A Cup a

Cream of Coffee Bean Soup. That is what I am now calling my one cup of coffee in the morning or afternoon, depending upon when I have it. I only have one cup a day usually, so I decided that I would frame it in an even better light by calling it something that sounds as nourishing as it feels for me at times. Cream of Coffee Bean Soup. Yum! I can smell it now! French Vanilla coffee beans blended into the perfect mixture of water, cream and sugar. It warms my hand, my tummy and my heart!

Blessed Be

Trent

The Dance

"Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music." Angela Monet.

Isn't it amazing how uncomfortable some people can be about people who are able to just let loose and boogie? For eons it has been a tribal custom across the world to dance. Dancing brings one into contact with the Spirit Animals and Deity. Dancing creates a trance that allows the grander consciousness to flow through. We danced our animals, danced our joy, danced our sorrows, and danced our spirits. But it is also true that people who don't think a certain way see those around them who do think a certain way to be insane. Take the whole spiritual awareness thing. I talk to spirits every day. Some would think that to be insane. Yet if I had not spoken to spirits there would have been many occasions where I would have been harmed or killed as a result of lack of communication. So whether someone thinks I am crazy or not, I speak to the spirits. And I access them through meditation, art, prayer and dance.

I love to dance. I am learning how to ballroom dance, but I actually prefer to tribal dance and trance dance. My favorite is to dance to Egyptian percussion instruments. Somehow that sound just brings me completely back to my roots. Did I ever mention that I am part Egyptian? No? Well, this comes from my father's side of the family. Strong Gypsy (Egyptian) blood lines there. Perhaps this is why I enjoy travel, even astral travel, and tambourines. Drums and symbols do it for me completely. Oh, and hip movement. There must be hip movement!


Blessed Be
Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com

Creative Workings

Along the three-fold path to illumination and enlightenment, the first path is that of creativity. When we create something....anything....we connect to Spirit. Have you ever noticed how completely absorbed in the creative process a child can be while making a sand castle? That is connection to Spirit. Their creativity should never be limited to molds and pails and shovels. They need to be allowed to just make the sand castle with their bare hands, feeling the wet sand with their fingertips and under their fingernails. It connects them to the earth and to the inspiration that Spirit has to offer them.

It doesn't even matter if the creation is something that lasts or something that is transitory. I sometimes prefer the things I have created to only be there for a short time. That is part of why I enjoy making sand castles just as much as my daughter does. It is magnificent, just like a sunset, and then it is gone, only to be recreated in another form at a later time. Sand castle building, like painting, carpentry, and welding, is a meditative process that can lead to some radical insights. Creativity does not need to be limited to artistic things. Sometimes it is just the way you put together an outfit or jewelry, or the way you choose to wash your car by hand. Simple, ordinary creativity is the first of the three-fold path.

Blessed Be
Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com

Drums 'N' Things

The drum is not just an instrument to help keep rhythm in music. It is a sacred tool as well. The beat of the drum connects us to the beat of the heart of the Great Earth Mother. As we connect to that beat, we connect to the hearts of those around us, thus creating a true sense of "We are One!". Some people get freaked out by the sound of beating drums. They are the ones who have completely disconnected from the heart and have related to those around them only through the mental capacities. Their fear runs them.

When the drums begin to beat there is a passion that ignites within. This passion leads one to a spiritual Ecstasy. This is the union between the spirit of the individual and the Spirit of the Divine. We then shed our social conditioning and become more truly who we really are; instinctual, primal, raw, sensual, enlightened beings. Yes, there is something sexual and sensual about Spirit and the Divine. After all, there would have to be considering that it didn't just conceive one or two people, it conceived an entire Universe!

The fact that it is sensual and sexual does not diminish it in any way. It enhances the experience to those who are open to it. Being able to connect with everyone around the circle and know that we are all the same and that we are all friends is an amazing feeling. It truly brings peace to those around the circle and then ripples that out toward the world at large. Fabulous!

Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com

The Guardian

When visiting the Devic Centre just outside of Saskatoon, my love and I encountered the Guardian of the Labyrinth. This guardian comes in the form of a white cat. This one has a personality like no other that I have encountered. He is the type that will either allow you to enter and will wait for you at the centre, then cuddle you and make dough on your body, or he will make it quite well known that you are not ready for the energy of the Labyrinth. The trick is to understand his language. When he tries to trip you up on the path, he is telling you that you are not ready. When he hisses, you are not ready. When he waits for you, you are finally ready, and he has been waiting for you for some time so it is nice that you finally got a clue and arrived to walk the sacred path of the Labyrinth, thank you very much!

It is amazing how animals will resonate with something like the Labyrinth. They become guardians and will allow certain things to happen in sacred spots while other things will not be allowed. It reminds me of the wolf that was living around the farm that I grew up on. He watched over a sacred tree that was in the middle of a clearing. When one was with pure intent, there was not problem. When one was not, he growled and made it known that you were not to enter, if you valued your life and limbs. At those times it was best to just move on and not disturb the clearing or the tree.

Ahh, nature has such wonderful ways of communicating with us, when we are alert enough to pay attention!

Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com

Your Own 2 Feet

About 18 years ago I was demonstrating an exercise for a client. This exercise was designed to help release old programs that were stored on a cellular level in the body. As I bent over to show the client how to do this particular exercise I was suddenly struck by my father's voice saying, "You'll never stand on your own two feet." I allowed myself to breathe for a moment, then came out of the stretch, tears in my eyes, and explained what just happened to my client. She couldn't wait to try the exercise for herself and see what would come up for her.

Later, I did some work on this program to further facilitate the release of this negative program. I am still not sure if my father ever actually said those words to me. But somehow it was his voice and it was something that I definitely integrated as a belief system on a cellular level. Perhaps I heard him say those words, but not to me? I don't know. Anyway, the thing is that over the years I have revisited this belief and done more release of this program. These things sometime take a little time to completely eradicate from the body and the mind.

My sweet revenge, however, is that, whether or not those words had been directed at me, I am now a very successful owner and operator of my own business. I have enough money to live on and I am earning more every day. I have a wonderful life that is filled with love and connections, and most of the foot and leg problems that I had experienced over the years have healed. And, although they look somewhat like my father's feet, I have learned to appreciate the look of my own two feet. This is a good thing, considering that I absolutely hate having to wear socks!

Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com

Expectations

I used to body build in my early 20's. At that time in my life I felt compelled to sculpt and shape my form into something that I thought a partner would like. I put a lot of work into it and found that no matter how well toned my muscles were I was still unhappy and unsatisfied. There was always someone else who looked better. For a while I would work out harder. Then I realized that I was obsessed with it.

At that moment I came to understand something. This is a concept that I revisited when watching an episode of Smallville yesterday. The character of Cloe Sullivan said, "Expectations are supposed to drive you to do more with your life, not stop you from living it." Immediately what came to my mind was my body building days. I was spending more time working on my body than I was actually socializing. I was extremely focused and wouldn't "visit" at the gym. Then I dropped the gym and worked out at home because too many people were way too chatty at the gym and it was screwing up my mojo. Yes, I was obsessed. And when I realized that I had become obsessed I immediately stopped working out. I took a long break from it, sold all my equipment and then, much later, slowly went back into it with a totally different attitude. Yes, I had to get some equipment again, but this time I was going at it with ease and more of a zen perspective. Later, once I started having my children in my life, I no longer had the luxury of time to work out, so frankly in comparison my body went to pot. But I am much happier. No more six pack and my biceps aren't as sculpted (that is my gentle way of saying "somewhat flabby in comparison"), but I have joy in my life that I could never achieve when I was driving myself so hard that I wasn't living life fully.

The purpose of life, I have discovered, is to live your life fully. I don't want my epitaph to read, "Had a great body because he was such a dedicated body builder." I want it to read something more to the effect of, "Loved many and was loved by many."

Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com