The Dream Journey

Once upon a time on another world wandered a woman with a special story to tell. The earth had split apart and had folded over on itself so that where the sky was, there were now the great seas and continents and the place where the earth’s heart had rested now held a smaller heaven. There was no longer day and night nor Summer and Winter but a constant coolness and an eternal lilac coloured dusk.

Near a deserted plain on the edge of a great lake lived a small dark skinned woman with green eyes. Her home was a cave cut into a high ledge that looked over the lake. At the time of the great split many lives had been lost. There were great distances between the tribes. The bird tribes were few as were the animals large and small. Human folk were even less in numbers. 

Anael’s survival depended upon her magik. Her ability to listen to the land and speak with the other tribes kept her alive. Her closest friend was a small black female elephant whose name was K'uumba. Daily Anael would climb on k’uumba's back and together they would roam the lands and forests in search of food and assisting folk who were hurting or longing for the world as it was. On these journeys she would also search for bones. K’uumba helped her pull them from the sands and carry them in her trunk back to the cave. In the bones Anael had seen the ability to piece back together the lost memories of the tribes. Some bones had become stone and some were so old they had become clear and sang soft melodies to her when held in her hand. The bones were sacred to her.

Back at her cave she kept them wrapped in soft skins and each night she added one to the great sculpture they had become. With every fourteenth bone she placed she held her hands high and sang. Her songs were sometimes soft and sometimes harsh. They were sweet songs and songs of anger. Songs of longing and songs of grief. The warmth from her fire changed the colour of the bones and many changed shape in their longing to join with their neighbours.

Anael watched and felt it would not be too long before her sculpture returned new life to the tribes by itself becoming alive.

Tree Birth

I was walking in a wood where ancient beings stood.

They were tall and twisted

and in the shade they cast

lay a well worn path.

In amongst the roots an old woman stood

Bent and gnarled and reeking of wisdom.

Her head to the side with little expressio

She beckoned me to an unknown vision.

I followed her, there was no choice

For in her eyes I heard my grandmother’s voice.

Through a curved doorway to an underground tunnel

I followed her, fearless and trusting her cunning.

The walls and the ceiling were old cold stone

And the passage twisted down like the old woman’s bones.

Deeper down the air got heavy. The dark became darker

And there was no feeling

The only sensation was that of being.

I came to a cavern with just a glimmer

Of light from the floor where phosphorescent water gently shimmered.

I stepped across the pool and placed my hands on the wall

And deep in my blood I heard a silent call.

My fingers felt the thick old roots of the trees above

And I melted like water and like sap I was sucked

Up into her veins and was held in her trunk.

I was held so tightly, no desire to move

I felt absolutely nothing. There was nothing to do.

Then I heard her sighing and her gentle breathing

I was pushed slightly higher with a subtle squeezing.

In her side was a large gnarled knot

I could feel the wind and the sun was hot.

A voice said “whenever you’re ready” and the time had come

To step back in the world.

Feet first, one at a time, through the hole in her side

I was birthed again on a new tide.

I turned to face the ancient tree

She was gone. The air was clear.

The old woman of the trees knows the secrets

She cries no tears she simply teaches.

Touch her, let her take you

Only then will she wake you.

She Who is Everything

The Goddess in all her forms exists at the centre of all life. She draws the earth upward, that Her blood might flow down to nourish the four corners of the world. She is the earth, mother and womb of all that lives, that which has received the God’s life giving forces, and brought forth all creatures. She is the Matter, Mater of the whole universe, the stuff the worlds are born or made of. The seeds of the earth are born upon Her breath, that they might find a home in the desert, and thereby bring the fiery spark of new life to those once desolate places. The oasis in the desert, like life in the cosmos, is a miraculous jewel, improbable almost to the point of impossible. Only the fourfold energies of the Goddess that penetrate space and time to intersect at this place bring forth Life. She is the soul of all mankind, our fairy Godmother, who is our inner mother, lying behind and beyond our physical mother.

She is the Mistress of the Four Elements (terrestrial earth and water, and celestial wind and fire - symbols of both the divided functions of body and spirit and the rational and creative aspects of the mind). As the embodiment of all the forces of nature, She is Mother of all life. It is Her Elemental Will that forges the transcendent, static and ethereal (the sky) with the immanent, dynamic, material, (the earth) into the unitary miracle of living things.

