Settling In

The Spirit Lamp for our new House

Once we understand that humanity is not the only intelligent life on the planet it is easier to intuit  the life in other forms around us. All forms have life and all manifest an Idea - a thought form - which lies at the back of their material structure.
Gardeners are used to relating to plants in this way. They see a tree living its life through the wheel of the year from a dormant winter frame to a form resplendent with fruit in late summer. They also see that same tree supporting other life while it lives - birds, insects, animals and people.  A house is very much like a tree. It too has a life, supports life, and so adds its particular quality to the activity carried on within and around it.

This week I am settling in to my new home and establishing a framework for the activity of the household. While sorting out belongings and getting to know the space better is an important part of the process, there are other things going on. I am establishing a relationship with the place.

This house, and the land it sits on, is new to me. Like any new acquaintance, it will reveal its personality to me if I pay attention. In order to understand I am required to listen as I explore the possibilities here. By merging my own life with this house, in an attitude of respect and commitment, I am asking to establish an intimate connection with the spirit of the place. Together with other occupants, seen and unseen, I am creating a Home in which all who cross the threshold will feel they Belong.

This opportunity is open to everyone and all of us instinctively seek that sense of belonging we call Home. The problem for many is the way our lifestyle and upbringing has served to disconnect us from the very means of finding that sense of place.
If we rush our attention is scattered and we cannot relate to any one. So the first step is to Slow Down.

Our second step on the Path Home is to take the opportunity to be in a park, or to notice street trees and urban birds - the creatures who live around us. Seek out these other lives and appreciate their presence. If we have no access to growing things, no place for a potted plant even, we lose our connection to the cycles of the seasons, to the source of the life force which sustains our bodies. We also disconnect ourselves from the spirit of Life itself.

The third step Home is to establish a rhythmic pattern to our day. When our world is filled with light and sound, both day and night, we miss the opportunity to pace our lives in tune with the rest of Life. We are unsettled then, and rootless.
No two people have the same requirements, so this too requires us to stop and to listen within. What meal times and waking hours support your life best?
What foods and activities enhance a sense of health and pleasure in life? What balance of work, play and rest meets your needs best?

The fourth and final step is to keep the mind as quiet as possible. Constant inner dialogue and noise drowns out the inner voice and closes down intuition.
No relationship can survive without clear communication. To develop a sound relationship with your Self, with the Soul and with all life we must learn to be still and to listen. In that stillness we get our sense of Home.
There a lantern shines at the window and we feel the warmth of the Hearth.
From the place of that peace we relate easily and effortlessly, knowing we are alive - that we Belong.

Exploring new localities

I have been out walking. My new neighbourhood is small residential oasis in a light industrial area.
The district is not so very new to me. As a child I went to intermediate school here. I have even lived here before - a long time ago when my eldest daughter was an infant- only the place was different then. I see the changes made here as a very healthy sign.
Like my neighbourhood, we all grow with change.  We see things differently. Just like any part of town does, we have our quirks and our issues. Getting on with doing the best we can with what we have is the flavour of most adult days, as it is with most districts.
Only things change fast sometimes and we feel differently about ourselves. That is just as well. Those unsettled feelings that float to the surface and drive change are keeping us healthy and on track.
A major part of our life purpose is to come to know ourselves well. A second major part of our  purpose is to connect with others meaningfully.
All we really have to do is take the risk of engaging with life around us - right where we are - at home, at uni', at work. Also, I discovered its OK to be  your Self while you do it.
Both neighbourhoods and the people in them are more interesting when they show their character.

Here's some of what I saw on my walk:

The Homestead Project

Today is Monday and the day of New Moon- the start of a new lunar cycle, a new week.
It's the perfect time to learn some fresh moves in the dance of our days.

Life has wrought some phenomenal changes over the last six months. Now I find I have fetched up in a wondrous place of light, love and warmth. From this place I express my gratitude to all lives who have contributed to its creation. From this place too, a new project and way of life begins.

Several years ago I began to look into the history of a district. By means of conventional research and channelling I began to uncover a story concerning a property there which I refer to as Homestead. Employing the old ways, I connected directly with the personalities involved in the events which took place during the 1870’s. Through them I unearthed their connection with my own life.

