Transmutation News March 2013 Download printable version
In January I had the wonderful opportunity to be interviewed for a book that is being written on death and dying. One of the questions I was asked was, “What do I feel is important for us to do as we move towards the end of our life?”
I responded that I felt it is important for us to find inner peace. At the end of our lives it is crucial that we make peace with all that life has brought to and for us. For I feel so sad when I see people leave life feeling bitter. What a gift to leave this world from a place of peace.
I continue to write that there are many deaths we experience through our lives. There are the little deaths we go through marked by initiations and change. And then there is the big death as we transition out of our physical bodies into a transcendent reality.
Whether we are experiencing the little deaths or the end of our physical life it is always important to go deep into our inner well and come to a place of inner peace. For the world around us continues to change, grow, and evolve. And there are so many challenges that are presented to us. But these challenges are also gifts. The more we can establish a strong sense of inner peace then we will not lose our balance and get so thrown off by what life brings us. This has always been a key teaching in living a spiritual life. I feel that we are here now and the world itself is in a very turbulent cycle. We must find that deep inner peace within that keeps us protected and buffered by so much of the turbulence around us.
As you keep up the spiritual practices I have been teaching throughout the years you will strengthen your own Inner World and find the peace, wealth, and health that lives within.
Last month I wrote about how important it is to follow the path of spirit. To continue with this theme when we follow the path of spirit we also must learn how to honor ourselves.
I know that many of us get stressed out when we feel a need to meet the demands and needs of others. My helping spirits have been showing me how this kind of behavior ends up creating energetic leaks in our body.
When I was shown an image I saw how energy leaks out in a horizontal fashion creating a weakened state on a physical and emotional level.
I was shown how important it is to stay true to ourselves and create the necessary boundaries so that our energy is flowing vertically connecting us to the heavens above and down through the roots of the earth. As we do this and find a strong and centered state within then the energy can flow through us from all directions as we bridge heaven and earth through our heart and radiate love and light throughout to those we love and to all of life.
Continue to work with releasing your unhealthy energetic connections into the Cauldron of Light. I wrote about this ceremony in the December 2012 Transmutation News.
The full moon is March 27. Travel deep within yourself to the power of your divine light. Join together with thousands of others in our global community as we continue to weave a strong and radiant light throughout and deep within the earth. This weaving holds all of life in love as the fabric of reality of unhealthy conditions continues to unravel. Together we dream into being a life of true health and harmony.
For those of you new to reading The Transmutation News please read Creating A Human Web of Light on the homepage of this site.
In the instructions for our monthly full moon I had added a healing ceremony for our global community. I added this many years ago. I realize that in the past year or so I have not been encouraging us to continue this work.
As I hear from so many people who are on a spiritual path I am hearing more and more of how many are being challenged on a physical level. For as we learn to create more harmony in our lives our physical bodies must shift and align with the new frequencies. Sometimes we experience a level of disharmony in our health before we can rebalance and realign with new energies that are flowing.
Years ago I had written how on the full moon we can do a transfiguration ceremony for everyone in our circle. On the full moon as we continue to create a human web of light also see yourself taking turns of lying in the middle of a giant global circle. When you are in the middle allow yourself to absorb the light and love being radiated by those in the outer circle. And then at some point move into the outer circle radiating divine light and unconditional love to those lying within. Allow this movement of going into the middle and being in the outer circle to flow with ease.
We can join together to strengthen all of us as we move through life. There are going to be times we find ourselves riding down smooth waters and enjoying the ride. And there will be times when we enter into the turbulent waters. This is life and being part of nature. We can be a true support to each of us as we ride through the river of life.
It is hard for me to believe that we are welcoming in the equinox and the change to spring or fall depending on where you live. I cannot believe how fast time is moving!
I do believe that the times we live in call for all of us to view reality in a different way. We have been working together to break out of collective beliefs that keep us so tied to only looking at the material world around us.
