A Time to Rest and Cleanse

A while back (January 20th) we entered the Rest and Cleansing Moon. This is one of my favorite moon phases around the medicine wheel because, in addition to my birthday falling in that moon phase, it promotes rest, cleansing, and preparation for what is to come. Is it any wonder that the Pagan holy day Imbolc is also during this moon (February 2nd....NOT stupid Groundhog Day....sheesh)?  Imbolc celebrates the first stirrings of the seeds deep inside the earth that will sprout and become vibrant plant life in the spring.   As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, this is my spa. I LOVE being able to slip into the warm water (kept at body temperature by the heater in the tub....ahhh), relax, cleanse, meditate and chant to my heart's content. This, in addition to my tanning time, is a place where it is all about ME and my needs. No one else's problems enter my spa. No one else's demands enter my spa. No one else enters my spa. This is MY TIME. Sometimes we have to be very strong in declaring "MY TIME" moments. It is way too easy to allow others needs and demands to overwhelm us. But allowing them to overwhelm us makes us that much more in need of "MY TIME".

To put it frankly...when I am in my spa..... I really don't give a shit about anything else or anyone else in the whole world. I like that.

Everyone needs moments like that. When you work in a care giving field like I do and have a partner with health issues like I do, it becomes that much more important to, now and then, at least 2-3 times a week (just sayin') not give a shit.

Today I utilized crystals in the water to charge the molecules of the water and thus of myself. It was delicious! The candle light and the incense added that deeply relaxing and spiritual touch that I was so wanting, and a visit from one of my Spirit Guide who helped me to recharge my heart and third eye chakras was greatly appreciated.

Ahhhh....

Blessed Be
Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com
http://www.youtube.com/trentdeerhorn

Got my eye on you, baby!

That is what one of my Spirit Guides said to me today. I was doing energy healing work at a health fair at a college in town when it happened. There was a young guy who was having issues of stress and anxiety and I was talking with him about it while streaming energy into his system. The conversation turned to a moment of grief in his past. As this unfolded, the blockage of the energy in his heart chakra also released and fresh energy was able to then get in.

At that point, the Spirit Guide (a cat/human image) showed up and said to me, "I got my eye on you, baby!" I knew that he was quite proud of what I had done to assist this young fellow. But he was also saying that I needed to apply some of my knowledge, wisdom and expertise toward myself in order to move the healing of the passing of my sister along.

The other day I picked up a birthday card for another sister and it hit me that I had always picked up two, because the sister that had just died had a birthday within 2 weeks of the one for whom I was currently getting a card. Ouch.

It is little rituals like this that bring home the loss for a person when a loved one dies. That is why events such as Christmas and Thanksgiving tend to be emotionally charged for people after a death in the family. So part of the healing that I will be doing is that on her birthday I will be lighting a candle for her and asking her spirit to make a wish for itself on her healing journey on the other side. This will be something I may do once, or it may be something that I do each year for a while. That all depends upon what I sense I need to do. And I have the help of my Spirit Guide to assist me in that process.

Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com

Angels Among Us

People often ask me if angels really exist. I tell them that I believe that they do. Then I get asked about how I know this. Well, often they appear to me while I am working on a healing for a person, or even for an animal. No, they don't usually have wings like the one in this photo, but some do.

A most memorable encounter with an angel was in relation to when I needed one myself. I was stranded on the side of a road at night during a blizzard. I tried to flag down oncoming cars, but no one wanted to pull over to help a man. I am sure that if I was a woman ten of them would have been lined up. But I was not so they would simply drive past and keep on going. This was before the era of the cell phone, so I knew I was in trouble because I would either have to risk freezing to death walking to find a farm along the road, or I would have to risk freezing to death sitting in my broken down car. Slowly falling to sleep in the cold was beginning to look like a definite option. There are worse ways to go, but I also knew that I was not done here and that if this was the end of it, I was going to have to come back and start all over again in order to get my work done. I sat in the car for a couple of hours, hoping that no one would run into me as the flashers were not working anymore.