She is personified by her names as the world-protecting, feminine, maternal side of Ultimate Being, and as such, stands for spontaneous, loving acceptance of life's tangible reality. She affirms, she is, and she represents and enjoys the delirium of the manifested forms. She is Eve, "the Eternal Feminine," she embodies all three aspects of the maternal trinity. Her colours were white, red, and black, the colours of the Virgin-Mother-Crone. Like every other form of Kali, she was Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer.

As Isis she holds next to Her breast the Egyptian symbol known as ankh. It literally translates as life or vitality, but it is also a pictograph of man (head, arms and body). This is the image of mother and child. Like all mothers, she struggles to protect her children - and cannot. As children grow and wander far from their mother's gentle protection, they must eventually suffer. Like all mothers, she suffers the pain of her children, and suffers in her helplessness to prevent it.

As the physical feminine brings forth physical life, so, too, does the spiritual feminine bring forth spiritual life. It is through this aspect of the Goddess we hold in our hearts that we are reborn: not merely physical, but spiritual beings.

We must learn to resonate with and unify those divine elemental vibrations of earth and sky (that is, unify the two halves of consciousness) the terrestrially informed rational and celestially informed creative, the masculine and feminine, and the conscious and the unconscious. To be sensitive to the energies of nature is to be attuned to the Goddess and Her transcendent nourishment that informs the needs of both body and spirit. Between the passive and active extremes of the living experience, is the centre wherein one makes contact with the Goddess, and is replenished and sustained by Her life-giving benevolence.

It is a central role of the feminine archetype - the Great Mother Goddess - to bring one into this centre, where the transformation occurs. Our stories about the Goddess are stories about ourselves. And our desire for the miracle benediction of the Goddess is pervasive.

Spiritually, I as an Individual am all

And it is through my spiritual awareness that I become intimately connected to all.
Since I am part of all and all is within me, my spiritual being encompasses my physical and social being and my environment, as well as my consciousness. My physical being includes my body, my social being includes my family and the social groupings and societies in which I am involved and my environment includes all the things that surround me in the material world. These are all part of my spiritual being. And, as a result, my spirituality needs to reflect them all.
This is a wonderful, sunshine world and to make it a wonderful, sunshine life I need to fully participate in all being with the energy of all existence.
Our spirituality is often portrayed by religion as a way to perceive some "real truth" that goes beyond material reality and our physical selves, as if these were non-spiritual things. The scenario is that we have either left our spiritual purity behind in some Fall or that material reality is an illusion and we are wallowing in suffering or karma as a result. But we have not and are not.
My "soul" or "true self" is not confined or limited by the world and the physicality of my body. Material existence is not a fetter upon my spiritual development and I should not ignore it in some search for spiritual "purity". Instead, I should fully accept it into my spiritual being through my spiritual practice, and thereby open myself to the glory of all existence. Spirituality is uniting with my body and the world around me in all its glory. It is the union of myself and the world, in the world. So, I should rejoice in the world: live life to the full, but with constant awareness of that unity, of my interdependence with all, and with a deep respect for all - an awareness and respect that needs constant practice to achieve.
My spirituality is my own. It has evolved within me, entirely emanates from me, and is me. Thus, spiritual knowledge is not about knowing the Gods or their “Truth”, nor is it about waiting for deliverance or preparing myself for final release. Thus, my spiritual being is not limited to a non-material essence, nor is it a gift to me. My spirituality is about me, living now, as part of all.
My spiritual awareness is in a constant state of change; it is constantly in both a state of harmony and balance and a state of disharmony and imbalance. Thus, trying to achieve perfect spiritual or mental harmony is impossible. Thoughts will always come, even if I can lose some of my attachment to them. And I never totally lose that attachment, otherwise they would not arise. This is important to remember, because I can never totally free myself from my thoughts, the world, or the laws of nature. I can never achieve that perfect equanimity that some gurus tell us about. It is an impossibility, just as the perfect release they mention is an impossibility. Being an individual on this planet is about attachment and that attachment is itself spiritual.

