15 Monday Dec 2014
Posted in contact me
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I have been told a few times it is hard to get a hold of me. Please be patient, I am not always the quickest to respond.
You can reach me through my site, simply by leaving a comment.
You can email me at vixsin@hotmail.com. Please use a header regarding healing work, or shamanism, my junk mail folder is where your question will go.
You can also call, or text me, at 780-934-8222.
My name is Kriket. I look forward to hearing from you.
15 Monday Dec 2014
Posted in elements, General Comments, Uncategorized
On my Medicine Wheel the element water, is associated with West.
There are myriad of natural forms of water found in unusual and beautiful places. Water is also found in our bodies: in the cliché “blood, sweat, and tears,” in mother’s milk, our lymphatic system, and, perhaps most importantly, in amniotic fluid. Just as life first evolved in the sea, the fetus swims in saltwater as it “evolves” and develops. Since bodies of water have tides, the moon is also associated with water, and many lunar qualities are also Water qualities.
Our earth’s bodies of water hold many secrets and treasures. There aquatic plants ranging in color, density and diversity, growing at different levels in the water. Water can be salty, fresh, and in today’s world toxic and deadly. Water is an element that can be in the air, in the form of rain, mist, and clouds; it can be hidden in the deepest places far below the earth’s crust, as well as creating bodies of water, such as oceans, seas, lakes and tributaries from tiny brooks, to streams to seas and oceans.
Water can also house some of the most powerful shamanic allies. Shamans have long had relationships with creatures who dwell both in the water and on the earth. Creatures such as snake, frog, otters, beavers, to name a very few. Shamans also value the quality of creatures who can dive deep into the waters and return unharmed. West Coast native traditions value the puffin for its amazing aquatic abilities. Snakes have been seen as shapeshifters, due, in part, because of their ability to slip between the elements. Turtles, in some traditions, have been credited with carrying the world upon their backs.
In the healing journeys I do for my patients (again; meaning “one who suffers”), when I enter the Spirit world through water, I am fairly certain I will be healing some of the deepest wounds my patient carries. The last line of my prayer to West is “Oceans be my Emotions”. Meaning, the depth of emotions, can be so deep that no explorer has ever traveled there. Emotion flows, following its own path, which may meander. Emotion runs deep, with mysteries not visible on the surface. Emotions can be like sunken treasure, hiding secrets at the bottom of the waters of memory or the subconscious.
West and Water on the Medicine Wheel is also associated with the Mysteries. I send my prayers to the mysterious beings when I address West. I also send my prayers to the deepest caves and caverns, including Ceynotes. In the watery depths are the mysterious creatures such as Sirens, mermaids, seal woman, Skeleton Woman, and the Inuit water Goddess, Sedna. This list is not even remotely conclusive, but, dear reader, you can see where I am going.
Emotions, like the Mysteries of the West, can also be mysterious. Emotions, associated with the moon, are secrets-those things that are just barely visible, lit by moonlight and not exposed to the sun.rooted in secrets, mysteries, and hidden knowledge. Water is female, and looks within.
The moon and Water are the menstrual cycle, and Water is childbirth as well, making Water perhaps the most feminine of elements. Since moon phases are cyclic, ending where they begin and beginning where they end, it makes sense that Water is also associated with death, and it’s not surprising that many people’s folklore depicts death as a passage over water, I am sure many readers are familiar with Charon, the ferry men. Some of our burial rites included putting penny’s on the dead one’s eyes, so they could pay the ferry man to cross to the Land of the Dead. To make the cycle complete, Hindus refer to rebirth as an ocean.
All of these things-the moon, feeling, depth, birth-death-rebirth, and mystery-combine to associate Water with dreams and the subconscious, and from there to altered states in general-trance, vision, and transformation coming from these things. (Note that the slow, dreamy transformation of Water is different from the sudden, shapeshifting Fire transformation.) Transformation by Water is visionary and may take the quality of a journey.
My astrological moon sign in Pisces. There are times, such as PMS’ing, when I become weepy, vulnerable and overflowing with feeling. Water manifests, for me, in personality flairs such as: dramatic, sensual, and otherworldly. For the most part, I am joyful and full of love; my cup is rarely half empty. I can be very generous, my waters flows forth abundantly; I often feel I am one of the most blessed women to walk the earth. Water can be very destructive – floods and hurricanes come to mind, and water is love.
