How often do we think about the spirit of water? Or think of water as an Elemental being? We don’t think about it at all usually because our heads are full of the logistics of living our lives. That amazing hot shower we took this morning was probably full of thinking about plans for the day, not about the spirit of the water. But on a subconscious level water is communicating with us, as it washes through our energetic field, as we drink it during the day. We have a relationship with the water Elementals (who prefer to be called Undines), we are just unconscious of it most of the time.

It’s relatively easy for me to relate to water. I’ve got a lot of it in my chart and my sun is in fixed water. I grew up wanting to swim in it as much as possible, in the lakes, ponds, and pools of upstate New York. I was even on swim teams when I was a kid. But meeting it as an energetic being and having relationship with it was remarkable. I understand why my shamanic teacher brought in the Elemental teachings early in our studies, and I do the same with people that I teach.

My awareness of water has changed over time as our relationship deepened. In the desert I learned to smell water and was awed when I saw the power of flash floods come racing down arroyos. There was never enough of it until the monsoons brought too much. When floods receded, it could be five or six months until it rained again.

When I got to Oregon, I found the abundance of water to be comforting. In the late fall and winter it can rain every day for weeks at a time. The morning fog turns to a misty rain that becomes a steady shower all day long.  It creates rivulets that collect into streams, rushing into storm drains and creeks, eventually finding its way to the rivers, and from there to the sea.  Rain is scarce in summer, and we get three months of hot sun and long bright days until fall brings rain again. And by then we are ready for the water and the greening of the land.

This year the rains came back early. A whole week in September of rain, unusual. Then more gray days and more rain.

During this same time, my daughter moved out to go on to the University. The two of us had been the nucleus of each other’s existence for 20 years. I was happy for her being ready to move on, I felt it was the right time for both of us. We were both ready to start this new phase in our lives. But I was surprised at all the different emotions that came up as I adjusted to living alone for the first time in my life. On the surface, I wanted more summer sun and was not ready for all this rain. Underneath that, I was not ready to fully recognize all the emotions unleashed at this major life change. I had no distraction, no other housemate to give my attention to, and my processing was stuck in a loop. I realized I was spiraling down into a funk. 

The rains stopped for a few days and the sun came back. I felt Spirit nudging me to take a day off from everything.  I needed to go to the coast. It was due to be a perfect sunny warm beach day. I needed to let nature be my counselor, my guide, my medicine.

Coming down the beach to the ocean felt like a loving reunion after a long uphill journey.

She flowed up to my ankles and spoke to me. “Look where you are standing now at the edge of the world. Think back on all your challenges and hardships over your lifetime and all the times you did not know how you would make it through another day.  All of your steps led you here. To me, to this day, to stepping into your true self and your power, to this good life you have made for yourself and your daughter. You can put down your burdens now, they are like grains of sand scattering in the breeze. It is time to embrace your joy.”

Heart opened, tears welling up, I released the doubts and vulnerabilities that had come up in my recent funk. I released my burdens. I gave gratitude to the Undines for their rains that floated things to the surface, their streams that moved them along and to their ocean who embraced and transmuted them.

I gave myself over to the medicine of the day, and was completely renewed.

I love to learn new things, especially when they happen to be completely out of my realm of previous experience.  This summer I was enrolled in a class with shamanic teacher and healer Christina Pratt called the Shadow Transformation Protocol.  I’ve been doing shadow work for a few years, but I’m interested in different ways of approaching that work. I was ready to go for a deeper dive and explore her methods of shadow transformation, which included shamanic journeying, engaging the archetypal Crazy Woman for our spirit guide, ceremony and ritual…and dance.

When I signed up, I didn’t know about the major role that dance would play in the work. Most of my life I have never been much of a dancer, I always felt awkward the few times I tried. But when I moved to Corvallis, I saw a lot of regular community ecstatic dance events being advertised on social media. It sounded like fun and I was interested, but it was out of my comfort zone. I was told by friends who went that everyone just did their own thing, it was very freestyle. I finally got some courage, and a friend who was also out of her comfort zone about it, and we went.  I loved it! Since then I attend the community ecstatic dance events whenever I can. It clears my mind, grounds and balances my energy centers, and it’s a romping good time!

But in this class when I found out that we would be getting to know our retrieved shadow selves by using dance, I had no idea how to do that. I was out of my comfort zone again.  Not only did I have to get to know my shadow self, I had to get specific information about them, and Christina wanted us to do this primarily with dance. 