The White Earth Medicine Pouch

The White Earth Medicine Pouch
The pouch, when closed, is symbolic of the womb. The bringer forth of life and the vessel that nurtures life.
When opened flat the outer circle is representative of the full moon with the sun being held in her belly, for without the sun the full moon would not reflect light.
The sun and moon are symbolic of the masculine and feminine principals or aspects of the world and ourselves.
On the inside is the five-pointed star or pentacle representing the perfected human being within their circle of power as our power must be contained and we must own it. It is who we are.

The Four directions are identified as follows-

North, which is the direction of greatest power and its element, is earth. It is symbolic of our physical body.
East - its element is air. It is symbolic of our intellectual body or aspect.
South - its element is fire. It is symbolic of our spiritual body or aspect.
West - its element is water. It is symbolic of our emotional body or aspect.

The pouch contains our "Medicine", the aspects of life to be contemplated. It can be used as a map for our spiritual path. It can hold anything which we feel is medicine - a few crystals, a feather, a nut, herbs or whatever we are attracted to. The pouch contains and develops the energy as a womb nurtures and allows the life within it to grow until it is ready to be born.

Clear Quartz Crystal

Quartz is the most common mineral found on the face of the earth and occurs in all environments and all rock types - sedimentary, metamorphic or igneous. Its name derives from the German word "quarz", although other sources say the name is from the Saxon word "Querkluftertz", meaning "cross-vein ore".

Because of its abundance, Quartz is the mineral with the most varieties; some of its more well-known being Amethyst (purple), Citrine (yellow to orange), Milky Quartz (white), Smoky Quartz (browns, greys, blacks) and Rose Quartz (pink)...all to be covered in separate texts. And then, of course, there is the clear variety, commonly called Rock Crystal or Clear Quartz, which I will concentrate on here.

Quartz is a compound of silica and oxygen and has a very unique structure. It contains helix chains of silicon tetrahedrons that make three turns within the structure, creating the crystal's trigonal symmetry. This gives the crystal the ability to be either a left or a right handed crystal. There are even some rarer "twinned" Quartz crystals where two mirror-image crystals grow out of or into each other, and thus the crystal will alternately be left and right handed.

Many rock collectors covet the large crystal (called macro crystalline) varieties of Quartz, but Quartz comes in many different shapes, sizes and styles. Specimens can be found as pyramidal, prismatic, druzy, barnacled (called "Fairy Quartz" or "Spirit Quartz"), phantomed, twinned, clustered, sceptred, microcrystalline, fibrous, geode-al, banded...in veins, geodes, concretions (masses), stalactites, crusts, sands, etc. Quartz crystals vary widely in habit but most often are found growing as slender elongated prisms, pyramidal points or crusts. Chalcedony is a microscopically crystallized variety of Quartz, although here the crystals are arranged in narrow fibres and in parallel bands - the latter showing up in the Agate types. The Chert, Jasper and Flint groups also contain microscopic Quartz, although with impurities and minus the banding and translucent qualities of the Chalcedonys.

Quartz in massive or crystal form is very hard, registering 7 on the Mohs scale. The Mohs Scale -- a system set up by German mineralogist, Friedrich Mohs, in 1822 -- classifies rocks by their hardness and measures them from 1 - 10; 1 being softest, 10 hardest. Quartz is the stone Mohs chose to perfectly represent 7 on the scale. Topaz, Corundum and Diamond are the three that occupy spots 8, 9 and 10 on the scale, and thus are harder than Quartz. Talc, Gypsum, Calcite, Fluorite, Apatite, and Orthoclase are 1 through 6 respectively on the scale, and thus are softer than Quartz.

Quartz contains both piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties. Piezoelectric means that when a crystal is heated or compressed different electrical charges are formed at each end of the crystal, creating an electrical potential which vibrates - the latter making it pyroelectric (it will give off light). These effects were first discovered in crystals such as Quartz and Tourmaline.

There are many reasons why Quartz is important in industry today, such as in the sand used in the manufacture of glass, or crystals (laboratory created for purposes of purity and conformity to a precise crystalline structure) used in electronic equipment, i.e. the oscillators used for controlling radio frequencies and in today’s Quartz crystal watches.