With the assistance of other guides and teachers I was introduced to the healing potential of collaboration across the boundary of form life. The goal of this combined effort is to create a new co-operative centre where a different process for living can be explored. By combining old ways with new, practical skills with intuitive ones, the Homestead Project will establish another centre to demonstrate the interconnectedness of all.

Commitment to this project has produced some significant upheavals for me, and a raft of astonishing new experiences. The most noticeable are the external changes: a profound love connection; a shift to more authentic, creative work and a reorganisation of my living arrangements. None of these changes could be lightly undertaken. All of them affected my closest relationships with family and friends, whose continued support and acceptance has encouraged me to carry on. Their love has provided the medium of exchange, allowing the dissolution of established, known ways of operating and the coagulation of new experiences into a recognisable pattern for my days. That loving support is still the greatest blessing in life and one for which I am ever grateful.

At its most fundamental level the Homestead Project is about treating all life as loving, close family and friends. This attitude acknowledges the scientific and occult truth: All Life is interconnected Energy.

Try the approach in your own life and see how it feels to you- and Please do comment or email me about your experiences.

Love mwb

What is a Shaman anyway?

Today I received mail in which my correspondent asked a question: What does it mean to be a Shaman?
Good question. I will do my best to answer it here.
In so far as the word "shaman" has associations with ancient traditions of spirituality it is a useful term to describe a modern day healer who walks between worlds.

One sphere of activity is the world seen by everyone. Here the shaman is witness to a way of life which honours the spirit of all things, and the interconnectedness of all things, as expressions of the One Life.
The other sphere of activity is a world which is sensed intuitively and approached by trained use of the higher mind. This is the world of Spirit. In this world the shaman travels to assist in the maintenance of health and balance, and to engage with aspects of the collective spirit.

The well springs of shamanistic practises are as many and varied as the cultural origins of humanity. In my case western Paganism forms the basis for activity. Others practise in the ways traditional to their areas of origin, be it the Americas, the Pacific or the Australian outback. All share a common understanding of the interconnectedness of all life, whether seen or unseen.

I take this opportunity to honour with thanks all my teachers and mentors who provided me with the understanding and training which allows me to serve in this way. There is one in particular who has always been with me, encouraging tenacity and perseverance, and guiding me lovingly around hazards. Bless you Gudryn.

Song of Gudryn

White waves and bracken

Blue woad and heather

Scree and kree of wave and wind

North Man

Grey hound, blue feather

Round house and granite

Seal and peel of air dried skin

Isle Man

Green paste, white mortar

Smoke, ember’s flare

Grease and grind of new-set limb

Heal Man

Violet eye and totem

Star, whorl on land

Guide and sage in my life time

Spirit Man

Channelling

Selenite in tower form

I bought myself a desk and have taken a few weeks leave from work. Today I sat down to begin a new writing project – or recording project really.

There is an experiment under way to utilise channelling in more areas of my life. This is a procedure of linking telepathically with another mind for the purposes of exchange.

Up until now I have used this process to seek information for myself or another. It is also a useful way to engage with other life forms such as animals, plants and minerals. This time I have a set timetable with allocated time slots during which I shall turn up at the desk – to act as stenographer only.

In one session earlier today I had the opportunity to engage with the Life that is Selenite. I have a crystal tower form of it on my desk beside me.  This information came mostly in impressions or images which were then registered in language with the help of one of my regular guides.

I share that interaction here for all those whose interest and enjoyment brings them into contact with these mineral light workers:

The Selenite Diva

Our endeavour at this time is to assist grounding the new light into the Earth. One of the earth forms we work with is Humanity. We create a bridge, if you like, between the planetary soul and the Universal soul, of which humanity shares as a group. You could say we provide a Light road of access for the Spirit that is Life to travel upon – a joining of Lord and Lady.

In terms of quality our note is high and clear, well out of human range. Working with the tower form will enhance inner hearing. Be aware some may experience neuralgia type symptoms around the physical ear at first exposure, as the form life tends to resist such a degree of influence as we are able to assert. There is no cause for alarm, as this will pass.