For magical symbolism, Water has ocean and lunar colors-deep blue, sea green, and silver. In Western occultism, green is the color most typically used. The magical undine is Water’s entity. Water signs are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. In my healing practice I use three types of water, Full Moon, New Moon and Joy water. They each have a very specific purpose. I make moon water by leaving it out 1 – 3 nights prior to either a new or full moon. I use glass containers with proper rubber stoppers. I feel they are powerful parts of my healing ceremonies.
White Shell Woman, Changing Woman, is the Spiritual aspect of me, encouraging a deeper look into myself, facing my emotions, and my past. Emotions are formed out of everything that has happened before the moment of ‘now’.
The deepest of my emotions to find, and then embrace, was Fear. I had blinded myself for many years to the very existence of fear within. Not physical fear of literal events, but emotional fear. This means shyness, inhibition, fear of not being acceptable, fear of ridicule, rejection, being put-down, laughed at, made to feel small and so on. This fear that was stultifying, dispiriting, emotionally crippling and extraordinarily destructive to my young growing self.
Water takes us far into ourselves, helps us to swim through, and into, the darkest caverns of our selves. Water is our life blood, as well as the Earth’s life blood. Follow the path of water. It will, eventually, lead you to the deepest parts of yourself. Be not afraid of the cold and dark water you may encounter, that just may be shadow, trying to stay shadow, and not letting you near. The longer you work with water, the more at ease you will become working, in a healthy manner, with your emotions.
15 Monday Dec 2014
Posted in Blogroll, General Comments, shamanic healing
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I really like night time dreams. Over the years, I have recorded many dreams in an attempt to understand the language of my personal psyche. Dream images are not always clear and concise. I interpret, for most dreams, each aspect of the dream is myself, an aspect of my psyche. The benefit of dreams, is that the parlance, between the conscious aspects of psyche, and the unconscious aspects, can be deeper, than in a simple waking conscious. Psyche will choose images and content I am familiar with, in order to get my attention. Dreams are important tools, allowing me another glimpse into my self, aiding in a deeper understanding.
On Dec 13 (yesterday) I wrote a bit about Shadow. I like talking about Shadow, my thoughts on it and the work I have done with it. Last night I had very interesting dreams. I had one, in particular, which dealt with shadows in the guise of shadowy figures, getting lost, seeing the “right road” just over “there”, without a way to get there. In one part of my dream, while searching for the right road, I chose to walk through alleys, and across a dark field. In the shadowy darkness were people, people who were “not good”. At one point in my dream, a younger woman comes from out the shadows and tells me “you shouldn’t talk to strangers” . During the dream I recall thinking I was not afraid of the people in the shadows. I had already spoken to some of them. and had not had any issues.
At the start of my dream I was travelling to a house, outside of my community, with an address that was unclear. Kind of like Millwoods, a suburb in Edmonton!! LOl I was able to get to the house, without a problem. When I was leaving, I started walking, instead of driving. This indicates to me that I wanted to explore my landscape slowly and on my own. I got turned around very quickly. I went down dark streets, through dark alleys and into dark fields, attempting to find the road I need to travel on, to get back home.
Writing about Shadow, spurred my psyche to send me dreams, to test the work I have done with shadow. Getting lost,can mean, I need to pay attention to what is around me. The dark alleys and field were ways for me to work into the scary places, and feel safe doing so. A warning sign, in the guise, of a human came through. Acting like that little voice “are you sure you are going to be okay”; as well as shadow saying “don’t talk to me I am not safe”. If I had not worked as hard as I had through the years, understanding, and making friends with shadow, I may have been afraid.
In a separate dream, later last night, I returned to my starting place, a house. Houses, in my dreams, can indicate my soul, or my core self. My boyfriend was there. I am a lesbian, I know, therefore, men in my dreams, or males in general, are my Animus (masculine) side working with me. We united in the dream and left the house. I realized upon exiting I had turned the wrong way on the sidewalk, leading to my initial confusion. Again we left my car behind. I do remember keeping track of where we walked, in order for me to return for my car. I think, that, is years of soul retrieval work, and training coming into play. Never leave a vital piece of myself behind!
