Stone Songlines

 I've been raving on about rituals to my friends, because formalised ritual is something increasingly fading from our society.

I've mentioned the term "formalised ritual" as I think there are a whole heap of other rituals going on at present such as Facebook updates, using mobile phones, catching up with friends over coffee, and so on.

My interest has been in rituals which reflect the energies around us - the Full Moon, the New Moon,

the Spring Equinox coming up on 23rd September (Autumn Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere), Harvest Time, celebrating puberty, birth and menopause, and so on.

Since I cameacross Jamie Ridler's Full Moon Dreamboard concept, I've been pursuing the idea of Dreamboards both for the Full and New Moons.

Last Full Moon, myself and two friends decided to create Dreamboards for releasing from our lives what we no longer need. Pat provided some lovely paper she'd come across in Singapore which is sort of feng shui oriented in that you write on it what you want to let go of, or what your dreams are, or whatever you have in mind, and then the paper burns easily to send your thoughts into the Universe.

Pat's Dreamboard (which her granddaughter absolutely adores)

So we started the ritual with writing down what we wanted to let go of and what we wanted to have enter our lives as a consequence of the clearing-out of old, stuck energies. At the end of the artwork for Pat and Sue, they burned their papers. I kept mine as I started my ownartwork but intended to take longer over my creation in line with Pluto moving from retrograde to forward motion again (more of this in my previous  blog).

This is Sue's Dreamboard

We had a great collection of magazines from which to cut out images that drew us, but that went right out of the window when we got started, as you can see with the two Dreamscapes above. 

What I love in this sortof ritual is how art can be so inspirational for those taking part and, also, how varied our creative output is, celebrating the great kaleidoscope of talent which illuminates and permeates all of us here on Mother Earth.

I had a really strong dream two nightsago, one which left me feeling in quite a bit of turmoil when I woke up.  I don't know if you have dreams like this,most leave quite pleasant - and rather curious - feelings.  But some leave me feeling drained and upset.  This was one of those. Or rathert hree of those - I had three dreams in a row, with the first two wrapped up by the third dream.  I'm not going into all the details, but the last one was rather nice - someone I bumped into recently turned up to hand me a crystal, and gifts of crystals I can handle any day.

I've also had a headache, an upset stomach and felt distinctly seedy and a bit turmoil-ish (I made that word up, don't waste time checking it out in a dictionary) since the dream.  It took me a while to realise that this is not only around my 62nd birthday (today, 27th September), it's also the time my mother passed into spirit.  She died on 21st September, two days after her 63rd birthday, and, due to a public holiday, I buried her in 1988 on my 41st birthday. Not the best birthday, as you can imagine, but over the years the grief softens sonow I'm quite able to celebrate my birthday along with loving memories of my mum.

However, I've been interested to find out, from the Astrograph astrology software programme I've got, that Pluto was square my natal Pluto when my  mother crossed the Rainbow Bridge.  And now Pluto is square my natal Sun and conjunct my Ascendant.  Don't get your knickers in a twist about the astro terminology, as I'll give you the summary below. The first one is Pluto square my natal Pluto and this is what the text says:

"This transit transforms your urge for self-renewal and regeneration...Long buried parts of your psyche are likely to be activated by this transit.  The death and rebirth energy of Pluto is up for you during this time, symbolizing the process of letting go of behaviors that no longer serve you in order to make way for new parts of yourself to emerge, and significant life changes are certain to result.....Sometimes these life changes will manifest more on an internal level, and sometimes outer events may bring them, such as the death in your immediate family, or some other radical alteration of your circumstances. This means confronting parts of yourself that you would rather not face, and you may be tempted to evade this encounter. But running away from the battle will not help, for eventually you must admit the dark unknown and integrate it with your conscious self, if  you are to move towards wholeness and peace of mind."