We also assist with channelling, not just between objective and subjective life but between kingdoms also. Ours is the stone of En-Lightenment then, working at a high vibratory rate and affecting all aspects- whether space or matter. This energy is active, easily focused but not easily manipulated, as ours is the stronger ray pathway. 

We are unusual in the mineral kingdom, being composed predominantly of water and chalk. Calcium is the basic building block of the bony structure of animals and an essential mineral for life in form.

Our structure compiles itself on linear “strands” which easily shatter with impact. A commonly available form is the tower, such as you have with you now. Note the significant weight relative to other minerals.

Wands of power have been created from these linear structures which, though fragile, are used effectively for the directive work of healing at etheric level.

Through the emotional body you will sense those qualities of care and facilitation – as by one who relates by Doing for the loved one. This characteristic could be defined as masculine/out going in its expression, creating new enhanced activity by altering conditions and environment.

Our influence on the mental body is to give clarity, to facilitate an efficient lift into Higher Mind and to assist in holding that state thereafter. We facilitate clear transmission.

There is more that we do for form life on the physical/etheric level. In the case of humanity, along with other life, we act to strengthen and heal all aspects of the bony structure. We do this by vibrational rate, calibrating on the level of the etheric template for the optimum density and composition of bone primarily, though we also affect numerous other structure on a molecular level.

There is no danger of overuse, except perhaps in times of emotional distress – remember our natural structure will tend to direct and enhance energy. For example depressive feelings experienced as over stimulated mental activity – thoughts of despair and so forth will tend to crystallise under our influence and organise into a higher expression.

Note that our nature is not to change the character, or to protect, but to accelerate and refine energy by our contact. For this reason it is best to avoid placing large selenite structures within the field of unstable persons. 

Our healing functions act by “raising the tone” or enlightening environments – only aware discernment is required to intuitively gauge what is appropriate for any given space.

We would also suggest the smaller structures be carried on the bodies of the very young and elderly. The larger ones are not suited to those with a less rigorous connection to form life.

In respect of the block or slab formations available: avoid placement below chair height as most find the energy effect destabilising unless they too are on the ground in a kneeling, sitting or lying position. Our tendency is to increase the light carrying capacity of the spine and its associated centres. Thus, use below the solar plexus may lead to a disoriented “floating” sensation which is unhelpful in the majority of cases.

 Our advice throughout relates equally to other forms, not specifically the human.

Males may find it beneficial to use the rounded and polished form available, as there is already a strong masculine polarity.

In summary: Our presence then has the effect of Stimulation to Activity.

We lift the vibrational rate of the form, strengthen and heal the bony structure, give determination and strength to the emotional experience and clarity to the mind – all with the ultimate purpose to aid development of soul.

Healing Triads

my thanks to similartohate on deviantart.com for this image

Spirit-Soul-Body : a triad which has also been expressed as Life-Quality-Appearance.

I have been thinking about that triad in terms of health and healing.

Our form –the mental, emotional and etheric/physical bodies through which our personality expresses itself – experiences a constant friction with the spiritual determination of the soul to express itself through that form.

Being “of clay” and essentially Earth substance, our form life has a different agenda really.

The soul seeks to experience and operate through the form according to its spiritual direction. The resulting tussle is very real and tangible to us in the shape of disease and disorder.

Mental disturbance in depression and self loathing may characterise our life. Equally distressing emotional upset may paralyse our attempts to live to our ideal. Physical disability may repetitively hamper us and cause us to focus our attention on the condition rather than the cause.

Any or all of these may set up as a “closed loop” where our attention on the source of distress actually causes the condition to magnify.

What to do? If this friction is at the root of dysfunction what is the road to real Health?

As regards the physical/etheric body we can listen to the guidance of our medical practitioner or healer of choice.  That is an obvious first step we are all familiar with. It is, however, a first step.

There is more we can do- something really very straightforward and practical- we can learn to quiet the mind.

In health terms choosing to focus on the sound of our breath rather than the chatter in our head is one of our best self-medicating options. Even if we only manage it for a moment or two, we are supporting wellness.

Those who meditate or contemplate regularly can testify to the benefits for Health in the widest sense of the word. The mind quiets and cannot feed distressful self-sabotaging thoughts to disturb the emotions. Calmer thoughts and feelings allow the etheric/physical to realign itself. Muscles release their tension, digestion settles. 