Upon reflection of my dream, I had to ask myself if I felt I had left myself vulnerable by discussing my own healing journey. I also reflect, I am constantly changing and growing. All of me is open to review. I also asked myself, if I wrote deeply enough about shadow. My dreams last night leave me feeling pretty peaceful regarding the deep work I have done. I realize, even with everything I have done, there will always be shadows. There will always be opportunity to explore the alleys and fields, and I can do that without fear. I am comfortable with my shadows, I can make friends with my shadows. I had rich dreams, rife with symbols, and images meaningful to me.
So… now what dreams may come??
14 Sunday Dec 2014
Posted in General Comments, shamanic healing
Over the years Shamanism has helped me to explore my psyche. The definition of Psyche for me, is, all the psychic processes, conscious as well as unconscious. Journey work, ceremonies, rituals and many hours devoted to healing ceremonies, have all shaped me. I have been able, to integrate conflicting aspects of myself. My passion for the shamanic journey has helped me to connect with the Cosmic Psyche. Mixing and Mingling my unique, as indeed we are all unique, psyche with the Cosmic Psyche has created an opportunity to develop the power, and self-knowledge, for me to dive into some of the areas of my Darkest Self, My Shadows.
My ongoing apprenticeship, while on the Shamanic path, has led me to recognize, reckon with, and even battle the forces of the Shadow. Shamanic healing causes me to truly see the nature of some illnesses, while seeking a cure for my patients. (I wish to specify I use the word “patient”, in it’s true etymology as “one who suffers”) I have walked right up the gates of my own Underworld, Lowerworld, Personal Hell, and knocked (three times ;)) before walking in. I have to, and continue to, confront and conquer my own shadows. They appear in guises such as; fear, loneliness, abandonment, self-importance, addiction, unlovable, to name a very few. I have had to unflinchingly confront my own Shadow. This has given me the eyes to see the evil of others, the shadows of others, to successfully deal with forces of Darkness.
Shamanism, has taught me, a language apart from my work colleagues & even some of my friends. I have another post referring to Compassionate Depossession. In Edmonton depossession is not a word commonly spoken. I know, because, I have brought it up in casual (and spiritual) conversations. Not for shock value (alone), but to bring awareness to a very real aspect, of spiritual, and physical, reality. We simply, do not believe, that the dead, can actually inhabit our bodies. We have been given, the dramatic story telling version of possession in popular movies and books. Possession does not look like a body floating up out of a chair, twisting in the air, and puking black goo on the floor. I do not deny, that this manifestation of possession can happen, it has just never happened to me. I have experienced profound shifts, in my self, after being the patient in a Compassionate Depossession. It was a challenge, first to admit possession just might be real, and, then, to release enough self control, to allow another Being the space to speak, and leave my body. It had, and still has, a profound affect on me. My patients often come to me with symptoms ranging from new addictions, to negative thought patterns, to physical behaviour, that just does not feel like their own. Possessions can be very subtle, to quite overt. Shadow can have a voice, it may not always be yours however.
We also don’t speak the language of curses. Curses are a misunderstood concept, and often applied to actions that simply have little, or no, affect on us. A curse manifested for me in the physical by continuously, painfully, and badly, spraining my ankles. Shamanic journeys can take you back in time. I went back in time, to another life, where I had my feet shattered for running away. Using techniques, I had acquired over the years, I was able to rectify the body memory of the event, healing my ankles. I have not sprained my ankles since February 2011. This is the longest I have had healthy legs since I was 13, I am 48.
Through dealing with my own Shadow, and coming to terms with that Shadow self, I have gained peace of mind and balance. Shamanism, is a path, which requires the walker, to deal with personal fears, and inner demons. I could not help anyone, if I recommend a healing journey, I had not taken, and had great success with. Sounds easy, right? Just knock on the door to your personal hell (I suggest three knocks), walk in, face yourself, and voila – chango presto “New Self”!! Sigh. Not quite. Once you have decided to work with your shadows, they seem to increase. Once we have removed one layer, low and behold, there seems to be another. Shamanism does not allow the seeker to wear a mask. I often tell my students, “in shamanism, there is no such thing as a lie”. This is not a path one chooses lights. If, indeed, one even has a choice. I used to quote the Bible in reference to my Shamanic path “Many are called, few are chosen”.