All of the Quartz varieties are extremely valued as popular gemstones. Two good areas in the U.S. to find fine colourless Quartz Rock Crystal are in the Hot Springs area of Arkansas and in Little Falls or Herkimer, New York, where brilliant but small double-terminated crystals called "Herkimer Diamonds" are commonly found. Outside the U.S., South Africa and Brazil are noted for mining an abundance of clear Quartz.

General Information:

Chemistry: SiO2 (Silicone Dioxide)

Class: Silicates.

Subclass: Tectosilicates.

Group: Quartz

Colour: Usually clear (Rock Crystal), but also found abundantly in whites (Milky or Snow Quartz), greys or browns to blacks (Smoky Quartz), pinks (Rose Quartz), purples (Amethyst), yellows to oranges (Citrine), along with many other colors of the spectrum. Cryptocrystalline varieties can be multicoloured.

Lustre: Glassy to vitreous as crystals; cryptocrystalline forms are usually waxy or dull, but can be vitreous.

Crystal System: Trigonal; 3 2.

Crystal Habit: Widely variable, but most commonly as hexagonal prisms terminated by two rhombohedra which create a six-sided pyramid. Also common are druse (or drusy) forms, which are host rock lined with multiple pyramid crystals of Quartz. Massive forms can be any type but mostly occur as globular, botryoidal, stalactitic, or in Agate hosts where they line the interior of the geode.

Cleavage: Very weak in 3 directions - rhombohedral.

Fracture: Conchoidal.

Hardness: 7, but less in cryptocrystalline form.

Specific Gravity: 2.65, but may be less in cryptocrystalline form.

Streak: White

Other Characteristics: Striations on prism faces running up the length of the crystal (perpendicular to C axis), piezoelectric properties and the refraction index is 1.55.

Notable Occurrences: Worldwide but notably in many areas in Africa, Brazil, and specifically in the U.S. Arkansas. For Amethyst (and less commonly, Citrine): Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Russia, Canada, and U.S. For Rose Quartz: Brazil. In Agates: Brazil, Lake Superior region (U.S.), Mexico and Germany.

Best Field Indicators: Hardness, crystal habit, fracture and cleavage, along with the fact that it is extremely common.

Uses: Silica for glass, electrical components, optical lenses and abrasives; Gemstones, ornamental stone or building stone.

Myth & Lore:

There is much myth and lore connected to Quartz...too much to list here, but below is a sampling.

Nearly every ancient culture has revered Quartz. The ancients believed Quartz was actually water from the heavens that was frozen by the gods. In fact, the word "crystal" derives from the Greek word "krystallos" meaning "ice". Oceanic and Australian shamans spoke of Quartz as "a stone of light broken off from the celestial throne".

The Aborigines used the crystals to invoke rain, as did certain Native American tribes. In Australian Aboriginal mythology, Quartz is the most common substance identified with their mystical substance called "maban". Maban is said to be the material from which wise men (called karadjis) obtain their magical powers. During initiation ceremonies, maban is spiritually "inserted" into the body of the apprentice by the karadji (crystal implants).

The Australian sky god, Daramulun, was long portrayed through art and sculpture as having a mouth full of Quartz, a huge phallus, and carrying a stone axe.

In the creation myths of the ancient Japanese it was believed that Quartz materialized through the breath of the venerated White Dragon. As such, Quartz was regarded as the perfect jewel and came to symbolize perfection or the pursuit thereof. Quartz graced their temples and was also found throughout the temples of the ancient Chinese, Mayans, Aztecs, and many other earlier civilizations situated around the globe.

An ancient Celtic practice, said to restore and maintain health, was to place nine small Quartz crystals in water, boil it, cool it, and then drink the enhanced water for nine consecutive days. This said, I have found it works as well if the crystals are allowed to simply infuse their energies into a glass jug filled with filtered water which is then covered and allowed to stand a while without the need to be boiled. This can crack the crystals.

Clear quartz polished into spheres (crystal balls) have long been used for divination purposes. It has been labelled the "Universal Crystal" due to its diversity and abundance of intense metaphysical properties. Clear Quartz is a secondary birthstone for Libra.

Below is a brief listing of common shapes (both fabricated and natural) and their general usage:

Sphere: Releases energies equally in all directions.

Pyramid: Amplifies and then releases tightly focused energies through the apex.

