead me to believe even more deeply that our real quest and desire lies in our need to be loved and to express love – to feel our life matters in some way.

Despite my ill health of the past weeks, I have never felt so much a part of ‘life’ of other peoples’ lives. I thank you, as a teacher of our Earth (Heart) Centred Traditions, it means everything to know that what I am able to pass on through my words, songs and music has a positive influence – that what I can help others to experience matters. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I look forward to seeing you again very soon.

Love & Blessings Always

Barbara X

Two major events have just taken place on my journey. My ‘electrifying’ experience at Sundance; receiving my Earth medicine, and now upon my return I am writing this from the cardiac ward in hospital, where I will be receiving another but equally important dose of medicine. All of this to heal that which I have asked for; my ailing heart. And it has become more apparent to me, in recent days, the true challenge of leading a ‘balanced’ life.

In life we endeavour to do what is ‘right’ at the times of ‘choice’. But often, especially in our youth we simply don’t have a choice, but are forced to trust that others will choose the right thing for us. Because of my troubles as a young girl and later as a young woman, I was told that I had no choice but to take allopathic medication for all the physical ills that my reproductive organs had suffered. Even when these organs were removed I was told I had no option but to take HRT. Now, many years on I discover that the chemicals in my system have lead to serious blockages to the blood supply to my heart. And here I am now awaiting a small, manmade medical tool, to allow the blood to flow in properly; something which the powers of the Natural World alone cannot.

But this is all good. When I told the clinicians of my experience during the electrical storm in South Dakota, the reply came, ‘Well, you’ve had your shock treatment then, so we just need to do this last bit for you.’ Shamans come in all guises! I cannot stress enough that our abilities to heal and to cure are wide and varied and come from all quarters. Alternative, allopathic and complimentary medicines must be embraced in order to treat the mind and body effectively so that our essence can not only survive but flourish within and shine through every pore of our being.

In the realm of MBS (Mind, Body & Soul/Spirit) there has long been a divide, an imbalance that shuns all ‘modern’ thinking and advances, especially when it comes to our health. And equally the ‘clinical’ world of health has pooh-poohed the ‘old-ways’, laughing off their teachings as mumbo-jumbo, hocus-pocus, and preying on the vulnerable. Well things are changing, and they must. More and more complimentary practices are being employed in our hospitals, whilst large pharmaceutical companies are realising Nature has always and will always reveal the most wonderful answers to our ills – the latest being the research undertaken into the power of pure lemon juice in the fight against breast cancer.

As astronomy unveils the hidden mysteries of the Universe; highlighting the accuracies of some of the oldest teachings about our Creation, as new sciences confirm the possibilities of the teachings of our ancestors about multiple dimensions; worlds beyond worlds, a life force beyond this life, and as the leaps in technology, allowing wider communication, begin to highlight the core similarities of all Earth’s peoples needs… so we realise that for all our actions there is a re-action, all to retain ‘balance’.

People talk of our journey as a circle, an expanding spiral… but all the while we also swing, like a giant pendulum, back and forth, from action to reaction. The key is to regulate that swing, enough to keep momentum, to keep the heart beating, the blood flowing through our bodies, but not so violently as to detach our pendulum altogether and be lost… It is an act of balance and we need to understand all the tools and teachings at our disposal in order to engage the required help at the appropriate time. And right now, though my belief stretches far beyond these four hospital walls, I trust the people around me today to engage their tools and their teachings in order that I may continue to be aware, love all and nurture conscious enlightenment.

Love & Blessings

Barbara X