In spiritual teachings it is understood that there is a web of life that connects us all. And part of shamanism is finding practices where you can honor and respect what we call “the spirit that lives in all things”. It is important to find ways to honor the plants and trees where you live that support life. And it is important to honor the animals, insects, birds, rocks, etc.
The more we can respect nature the more nature respects us. This goes back to the principle of reciprocity in shamanism. The Salish Indians use a word “skalatitude”. This means, “When people and nature are in perfect harmony, then magic and beauty are everywhere.”
To welcome in the spring/fall equinox do some deep soul searching about how you can connect more with nature and live in harmony with the natural laws that call for us to live in accordance with nature’s cycles.
On the equinox honor the living beings where you live. Leave an offering for the spirits. Hold your intention that this offering is a way to express gratitude for earth, air, water, and fire (the sun), which give you life. Give gratitude to all the living beings that live in your area. You might wish to add giving gratitude for the helping ancestral spirits where you live and also your personal ancestors who gave you life. You can also give thanks to the spirit of the land, the hidden folk, your own helping spirits.
It does not matter if you live in a city or in a rural area. You can find places in nature where you can give your offerings.
There are no “correct” offerings to give. I leave blue corn meal as an offering as blue corn meal has deep meaning for me. You can leave a bit of your favorite food, flowers, water, your favorite drink, etc. as an offering. The key is your intention to give gratitude versus what you leave as an offering. Nature reads your heart not your mind.
During a meditation or a shamanic journey connect with the spirit of the land where you live. If you do this as a meditation put on some expansive music and hold the intention that you want to meet the spirit of the land. If you do this as a shamanic journey hold the same intention as you travel into the invisible realms.
Ask the spirit of the land how you can make shifts in your life so that you are living in harmony with nature. Ask for guidance of how to improve your life.
When I first moved to Santa Fe in the early 1980’s I had a hard time settling in. I did not feel like Santa Fe was my home and although I worked a few jobs I could not support myself. I finally journeyed to the spirit of Santa Fe and asked for guidance. The spirit of Santa Fe showed herself to me as a beautiful goddess, and she became my teacher in my journeys for many years. She gave me five things to do. I followed all of her advice, and it was amazing how my life changed and how all of a sudden everything I needed just began to flow.
During the change in seasons it is wonderful to merge with the earth where you live. We have been doing this practice for many years. It is also good to connect with the spirit of the land. You will receive a wealth of information by learning how the earth is changing during the shift in seasons which is a reflection of how you are changing too. And you can move into a place of harmony by connecting more and more with the spirit of the land.
Let us join our hearts together to wish those of you in the Northern Hemisphere a joyous spring and for our circle in the Southern Hemisphere a deep and wonderful fall!
Announcements:
I am delighted to announce that Awakening to the Spirit World: The Shamanic Path of Direct Revelation is now available in French. The title is S’eveiller Au Monde de L’esprit. It is published by Editions Vega.
Recently I sent everyone on my email list a list of guidelines in finding a Soul Retrieval Training. I did quite a bit of editing on this list of guidelines and I have posted an article titled: “Finding an In Depth and Comprehensive Soul Retrieval Training”.
This article is posted on the Articles Section of the homepage of this site. It can also be read on www.shamanicteachers.com.
In the West, we are addicted to methods and techniques, but methods and techniques have never healed anyone. Only love and light can create healing. When true shamans do their healing ceremonies, there is love, light, and a healing presence that shines through, and this presence creates true healing and transformation. It is not the outward ceremony that heals, but the spirit contained within it. Any ceremony that is just form but devoid of spirit will not be successful.
I am very passionate about this topic as I feel that shamanism has so much potential to help heal clients and the planet. I want to see people have the opportunity to take workshops that teach how to keep the true power of shamanism alive.
I received a copy of Spirited Medicine: Shamanism in Contemporary Healthcare. The writing of this book has been a long term project for the Society for Shamanic Practitioners. As a board member we have been visioning this book for many years now. Cecile Carson put the anthology together with the help of Bonnie Horrigan, Tom Cowan, and Jose Stevens.
I wrote a chapter for the book titled “Shamanic Intervention in a Cardiac Rehabilitation Program”.