Over a period of regular use a sense of wellness and trust in the future beings to pervade our life despite any remaining manifestation of disease.

Life-Quality-Appearance: better in balance surely?

Here is a Short Story I choose to share today:

The Tin Whistle- an original tale in the traditional style. Recorded by MWB.

The story of Padraic Connell is a strange one and worth the telling, so here it is.

Padraic was the seventh child of his father, all were boys. Their mother’s pride was great but so too was her loneliness for the girl her heart desired. This was not to be. His father too had come from a family of men and he too was a seventh son. In better times this would have bode well for Padraic. In these times of Great Hunger, however, it meant no more to him than that all of his brothers, uncles and cousins, along with his parents and grandparents, had gone on to the greater mysteries without him. He was quite alone in a blighted country.

Even while his family lived there was never more than just enough in the world to keep body and soul together. They had eked an existence from tithe to tithe time, through seasons, each in their own way beautiful but never bounteous. Never was there enough for the morrow let alone a passage to new worlds. Padraic longed for other worlds but, for as long as he could remember, there was only one ease, one comfort in the one that held him. He had a tin whistle.

Alone with it now, as he was, there was time and to spare for the laying of tunes. The whistle filled the one room of his home of an evening, lifting a lilting song on the peat smoke of his hearth. There were few neighbours now, but those that remained declared the sound superior to the general class of piping. Padraic felt this must be so. Mulling over this whistle one night, he took it into his head that he could find himself wealth with it. Perhaps through his whistle he would find someone to share his hearth, a body to enliven his music in the evenings when all the work was done. He saw that the hunger which he now endured was matched by lack in his life on every level. He came to desire a fullness in his being.

Padraic lasted through another freezing season. Once the thaw began he left the deserted place of his home and set off across the country. He walked with no other purpose than to see what his whistle would find. He walked for six days. Sometimes he stopped and played at a well or a dwelling. On occasion he was rewarded with a portion or a prayer. It was not, however, enough to keep together the body or the soul.

 The road ahead seemed a great incline to him now, on the seventh day. He walked on until the sun was sinking in the sky. Neither live man nor live beast had he seen all the day and now the uneasy dusk was upon him, still out in the open as he was. Padraic looked about for a likely place of shelter, all the while a great thirst and hunger threatened to overcome his wits. When he came at last upon a clear stream flowing gently from black rocks at the side of the road, he sank down beside it to drink with gratitude for his deliverance.

Before Padraic cupped his hands to drink he offered a prayer to all those saints, and their predecessors, who had guided his feet to this place. From this upland spot, where he knelt in the new grass, all of the country spread out below him was daubed with mauve and pink and deepest blue. As he sipped and watched, the darkness spread across the lower lands and left him alone in a misty silent place. Overcome by his travails, resting his back against the rocky outcrop, Padraic fell deeply into sleep.

If his mother had been with him on his journey she would have warned him of the perils of sweet water from black rocks in a barren place. She would have held back his hand and prevented his partaking of what belonged to The Gentry. For certain Padraic himself would have shied away from the springs of the sidhe, if only he had his wits about him and had not been so dreadful with the weariness upon him. As it was he slept long, Padraic did, clutching tight to his whistle. While he did so, dreamless and unmoving, grass grew up about him and covered him from sight. Not one living soul passed that way at any time to see him there. The road he was on was seldom traveled in these times.

Padraic himself had drawn within, to the heart of the rock, where by rights he should not be. He came to his senses, feeling on top of the world, surrounded by a great gathering of bright people. Amazed he was at the good times to be had there, with food and drink in plenty. There was fine fiddling and dancing underway. He had never seen the like of this dancing – flying feet springing effortlessly over the rhythmic beat- men and women weaving out and back across the tune. It was unreal. He looked about him for his trusty tin whistle but it was gone, and his stick the same. He was sad to see that whistle no more but he tapped his toe to the beat, content to listen and watch the patterns of the reelers dancing.