Slowly, I gave myself over to the dancing. Using the excellent tools she gave us, and sharing playlists with other students, I began to dance regularly in my living room. I had my notebook open to jot down whatever information came through the dance.  After a few nights, a surprising breakthrough happened. I was able to actually divine information through dancing.  I was so astonished this actually worked for me.  The key was letting go and trusting Crazy Woman to help me divine what I needed to know through movement and felt sense. So now I dance for fun, I dance for physical and mental well-being, and I dance for information.

As I was in this process, I remembered being in training with my Reiki Master, Sensei Kelly Jackson, in 2015 before I left Arizona for Oregon.  As she trained and attuned me to the master level, she told me she had a vision of me in Oregon dancing with spirit beings all around me. At the time I thought that was figurative, but it turned out to be exactly what I am doing here now!

We all will experience Divination in our own unique ways. It can come through seeing, like Kelly’s way, or hearing the voice of spirits coming through our ear or onto paper, or a knowing that floods the mind and body.  Or it can come through the dance.  The key is to be open, release expectations, and allow yourself to move out of your comfort zones.  

"Moon Dancer" by artist Julia Watkins

I am still being taught by my elemental friends and each lesson in the natural world is profound. The integration of this latest lesson is an ongoing process right now.
 
A friend and I planned a camping trip to the coast last month and we both had the same place on our list for a stop. It has been on my list for two years, since I first went to Tillamook on business and drove by the sign for Munson Falls. I remember thinking immediately “I’ve got to go there!” I was going to stop on my way back but somehow, I ended up coming home on another highway that day.
 
The modest rural road goes by a scattering of houses and suddenly, surprisingly, leads into a dense green forest that is home to the tallest waterfall in Oregon. I got the impression then that we had just left ordinary reality. Nature spirits, fae, and the hidden folk there create a subtle etheric matrix that makes it a most magical and timeless feeling place. As soon as I got out of the car, I felt pulled right into their world. The stream called to me and I explored its boulders that held plush green islands of vibrant plant spirits. I could feel the hidden folk in tree trunk hollows and under flowers.
 

From the small parking lot we started up the trail that ran beside the stream. Huge Douglas fir, ash and maple created a green canopy above. In a few minutes we came upon a railing around a viewing area and saw that the trail was closed off before we could get close to the falls. But we took the well-worn path around the gate anyway and went on just a bit further, wondering why the trail was closed. Then we saw a mountainous tangle of fallen tree trunks and branches across the stream leading up to the base of the falls. Nature had made its own barricade. Perhaps the nature spirits want to keep that part of their magic for themselves. Who can blame them - after all we humans don't have the best record when it comes to caring for them and their homes. It made sense then why the trail was closed. Anyone climbing on that to get to the falls is risking limb and life. We respected that, took pictures from there and headed back.

We strolled slowly, just taking in all the beauty. The place had a playful, innocent feel, and I felt a childlike curiosity about everything. Many interesting features caught my eye; unusually shaped stones, a cathedral-like space next to a tilted stump, lacy flowers in the trees. Two pale cream-colored butterflies came to flutter around us, and I realized I could feet their movements as small waves in my energy field! That stopped me in my tracks. My friend felt it too. We stood there feeling the butterflies until they moved away into the trees. The lesson was subtle and unexpected.
 
The remarkable experience got me thinking about the butterfly effect. For those not familiar with that, it’s basically the theory of interconnectedness. It uses the example that a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world can affect the weather thousands of miles away.  Some might think of it this as a rather unscientific hypothesis. I personally believe interconnectedness is a universal law, a theory that quantum science is exploring now.
 
As an energy practitioner I see it as an illustration of how we affect our world by not only what we do, but how we are. It’s how our energy field – with its frequency influenced by our thoughts and emotions – interacts with the universal web of life. When we are in nature and fully in the present moment, we are open to feeling that web. We can interact with nature spirits and beings on a different level, like feeling the flight of a butterfly. When we keep in mind that we are also the butterfly, we may take greater care of our own energy field, our thoughts, emotions and actions.
 
Some thoughts to ponder in your practice this month:
 
What vibration are we sending out and how is that being felt or perceived by the people close to us, nature, the collective consciousness?
 
And what vibrations are we picking up from our environment, people we spend time with, social media?