I wasn't into astrology at the time and I don't know whether I would, even if I had, have recognised the sands shifting under my feet. Mum's death removed her as the peacemaker between myself and my father and our hidden conflicts came right out into the open.  They were really only resolved when I made my peace with Dad as he was dying. But at that time I went to see a psychologist as no-one would talk about my mum dying and I found it hard to cope. She (the psychologist) opened up perspectives for me of family dysfunctionality.  And also opened me up to writing poetry and, eventually, to the huge change of direction I had in 1964 when we moved to Queensland and I embraced a more spiritual lifestyle, crystals,Reiki, visionary art and teaching.

Moving along from there, I have actually been creating artwork in line with planetary cycles, including the New Moon,Full Moon and Pluto moving from Retrograde to Direct.  I get a daily e-mail from the Mystic Medusa website, which I really recommend, and it reminds me of the various galactic happenings. In the most recent period, I started what turned out to be the Tree of Life painting and completed it as Pluto turned direct from being retrograde.  Mystic reminded readers that this period of Pluto Retrograde/Direct had influences going back to 1995 (when I really started getting into newagey type stuf), and to February 2008 which is when I got a pinched sciatic nerve in my left buttock, four months after Dad died and as we were selling up to move south down here to Traralgon.

I've just completed my Life is not a Garden artwork, and happily all the crappy stuff I've been feeling has melted away on my birthday so I feel pretty terrific today.  My pinched sciatic nerve is finally getting heaps better too.  So looking at Pluto in my life now, I foundit is square mynatal Sun.  And the text reads, in part:

"This is an extended period when many factors in your life could radically alter, because Pluto, symbolizing the process of decay and change,death and re-birth, is making its force strongly felt.  You are in themidst of tremendous and far-reaching changes to the fundamenta lpatternof your life at this time. These changes are for evolutionary purpose, and so they are in your best interest in the long run....During this period of time, you have tremendous untapped energy for renewal and transformation. You will emerge from this period of time more free in yourself and more confident of your true path in life."

There'sa bit more along these lines but I don't want to bore you stupid with swags of text.  Suffice it to say that yesterday I realised that, at 62, I'm one year off the age my mum died.  She was 63.  I havealways had a dread of popping my clogs at the same age, but these last three dreams of mine seem to have cleared out these fears.  I'm quite different from my mother who, I feel, gave up the ghost when herown mother died and also because she hated it here in Australia, away fromall her old familiar life.  I, on the other hand, love Australiaand am more than happy to be  back here after my two years in the UK although I do really miss my stepdaughter, stepdaughters and stepgreatgrandkids.  I admit that leaving them behind in the UK left a hole in my heart.

Interestingly,I've felt more and more drawn to doing art and writing my book, rather than teaching. I land in places and seem to end up teaching, have done so since my life changed in 1994 in the move to Queensland. I sort of get thesense that the feelings of responsibility and reliability that were drummed into me from a young age have left me with feeling I ought" to teach, and we all know how fearsome that word "ought" is.

I feelnow that it's time for little ol' moi, to focus on what feeds my heart and soul, to let go of teaching which I find quite tiring and draining,and to focus on teaching through my writing and experiencing the joy of my creativity through artwork. 

And as I'vereached this decision, on Thursday I went to see my accountant to finalise my 2008-9 accounts for the taxation office.  It turns out thatthe greater part of my self-earned income this year has come from thesale of my artwork.  And my accountant decided that the best category now for me with the Taxation Office is as an artist.  It felt very funny to have myself listed as an artist, as I have no formal training,and Iknow I ain't up there with the Salvador Dali's and Matisse's of theworld.  But art is incredibly healing for me, it is calling to me, so now I'm embarking on a new course in life, in my new incarnation as anartist, something I never dreamed would be possible back in 1988 whenPluto was square my natal Pluto.  

I've come full circle.