Then a knock came on my window, which almost made me jump right out of my skin! I could hardly believe that anyone finally stopped. I rolled my window down and this guy who looked a lot like Grizzly Adams asked me if I needed a tow. I looked behind me and saw a tow truck with flashing lights. I immediately accepted the offer. Once my car was on the hoist, he asked me where I wanted him to tow it. The warmth of the cab of the truck was so wonderful that I almost didn't hear his question. Once it registered I realized that I was probably closer to home than to town so asked if he could tow my there. His reply was, "No problem!" and off we went. The strange thing was that I didn't give him directions to the farm where I was living. He just turned on all the correct corners and before I knew it we were dropping my car off in the yard. I didn't have enough money in my wallet, I was sure, so I said I would be right back and that I just had to go inside and get some money for him. "That's okay," he said, "There's no charge for this one." I asked him if he was sure and began to insist that I pay. "Nope," he said, "I'm just glad I finally found ya and that you can now get on with your tasks at hand."

With that he drove down the driveway and the blizzard engulfed his vehicle before he even got to the road. I couldn't even see the flashing lights. Then I realized I couldn't even hear the engine. I was going to walk down the driveway to make sure he made it, but as I started out, I realized that there were no tracks either! No tracks from his truck and none from my car that he was towing. I walked into the house and my mother was glad to see me, having been worried about what was taking me so long to get home. I told her that I was towed home by the tow truck and she said that she didn't ever see his flashing lights in the yard, which she was keeping a close eye on to see if I was driving in. No headlights either. "Well," I said, "I guess that I was just saved by an angel."

That was the first time that I recall having been assisted by an angel, although there were others since and probably many times of which I was not even aware. So yes, I believe in angels. Why not? After all, I also encounter fairies, spirit guides, power animals and the like! And for these many connections, I am eternally grateful.

Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com

Living by Example

Lao-tzu said,"The wise man governs by non-doing. He teaches by non-saying." Ancient teachings such as these really inspire me. I remember someone saying to me that everyone should lead their lives in such a way that if someone were watching, even if we didn't know that they were watching, they would be inspired. Granted, when I am sitting watching TV or some other mundane activity like that where I am not just entertained, but allowed a moment of mind numbness so that I can decompress from a long day at work, I don't think that I would be very inspirational. I do, however, have a number of things that I do on a daily basis that could possibly inspire anyone who might be accidentally watching me.

And when we think about it, we are actually constantly being watched. Our spirit guides, our power animals, our angels and Deity itself watches every move we make every day. It is not like a voyeuristic thing. It is genuine concern and a desire to guide and assist us whenever we allow the flow to occur. When I first realized this little piece of information, I got a wee bit paranoid, not being sure if they were watching when I was in the shower (Psycho revisited), on the potty, or even making love (Hey! Psst...Is my technique okay?). But then I got okay with the idea because there were a few times when it literally saved my butt.

I am also quite fascinated when someone thanks me for something that they observed me saying or doing when I didn't even know that they were watching. The first time this happened was in University, when the president of a club for which I was the director of public relations took it upon herself to yell at me about something in the middle of a cafeteria. When she stopped talking I looked at her and said, in a very calm voice,"Now that you are done demonstrating to everyone in the cafeteria that you are really not a very nice person, I will let you know that nobody speaks to me that way and especially in the environment in which you chose to do it. I am completely willing to take guidance from someone, but criticism and abuse will only be tolerated in the form of opinion and only if I choose to beat it out of you. Since this is something that you have obviously not yet learned in the 24 years that you have so far been on this earth, I think that it is only appropriate to let you know that there are repercussions to your actions. You see, I do not and will not ever work with anyone who is like you. So you can now focus your attention on finding a replacement and no, I will not be training whomever the poor sod is that you find. That is now up to you.." She then turned and walked away, completely dumbfounded by my lack of fear.

About a week later, someone who became, over time, a fairly good friend introduced herself to me and told me that she was incredibly impressed with how I had handled this person who, over the last three years, had bullied her way around everyone. I think that it was not necessarily one of my finer moments in life because although I was direct, I was also brutal. Nonetheless, it helped inspire someone to know that it is okay to declare boundaries immediately upon the crossing of them. No matter when or where, someone is watching and will either be inspired or deeply disappointed. Their response is up to them. Our actions are up to ourselves.

Blessed Be

Trent

www.deerhornshamanic.com