Square: Contains and anchors energies.

Egg: Feminine; releases healing energies from more pointed end.

Single terminated point: Tightly focuses and releases energy through the apex.

Double terminated point: Releases energy through both ends; can have opposite charges.

Cluster: Energizes group situations; energizes other stones.

Wand: Tightly focuses and releases energy through the apex; the rounded section soothes.

Metaphysical Properties:

It is associated with the astrological sign(s) of Libra, Taurus and Aries.

Element(s): All

Chakra(s): Crown, but may be used to amplify and align all.

Amplifies.

Activates.

Stimulates and energizes.

Power.

Manifestation.

Focus and meditation.

Concentration.

Spiritual development & heightened consciousness.

Enhances psychic ability.

Heightens insight.

Purifies.

Healing.

Astral travel.

Channelling.

Scrying.

Gives physical aid in treating: convulsions; vertigo; chronic fatigue; arthritis; fibromyalgia; intestinal problems; kidney disease. Helps clear radiation. Used in diagnostic healing. Helps relieve general pain. Improves strength and stamina.

Note:

Stone therapy should NOT take the place of medical evaluation and procedures, and should be used merely to enhance one's health and well-being.

Thoughts on Quartz:

Clear Quartz is a personal favourite of mine and definitely the most versatile of all stones and crystals forms.

Have you ever contemplated the Master Builders of the world? Those who constructed the Great Pyramids in Egypt, the Mayan temples in Guatemala, the ziggerats of ancient Mesopotamia to name a few or those who built the flying buttresses and towering steeples of the great cathedrals of the world? Well, therein lies the greatest attribute of Quartz -- it is our Master Builder and Master Communicator.

The strongest of Grandfather Dragon stones, Quartz is the master stone for bringing energy and light to all it encounters. One of its most potent attributes is to amplify, and that can be anything from mental activity to spiritual consciousness to emotional disposition. For this reason, I add a small caution to its use. It is best used when your focus, mood, or intent is geared toward the positive and beneficial. Quartz crystal in and of itself does not discriminate and therefore your intent is paramount when electing to utilize the power of these beings. This is not to say that Quartz cannot dispel negativity; it can. To accomplish this, though, use your crystals to increase and amplify the positive until there is nowhere for the negative to go but elsewhere. Liken it, if you will, to shining a bright light, one so bright and all-encompassing that it would be hard for any shadow to exist in.

The above noted...for all things, clear quartz crystals are potent stones to work with. Their strength and energy are beyond comparison in the world of mineralogy. I have used clear quartz crystals in crystal energy grids, in spellwork, in ritual, and even while gardening by placing a large terminated point and directing its energy into the ground while I plant. You can even bury small crystals next to any newly planted greenery for vigorous growth. Oh, and don't forget that the faeries love quartz crystals too...the shinier the better!

Quartz increases the power of anything that it is placed near to, and thus is also helpful in recharging your other stones, increasing the potency of your herbs and strengthening the vitality of your plants. It can be used for healing, increasing physical vitality, enhancing all spellwork, or for anything you wish to amplify.

Fini

The Crystal Message - A Meditation

Listen……… Listen with your spirit. Listen with your soul, because your mind is jabbering. Listen. You can hear and you can sense stillness - if you let yourself. I know you are listening to noises, for the most part, outside of yourselves, which is alright. But there is a whole world inside and inside is sacred, untouchable, holy ground. I promise you, when you begin to experience various levels of it, it will take your breath away. Stay with this and know it is in-between the breaths – where it is most quiet. Why is stillness so important? Great Spirit whispers, great Lover whispers, sings you love songs.

Long ago man did not have to remember. We are all now trying to remember ourselves. To remember ourselves is not easy. We need to focus, to practice and be still. Today, I will bring to you a sacred speaking gift, a key to assist you, to ease the effort of your path to re-membering.

What were you told about stones? When you picked up a stone when you were young what were you told? Were you told that stone is life and that it holds a memory of every single thing and occurrence that has happened upon planet earth?