I have been interested in astrology for ages but really only recently have I started investigating it in more detail. It's a fascinating subject and, for me, it's been enlivened by the daily posts I get from the Mystic Medusa website. It's a brilliant website, but the daily posts on the Moon's phases and other galactic happenings have helped me feel far more in touch with the energies around me.

On September 11th, Pluto moved from retrograde to forward motion again. A planet is retrograde if, from our Earth position and the planet's position, it looks as if the planet is going backwards. Well, of course it ain't, there'd be all sorts of mayhem if this happened, but somehow this retrograde position does influence what's happening to us down here on little ol' Earth.

I'm quoting here from astrogrrl.com on Facebook:

"Pluto epresents rebirth, regeneration, and transformation. He is our compulsions, obsessions, ability for control, and empowerment. Pluto gives us the power to tackle obstacles in life through deeply understanding our situations, which results in our letting go and being transformed in the process. Pluto's process usually brings endings, purging, destruction, complete annihilation of what no longer works before a renewal can occur."

Mystic Medusa pointed out in her Pluto info that the effects of the retrograde go all the way back to February 2008 and in some cases, the transformation in our lives since 1995. Rang bells for me. In 1995, I tuned into crystals and did a 360deg. turn in my life to focus on Reiki, visionary art, crystals and teaching. And in February 2008 I got a pinched sciatic nerve in my left buttock, four months after my father died, which has left me with huge mobility problems and unable to drive our car. Instant standing still.

So while I started my latest artwork on the Full Moon, I actually finalised it on Friday 11th as Pluto turned direct. My intent was really to let go of all the past crap from childhood onwards which has stuck to me and which I wanted to let go. I started my own artwork on 4th September, the Full Moon, and had lots of black at the bottom. I rather thought this was going to be a challenging piece, full of redsand rage. But as things turned out, this was not to be (it's a much happier painting, thank goodness as you can see above).

The actual full intent I wrote out on my lovely Singapore paper on Saturday 5th September (weweren't able to start right on the Full Moon, this was the closest time all of us could get together), and then left under one of my crystals until 11th.

I had no idea what I was going to paint but the process went as follows and, as you can see from the final version, it turned out quite differently to what I thought I was going to create:

Firstly, I'd painted black reaching up at the bottom of the painting.

Secondly, I suddenly got the urge to add all sorts of greens and turquoises, colours I seldom use, actually. The dabs with the sponge started spreading to the side the higher I got, leaving the centre clear.

Thirdly, I felt the urge to sweep up into the vacant piece at the top lots of Pearl White, with pink and gold glitter scattered over.

Fourthly, I went to our local craft store to get some more stock of glitter while I waited for more images to emerge, and came across some lovely scrapbooking material of words and stickers. So these came home with me.

Fifthly, I got an image of a coffin and when I searched for images on the Internet, came across the purple one at the bottom of the painting in the centre. This represented the burial of the past for me. But also Ic ame across two images of open coffins with hearts pouring out. These went above the closed coffin to represent the re-birth of love in my life.

One of the sticky phrases on the craft sheets read: "Thank heaven for little girls". This went above the closed coffin and betweenthe two open images to repair the damage of my childhood and re-affirm that as a child I was pretty terrific just as I was.

Finally I added in butterflies and hearts to signify the transformative power of love, and then put in pink lines to link everything together, and centring onthe image of a huge butterfly and world which I found somewhere on the internet (but don't ask me where!).

And last but by no means least, how do I feel after all this childhood healing work? Pretty terrific. I thought my friend Pat got it right when she said she thought this painting was The Tree of Love. It has really shown me that I have so much love around me and in my own heart, and that all my travels have opened up for me a global family which feeds my heart and soul in ways which enrich my life every day, hour and second.

I so enjoyed creating a Full Moon dreamboard last month, that I'm going to create a New Moon dreamboard tomorrow to open up to selling our home and moving into a new home wherever that is.