Sometime later the most beautiful woman came towards him, her hair streaming light behind her, copper and gold. In her right hand she held a branch of silver. Instead of leaves tiny silver bells suspended from the tracery of twigs upon this branch so that her movement caused such a rustle of tinkling sound that all his attention was drawn to the sound, despite the revels going on around them. In her left hand was Padraic’s own tin whistle, but he was not to know any of this because she walked with her hands behind her. The objects were screened from view by the pale silvery green of the gown she wore so lightly. So Padraic could not see what she had with her, though he heard the light rustling of bells in her walk. With her voice full of some enchantment this vision of a woman spoke to him saying “Welcome you are amongst us Padraic of Connell, I should wish you to stay.”

“Kind you are good lady”, Padraic replied with a courteous bow in her direction. “I have, however, been thinking there is no place on earth but home for a man of my sort.

The lady nodded and regarded him in a considering way. “I could get you home to be sure, but after all you have seen here the world would seem a pale place you know.” She leaned a little more towards him and said in a confidential way “Besides Padraic, that was our spring you drank from and, by rights, having come here, it’s here you should remain.”

Padraic was at a loss. This was a seeming impasse which he knew not the best way to resolve on his own. The lady sighed, seeing this and spoke again. “Here is a puzzle for Padraic. Both my hands hold an object similar, but not alike. Both will enhance the senses of the owner. Both offer travel over space and time. One will keep you here but with the other you may go home. Which hand will you have then?”

Now Padraic felt himself in a bind for such a riddle is a delicate contest and not to be taken lightly. At first he held his tongue. This was not one of quizzing riddles he knew, and he held scores in his memory. He considered a moment, gazing across to the gay feasting and the spinning reelers dancing their sets, as he searched within himself for a clue. As he did so he noticed the gleaming golden drapes around the walls reflected all before them. It was in that way that he was able to see behind the lady’s back and spy the answer. It was ungentlemanly to cheat a lady but he was surely keen to be away so he answered her this way “Lady” he said with courtesy “if I took your right hand I would see more than I should and pass to places from which men such as myself seldom return. Such knowledge is a great temptation. If, however, I took your left hand I could share my song with you before I leave.” He smiled and bowed with courtly grace. “If it happens that my playing cannot please you then I will stay and learn a little more, but if the airs I play are comely may be then you will open the door. Let us leave this riddling rhyming now most Gracious Monarch. I am completely in your hands.”

Well the Queen of Fairae, for such she was, laughed at his boldness and rhyming. “I like that well enough Gallant Padraic” she declared. “Take your own whistle now and strike a tune for me. Let us see what manner of song is within you.”

Padraic perched himself there and fixing his eyes upon the sweet form and face of the lady, began his medley, soft and sweet. The notes caressing came and spoke of love and beauty, both dark and fair. Such a phrasing came from the whistle as brought to the place the bird on the wind, the rushing foam of a full sea, the settling rustle of a lone hill at dusk, and Padraic played on.

While he played the bustle and the chatter of the place where he was became still and hushed. His plaintive air filled up the room with the sounds of the earth. His song called out a soul’s longing for his own hearth and place upon the green land of home, and Padraic played on.

For three whole days and three whole nights Padraic played for the Queen of Sidhe. There was not a feeling from exquisite joy to black despair that he omitted to play, not one fear that was not called forth, not one glory unrecorded in the song. When the last notes faded away Padraic found himself back on the hillside in the still morning air, his whistle in his fist and his stout stick beside him. You could even feel he’d dreamt it all, save for the lock of copper hair he found wound around his whistle.

By now Padraic felt he had no further taste for travel. He turned his face toward home. Wealth and companions counted as nothing to him besides all that he had seen. So back he went, treading his way arrow straight to his own hearth.  Things seemed changed about him. Nearer home he was disturbed to see there was no longer anyone he knew by sight. He came as a stranger to his own door. Once there he was amazed to find a lovely young woman with copper coloured hair to be his wife. In the evenings he would play to her and people came to listen to the strange lilting tunes and wonder. Before long the music Padraic made was famous across the whole country. He lived a charmed life and wanted for nothing. The years that passed seemed to lie lightly on his form, so that there was no one entirely sure how old he really was. Some were heard to say he played with a magic touch and charmed breath but no one ever asked him and Padraic would never say.

We are Never Alone

North of Whananaki, Northland, New Zealand

I have been away staying in the North. In four days and three nights spent amidst remote natural beauty I have been renewed.

Apart from my own experiences I was privileged to witness my dearest friend open to the loving presence of his soul and his group. In a life previously characterised by isolation he experienced first -hand the occult truth: we are never alone.

 I have witnessed such openings before, but never one so poignant to me or so earnestly desired by its recipient. Miraculous too the contribution made by greater lives than ours – the Spirit of the place, elementals divas, along with light bearers of every kind assisted in the process. One dear friend on the subjective side of life facilitated. It was his connection to the place and to each of us individually which propelled an effortless re-birthing. Such blessings indeed.

Such events do not occur by accident. When the heart-felt desire to know one’s Self is earnestly expressed, the Light will come. When the mental activity is focused toward spiritual enquiry an eventual soul connection is inevitable.

Know that isolation and loneliness are features of an habitual focus to past or future. In this present moment where you are – right now- all is well. 

You are not alone far from it. You are literally embraced and supported by All Life.

There is a new writing project underway. In the next few posts I will begin the story of Adam and Mona. The narrative begins in 1875- a year of significant development in technology, mining and agriculture in Northern New Zealand.  The events related are based on fact. Names have generally been substituted for fictitious ones and my interpretation of events is a creative one, even though supported by research. In other words "The Lake" is a work of fiction.

"The Lake District" is the colonial term used for the settlement which grew up around Lake Pupuke, Auckland. This area is now better known as Takapuna.

Feedback at any time is really helpful and especially appreciated at this stage of a draft. Please feel free.

First Extract from "The Lake"

A bar in Thames, Coromandel, New Zealand -  early June 1875

“Stake your wife against my farm manager for twelve months – all services. How ‘bout it?”

Slattery sat back, running his whisky- sticky finger across his moustache. “Unenforceable surely?”

Both men were skinned of ready money and half cut.

Morrison grinned and shouted “Here” gesturing to the barman. “Come and witness this.”

It was all written down on the back of one of Slattery’s trading bills and the signatures witnessed by two of the onlookers. It was legal all right.

A gentleman’s agreement – if you could call it that – and Slattery won.

Slattery Homestead, North Shore, Auckland- late July 1875

A great dark haired man was standing in the office with blood dripping from the torn knuckles of his left hand. The housekeeper, Susan, had shown him in. She would find him a bandage. There had been some sort of accident at the wharf, she said

Mona Slattery stood at her study window watching the southerly  gale lash sheets of pelting rain across the paddocks. She had seen the hired fly drop this man off. 

Rivers formed and dispersed amongst the stone chips on the driveway.

A farm manager Eric’s letter had said- a skilled stockman, a widower- arriving Friday morning.

Mona knew her husband had no interest in farming. The blessing was he hadn’t been near the place for nine months.

She turned listlessly from the window.

Susan’s husband Joe was waiting by the door. A stocky Mayo man, he had been with her family since the start.

“This puts me in an invidious position Joe.”

He drew himself up and nodded his bald head in the direction of the office. “Best get it over then.”

They entered the office to find the man standing with his back to them, wearing a fresh piece of gauze wrapped cunningly about his left hand fingers. He appeared to be surveying the activity around the stables opposite.

 Measuring the man’s height against the window frame she decided he was not much more than 6’6” but those broad shoulders accentuated his physical presence.

 He turned around and rather spoilt the first impression. Black eyebrows almost joined, thick and straight. Thin lips drew an uncompromising line to match. A dour man, she supposed.

 At least he was mostly clean shaven. Mona loathed the current fashion for profuse whiskers.

He was also younger than she had expected- not yet forty by the look of him.

His attention was all on Joe. The unspoken assumptions were perfectly clear.

She was silent, thinking: Eric must have been in one of his wild provocative moods when he organised this piece of social lunacy- bringing such a person on to the property. The whole Lake District would be aflame with gossip before nightfall.

 At least there was the cottage ready for use.  Joe and Susan were here in the house.  Uncle Daniel lived just down the road.

Mona inclined her head elegantly. “Welcome to Homestead Mr Somers.”