I want to ask you - are you holding this stone or is this stone holding you? Ask yourself. I ask you to see that no matter what you know about the mystery of spirit as it resides and fires all that is of matter, that this stone is spirit manifested. That means intelligence of spirit, Heart of spirit. Notice how it takes some concentration to relate to stone. But I promise - the stone has an aching to relate to you. As do all parts of matter. You are literally holding a piece of spirit. Now what does that mean? That means that spirit is with you in a certain way. Every time you put your attention on any part of that, which is matter you can receive a gift of love from spirit. How is love expressed? Well, it gives you an idea. Is it not so when you love someone you want to give them an idea to assist them? Perhaps what you need is solace - then spirit wants to give you solace. Spirit wants to give you balance, or enthusiasm or harmony. In other words, whatever it is that your soul needs. No matter where you focus - upon a blade of grass, a crystal, a stone, an animal, a herb, spirit is there and saying “look at me”, “notice me”, for I am here as love and care and wisdom and balance and energy and creativeness and healing”. All of that and more, more words and adjectives than you can think of, spirit has. When you were children you knew that.

We must re-connect with spirit. It brings itself to us as matter; it will assist you with your re-membering. The way to remember yourself, if you remember nothing else, remember this, every thing that is matter is a key to re-connecting to all that is.

You have created everything in your world, but now we must come to re-member ourselves and put ourselves back together again. We are like puzzles with pieces all over the place, missing pieces can be put back together again. You pick up a stone, he will / she will help you find another piece.

A simple beat. To sway the body back and forth. To sing your chant quietly. These are the ways to enter the place where you can realize that Great Spirit holds you. In other words, this stone, it holds you. So we need to move into rhythm, beat and move our bodies and we have to literally take our minds off and just be upon the Earth.

Now I am going to ask you to feel, if you will allow, what this stone, as Great Spirit, could give to you as love? Know that this is just a beginning; it is like a message or a sense of something coming to you. Now hold the stone in both hands. Let yourself move back and forth and listen.

Let yourself decide what quality does this stone have that you notice, that it holds, that it can give to you. That is the first clue. Remember every part of matter brings Great Spirit's love; it expresses itself as an idea for you. It is soothing for you and like a kind of healing. This is the most important message you could ever receive. Modern man often loses connection with instinct and instinct wants to do great things. No great thing can happen through you until you reconnect with spirit. It is through matter that Great Spirit breathes into existence moment by moment. The moment Great Spirit does not breathe, the stone disappears and you and I no longer exist.

Feel the beat of your heart, listen to the beat and sway back and forth.

“Great Spirit I am listening, speak to me through this that you have created, this simple stone”. Listen!

Thoughts that move through your mind are not all useless. There is a message that is striving to make itself known. So all you need to do is just listen to each thought …………but listen ………….

If a nature spirit, like a tiny fairy or elf, lived inside this stone and you asked the elf for advice about the challenge that you are dealing with now, what do you suppose it would say? Ask the nature spirit of the stone for advice and see - what you hear. I promise you will hear it loud and clear……………….

Maybe this message will not be heard with your mind but your spirit will know it and maybe when tomorrow comes you will be quite surprised how suddenly you have an answer. Your spirit will know. You surrendered to allowing Great Spirit to speak through a piece of matter to you. Every part of it is Great Spirit - the stone. Mankind has a consciousness that is impenetrable.

Stone is not, so when you let go then there is space to notice what is being spoken to you. What is being whispered to you? What is striving to love you?

I will also say this – the stone will receive all of your misery, it cannot overwhelm a stone. No sorrow, no matter how thick and dark your rage. Stone can swallow it all - whole.

The power to hear messages from Great Spirit through objects of nature. That is what you - each of you - have come to discover today, to be re-minded. We often forget how to stay connected. So you hold a stone and it gives you the power to remember. Why? Because it is Great Spirit in matter, as matter. Pick up a feather - same thing, put yourself in water -same thing, and put yourself as close to the earth as you can. All of your consciousness as it is begins to come forth and unfold for you. What has Great Spirit given you as love, through this messenger that you hold in your hand? No matter what you do, ultimately you will remember everything. Notice what happens when you put the stone down and pick it up again. When you put the stone down, that is when the race begins in the mind. Pick the stone up and breathe deeply and let the stillness come to you. Stone is a conduit; you are in sync with the Great Magician and that is the best company to be with.

Be Blessed Always.