Also a couple of friends are coming around to my studio on the next Full Moon, and we're all going to create a ritual for releasing that which no longer serves us and Dreamboards to synchroniseand align with the new energies to which we are opening ourselves.

Should be an interesting few weeeks. Keep an eye out for our creations which I'll post in early  September.

I had a rather interesting, roundabout message from the Universe recently in relation to my astrology studies which have been a bit sporadic of late.  I've actually been pretty discombobulated since the bushfires and extreme heat of early February, something which has been experienced by a lot of people in the regions affected by fires in Victoria.  I do seem to be coming back from a period of needing to just be within and be quiet, and I guess the recent Kosmic Kick up the Khyber was a nice little reminder to get into gear again.

My spiritualist friend told me she'd had a reading where the medium had asked her if she was interested in astrology. She said no, but then said that she had a friend interested in astrology.  The medium nodded and asked if I was teaching my friend (which I am - Reiki and Tarot) and told her I still had lots to teach her.  However, the link to astrology seemed to be to be a hint to get back into teaching myself this subject, I think it feeds into my logical and mystical sides.

I had a rather obtuse message from Spirit once, in my early days of moving into the spiritual phase of my life.  And once again, as above, the rather convoluted way of getting the message across reminds me that the Universe moves in mysterious ways, almost as if the roundabout path is a way of driving home the message that the Mystery of the Divine is well and truly real, alive and kicking our hearts and souls into living our passion every second of the day.

I've finished my Dreamboard and it is now upon on the wall right in front of my work area so I don't forget the commitments I made to myself when I created this artwork. 

The various images refer to the fire of creativity and dancing; the joy of writing; the spontaneity of dolphins at play; the peace of flowers and rocks; dancing goddesses; art; embracing my goddess-ness; commitmeent to my dreams and astrology; the spiritual underpinnings of my life. And of course, the thread of love.

The various wording is as follows:

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

""Find my fire, Feed my fire, Fence my fire, Fan my fire" (the "Fence" refers to the need to protect one's creativity from negative or destructive comment or criticism).

"Let you life be the poem you write. Let your heart be the portrait you paint."

And in the top lefthand corner is a poem by the Sufi poet, Rumi:

"Cast All Your Votes for Dancing"

I know the voiceof depression

Still calls to you.

I know those habits that can ruin your life

Still send their invitations.

But you are with the Friend now

And look so much stronger.

You can stay that way

And even bloom!

Keep squeezing drops of the Sun

From your prayers and work and music

And from your companions' beautiful laughter.

Keep squeezing drops of the Sun

From the sacred hands and glance of your Beloved

And, my dear,

From the most insignificant movements

Of your own holy body.

Learn to recognize the counterfeit coins

That may buy you just a moment of pleasure,

But then drag you for days

Like a broken man

Behind a farting camel.

You are with the Friend now.

Learn what actions of yours delight Him,

What actions of yours bring freedom

And Love.

Whenever you say God's name, dear pilgrim,

My ears wish my head was missing

So they could finally kiss each other

And applaud all your nourishing wisdom!

O keep squeezing drops of the Sun

From your prayers and work and music

And from your companions' beautiful laughter

And from the most insignificant movements

Of your own holy body.

Now, sweet one,

Be wise.

Cast all your votes for Dancing!

~ Hafiz ~

I hope you feel similarly inspired to create a dreamboard or something similar in response to the rhythems of the Great Galaxy in which we are so lucky to live and co-create.

The Full Moon this month is in Aquarius which is great for me asI have my Moon in Aquarius, astrologically speaking,so I'm resonating at full belt with the energies around at present. 

I'm currently creating a Full Moon Dreamboard which is great fun, glitter flying in all directions. I'll post a pic when I'm done, but I thought I'd mention this creative project in case any of you would like to create a Full Moon Dreamboard too.  I got this idea courtesy of theJamie Ridler Studios website, to give honour to the originator of this fun project.