Spirited Medicine is an exciting contribution to the integration of the ancient healing system of shamanism into modern Western society. Most of its authors are dually trained as both healthcare providers and shamanic practitioners, and collectively they offer a broad framework and powerful clinical examples of how to attend to the soul of those who fall ill. Filled with practical strategies for healthcare and shamanic practitioners alike, this book brings shamanism forward from its historic and animistic origins into a broad range of Western medical settings: surgery, psychotherapy, rehabilitation medicine, family medicine, naturopathy, osteopathy, hospice care, private practice and a general medical clinic.
I am very excited that this book is now available. To order your copy please visit:
http://shamansociety.org/sm-orderform.html
I have been asked by Sounds True to present again at the Wake Up Festival that they are sponsoring in August 2013 in Estes Park, Colorado.
Sounds True put on their first Wake Up Festival in 2012 and it was a great success. There were many workshops presented for people to experience different ways of waking up to a healthy and meaningful life. And there were many presentations that were inspirational. Participants traveled from all over the world to be part of this festival/conference.
It was such a great success that Sounds True has created another Wake Up Festival for 2013.
I will be teaching a Pre-Festival Intensive on “Experiencing the Shamanic Journey”. This workshop will take place on August 13 and August 14.
The main festival will take place on August 14-18. I will be presenting mini-workshops for three days during the conference.
For more information please visit:
www.wakeupfestival.com/sandra-ingerman
or
www.WakeUpFestival.com
If you register for the festival by May 1 you will receive a $200 discount.
Here’s another wonderful book to check out:
Body of Wisdom: Women's Spiritual Power and How it Serves is now available to pre-order on Amazon and will be released in April.
In Body of Wisdom, Hilary Hart identifies nine hidden powers alive in women’s bodies and instincts, waiting to be used in contemporary challenges including the building of community, the healing of the earth, and the restoration of life’s spiritual nature. Based on interviews with the world’s most visionary teachers and on the dreams and experiences of ordinary women, Body of Wisdom ushers in a new spirituality in which the body and the shared body of the earth are known as a seat of mystical power and women take responsibility for spiritual work that only they can do.
Interviewees include: Dorothy Atalla, Elizabeth Frediani, Sandra Ingerman, Larry Merculieff, Dr. Guan Cheng Sun, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee and Pamela Wilson.
My good friend and brilliant teacher and healer Bhola Banstola is returning to the United States to teach and see clients. He has such a remarkable presence and his teachings are extraordinary. I suggest that if you have the opportunity to work with Bhola you do so.
Bhola Banstola, a 27th consecutive generation Nepalese shaman is coming to the United States again this June! Bhola is a remarkable shaman who enriches his teaching with marvelous stories, dancing, drumming and healing heart energy. Attending his workshops is deliciously transformative! Whether through his teaching, individual sessions or his trips to Nepal, his command of the English language and unique ability to bridge across cultures provides students a safe portal into ancient wisdom that can be used in our everyday lives.
Here is what the people are saying about his work:
“We have been sponsoring Bhola Banstola's workshops for six years and every one of them has been an extremely positive experience for our community in New England! Participants in his classes or his trips abroad receive personal healing and nourishment for the mind, body and soul.” -- Evelyn Rysdyk & Allie Knowlton
“One-on-one work with Bhola is a gift! Never have I experienced so much healing power delivered in a purely gentle manner.” --Brenda Grant Hays
“A wonderful human being and shaman.... Humble, alive and exuberant, his presence itself is a healing. He is so real!” --Maggie Rodriguez
“Bhola is a trusted and compassionate travel companion who selflessly shares the sacredness of his land and the beauty of its people in an inexpressible life-changing experience.” --Kathleen Mary
“…Bhola is truly a citizen of the world and having the opportunity to travel with him is an incredible life changing experience…. “ -- Cheri Brady
Bhola's 2013 weekend courses, individual healing sessions and tours can be found at: www.nepalese.it
Copyright © 2013 Sandra Ingerman
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