The Moon moves into Aquarius as follows:

Los Angeles - Tuesday 14.08

New York - Tuesday 17.08

London - Tuesday 22.08

Sydney - Wednesday 7.08am

Full Moon Eclipse in Aquarius Exact:

Los Angeles - Wednesday 17.55

New York - Wednesday 20.55

London - Thursday 1.55am

Sydney - Thursday 10.55am

More seriously, this Full Moon is also another eclipse, it's really been a full-on eclipse season of late.  This Full Moon Eclipse rounds off what was opened up in the previous New Moon Solar Eclipse in late on 21st July.  This was a rare and profoundastrological event and it opens up new beginnings.  This last eclipsecan, if you choose, open up your purpose in having embraced newenergies in the previous eclipse. 

Ifyou feel so inclined, you can create another ceremony or ritual toalign yourself with the galactic energies impelling us all to embracenew ways of being, to allow the rays of the eclipse to enter your heartand soul and light the future for you.  I'm going to  - again - listwhat I am releasing, and making a new list of my way forward.

Interestingly,I have been de-cluttering and the ladies who came for the CrystalTemplate Healing Workshop on Saturday had a grand time rifling throughclothes I was releasing and taking most of them home with them. The rest have gone straight away to the opportunity shop (thrift or charityshops in the US and UK respectively).

I have also decided to open up to my crystal friends travelling off to new homes and it has been amazing how many have trotted out of my front door.  I've also had to set aside a couple of shelves for my Spirit Stones, what I consider stone spirits which are lifetime pals of mine and no-one else is getting their sticky fingers on them.  Oh, this is really spiritual, isn't it, lolol???

Here's the painting I created recently to honour the New Moon Solar Eclipse.

I actually painted the canvas black quite a while ago but didn't get any images to fill the space so declded to leave it.  Inspiration started raising its head as I was contemplating rituals to do with the New Moon Solar Eclipse.  I first visualised the Pheasant Coucal feathers at the centre. This bird is the only cuckoo to rear its young and it's very fierce in defence of its chicks, so it reminds me of family and community, and the need to open our hearts to the worldwide community which is opening up to us in these days of global, instant communication.

Then I got the image of the web which again is representative of the unseen links which connect us beings of light here on Earth and throughout the Universe.  I also felt drawn to collect some more paperbark pieces and again ended up with eight surrounding the eight feathers. This reminds me of the creativity which my Spider totem inspires in me.  I walked around my crystals until a Mexican Fire Agate stepped forward for  the centre. And finally, I noticed the bowl of Sunstone standing on the surround of our wood heater, and put one raw Sunstone in each corner.

I had also started with luminescent powder spread around from the centre to the edges before I placed the feathers, bark and stones, and re-created Glitter Gal in all my sparkling glory as the powder tends to drift in the air!

As I mentioned yesterday, here are some ideas for aligning with the New Moon Solar Eclipse energy, a once in a lifetime opportunity for us all to de-clutter, de-tox and move into a new part of our lives.

I've already created two necklaces and tomorrow I'm going to work on a painting.  You may have some ideas of your own as to how you want to celebrate this turn-you-inside-out energy but here's a suggestion from the astro site I like:

Smudge your space to get rid of the old energies, you can also rattle and drum if you like working with these elements, or perhaps work with a singing bowl.  I've got a lovely singing bowl from Nepal which is made up of seven metals which resonate with the seven major planets first discovered (although what those metals are now I have no idea as i've lost the slip of paper with the explanation).  However, as soon as I saw this bowl, I knew it was "mine" as I could feel an instant connection and I loved the tone when I started circling the bowl edge with the ringer tool.

then you can write down all the things you want gone from your life - from major to little things, doesn't matter - and say goodbye to them as you burn them.  You can then focus on your diary/dream book/daily journal or just piece of paper, to list everything for which you feel grateful, and then make some resolutions but only as positive affirmations.

You could also cleanse your space and protect it with space clearing sprays, a circle of salt, or really whatever calls to your heart and soul.

Big thing is, though, folks - however you do it, create a ritual or ceremony to resonate with this special energy to let go of old stuff and move into the new emerging in your life, whether it's a more up-to-date version of you, or different work circumstances, or letting go of old friends if you've all moved in different directions, or whatever.

The main thing is to be mindful, respectful of what  you're creating, and welcome change into your life with a huge, cheery smile!

On 21st/22nd July a New Moon total Solar Eclipse will take place at the following times:

Los Angeles: 19.36 Tuesday 21st July

New York: 22.36 Tuesday 21st July

London: 3.36am Wednesday 22nd July

Sydney: 12.36 Wednesday 22nd July.

I've been doing a bit of research around this subject to inform myself and hopefully impart some information to you too if you're interested in how galactic energies influence you as an individual.

Without going into too many details, an eclipse of the Sun (or solar eclipse) only occurs at a New Moon when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun.  On this occasion, those of us in the US, UK and Australia don't get to see the eclipse in person because the shadow moves as follows:

This eclipse takes place at 29 degrees of Cancer, which may or may not mean anything to you.  However, the Moon rules Cancer, so it is a time to pay attention to emotions, the home, family and so on.  This is also the longest and most intense Eclipse in more than a century, so pay attention to what's happening for you, whether it be to do with relationships, your inner feelings, any turmoil, and so on. 

Eclipses create upheaval, a clearing out of the old, a time to take stock of what we need in our lives and what we don't need and which are surplus to the new being-ness coming into creation for us. A New Moon is also a time of new energies, new beginnings, planning new projects, opening up to visions and inspiration.  So as you can imagine, there are plenty of cosmic energies swirling around at the time of this New Moon solar Eclipse which are stirring things up - rather like a galactic blender suddenly switching onto super-fast mode.  It will be interesting to see how this Eclipse and New Moon affect not only us as individuals, but world events too.  Keep your eyes peeled.

I thought I'd explain how I've been tuning into this soul-stirring event.  In my case, the Solar Eclipse is in my Mars, career, sector.  So there may well be changes for me career-wise or direction-wise.  As it happens, I am starting two new courses in the forthcoming weeks: a crystal template workshop, a Tarot course and a Reiki Master course.  This has started up after I made the decision not to teach.  It reminds me of that old saying: "Want to make the Cosmos laugh?  Have a plan".  So there goes my plan for a quiet life completely overboard.  Never mind.

I don't know about anyone else but I've been feeling very topsy turvy in the period leading up the Solar Eclipse which in my case takes place on Wednesday.  I've been sleeping badly and feeling very uptight and tense, which is unusual for me.  So to tune into this event, I have created two necklaces.  The first one I created is composed of amethyst and rose quartz beads with a pendant of a double-terminated clear quartz natural wand which I've wired myself.  I've found if I sit with a crystal prior to trying to create a wire frame and just wait, most often the way to wire pops up and it goes like clockwork.  It did so on this occasion.  This necklace was created to tune into and align with these energies so that they can manifest gracefully in my life.

The second necklace was created from a collection of mixed beads which have amassed over time.  I really don't know what a lot of them are, so they've just sort of accumulated.  However, last week I got the strong push to get them out of the hidden recesses of my stone jewellery bits and pieces to enjoy the light of day again.  The focal bead was a rutilated quartz which a friend gifted me, I did add some Chiastolite beads which for me mean an ability to ground divine happenings in my life. The aim of the remaining beads and total necklace is to de-clutter with grace, in order for me to have the energy to fire up and resonate with the new energies entering my life and to put these new energies into action. 

Tomorrow I intend to focus on creating some artwork to express how my inner self is feeling as it aligns with all this cosmic soup swirling around calling us to new beginnings in our lives.  Below are pics of my two necklaces and, when it's completed, I'll post a pic of my Solar Eclipse painting: