Sky Yeager
Shamanic Practitioner - Usui Reiki Master - MariEL Reiki Medicine
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You can now listen to a podcast recording of my latest article below And find more episodes on Spotify |
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In my last article I talked about co-creating ceremonial grids and altars as containers for intentions and prayers. After being inspired by a despacho ceremony from a Peruvian paqo and elder Wilbert Salas Atasi, my spirit team came to me and nudged me to make these ceremonial offerings regularly as part of my personal practice. Bringing these ceremonies into my personal practice has been life changing. And I feel the energy in turns anchoring what it needs to anchor and also rippling out to where it needs to flow. But like the despacho ceremony Wilbert created, when we come together in a group with focused intention, its effect is felt far and wide. It makes an impact on the collective energy of the world. I felt the energy of our ceremony that day wrap around the earth like a beautiful ribbon. In some ceremonies we may be called to attend and be an active participant. That is when we may be speaking intentions and prayers, sharing in singing songs of power, holding objects and energy. My dear friends Gayle Mair and Roger Wheelock are ceremonialists, and I have been fortunate to be part of many of their ceremonies. I recorded an interview with them about what they do which you can find on Spotify here. As well as despacho, they have been creating crystal grid ceremonies for community. Their ceremonies always invite participation. Before attending they ask that we bring a personal intention that we can align with the overarching intention and theme of the ceremony. Then they provide the time and space for us to speak and share what we are bringing. In the crystal grid ceremonies we each take turns choosing crystals and items which we place on the altar space where we feel called. Roger then listens to the stone beings and spirit helpers and moves key anchoring crystals around accordingly to focus and attune the energy patterns we create as they build and blend. I feel the energies flowing like an energetic tapestry we have woven together, wrapping around each of us as participants, and also flowing into the collective energy of the community and the environment. The active co-creation that Gayle and Roger facilitate in groups is purposeful and powerful. But we don’t even have to take involved roles in the ceremony for our participation to be meaningful. Many times our presence is enough. We bring with us our unique energy and soul’s purpose, as well as all of our energetic and Spirit connections. Chingiz Kam, a shaman from the republic of Tuva in Siberia came to Corvallis recently to perform ceremony and songs from his tradition. It was held at the museum and open to anyone, and at least fifty people attended, a big turnout for a weeknight in a small college city. My ancestors nudged me to go as soon as my friend told me about the event. My ancestors told me then that the shaman would sing a song for them. It would seal all the tending I had done for them over the past year and enliven the lineage moving forward. Sitting there in the crowd, as a passive observer, I could feel that the room was full of ancestors that each one of us had brought with us. And I realized that was our part of the ceremony. His songs and drumming, his Spirit allies and ancestors wove a tapestry of alignment, healing and blessing into the strands of all of our lineages. All of us were called by our ancestors and Spirit guides to have our presence there to be part of the ceremony. I sometimes see each one of us as crystals on a collective grid, sacred objects on the altar of our planet, Mother Earth. Where each place we are called to live, work or visit creates an energetic thread in the ceremony of everything. Our intentions always flowing, creating, interweaving with all the other beings to co-create our lives, our timelines in the multiverse. What if every breath, every thought became a strand of fiber in those energetic threads. Would we know what kind of world ceremony we are creating as we go about living our lives?  Crystal grid for Resilience created by Gayle and Roger and their community in Asheville, NC
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Right now in the northern hemisphere we are just a couple weeks past the spring equinox. Gardeners are ceremoniously circling items in seed catalogs and dreaming their gardens into being for the season. Seeds are like little packets of miracles. They are hard, dry unassuming things that hold the magic of life within them. They undergo a transformation in the darkness of the earth and then when the time is right, their shoots break through into the light. They are full of life force energy we can feel in our bodies. Who has not been excited to plant seeds and then see the first sprouts appear? And as we move into the season of spring, themes of inspiration, creativity and fertility are arising in our consciousness. We can synchronize with the energy of the sprouting, blooming, buzzing earth around us to empower our intentions. When we are in rhythm with the natural cycles, nature helps us manifest. One of my favorite teachers, Sandra Ingerman, says that sometimes the best ceremonies are the simplest ones. A seed blessing ceremony this time of year is wonderful way to empower new projects, new goals, even a new state of mind. We can add even more power to this ceremony by doing it on the day of the new moon. As the moon waxes each day toward fullness, our seeds also follow a natural cycle of sprouting and growth. A simple ceremony can be done by holding seeds in our hands and speaking or singing to them our intentions for what we want to grow in our lives this season. As we place them in a pot or seed tray and cover them with dirt, we trust the elements to take care of them. We may also want to hold our hands over the soil and send love from our heart. This is an easy way to mindfully bring Spirit and sacred action into our task. And if we join in circle with others and perform ceremony together, not only are our intentions amplified, but the community is nurtured as well. Our seeds may wind up in our garden where we are reminded of our intentions whenever we see and tend to them through the entire season. Or they may be fast growing microgreens in a windowsill that become a salad in a couple weeks. As we ingest them, we take in the fruit of our intentions, further internalizing and empowering them. In thinking about our intentions and the ceremony, we may want to pick seeds that reflect the type of outcome we want to have - flowers with bright cheerful blooms, vegetables that nourish over time, herbs that bring healing and spice, fast sprouting microgreens, or even a tree seed for a long-term dream. Not all seeds sprout, so when that happens, trust that it is for the best. The timing and conditions for the creation or project may not have been optimal. But there can be a long window of growing time, and there are seasons for everything.  Last night I attended a Full Moon circle organized by Joyelle Petersen and Danielle Heenehan, two amazing women in my town who are bringing back the art of ceremony. The weather was beautiful, so they could hold it outside in a friend’s big backyard. They had rugs, mats and pillows of every color arranged on the grass for the circle. The altar was set up on one side with rattles, drums, sacred herbs. A good crowd of about 15 of us was there at the start time, and we shared tea and snacks we brought. I knew a couple women from other groups, but what struck me was that I felt so easy about talking to the people that I didn’t know, despite my feeling shy in big groups. More women kept trickling in and as I talked to them, I found many times we have some other friend or organization or modality in common. As the ceremony started and a shamana sang a sacred welcoming song, I looked at the gathering of about 30 women and felt the strong invisible web that we created. We were weavers of our community, teachers, students, moms, grandmothers. Then I could see us in a birds-eye perspective woven together with all the other people coming together in ceremony all over the planet for the full moon, creating our web of light. Visions like that give me great optimism that humanity just might pull through these chaotic times. Creating ceremony can be hard work. It’s not only just the planning, it takes a devoted energy to hold the sacred space for everyone to come together. I am so grateful that I know people who value ceremony, and have the skills, the heart and respect for the joyful work they take on to feed the spirit of our community.  |
MissionTo help you tend to soul issues that may manifest in physical, emotional, mental or spiritual aspects of your life, and to give you tools to empower your path to harmony and well-being. Categories
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Links-There are so many kindred spirits doing the work out there. I include these links to help our community connect with one another.
FAIRY CONGRESS - Offers a summer weekend gathering in person with workshops, circles and of course faeries and nature beings! They also offer a winter virtual weekend with amazing guest speakers like Orion Foxwood, David Spangler and R.J. Stewart. I highly recommend joining the online network to participate in monthly workshops, circles, and book clubs. https://fairycongress.com/ SACRED HOOP Magazine Guide to Shamanism Compilation- http://www.sacredhoop.org/Pages/FreeGuide.html Owner Valeria Pearson lovingly created SOLE TO SOUL YOGA studio with a community focus. There are classes for all levels and events that lift the spirit. I am grateful to be able to hold circles and events in her studio. https://www.soletosoulyogaoregon.com/ My friend and herbalist mentor, LAWRENCE BIRCH is a Certified Clinical Herbalist, plant whisperer and shamanic practitioner. If you need custom tincture blends or are interested in a wildcrafting apprenticeship, he is the teacher extraordinaire: http://givingtreefarm.com/ ROGER WHEELOCK and GAYLE RUTH are shamanic practitioners and teachers in the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition. https://www.rainmother.com/ I am grateful to be able to take part in ceremony with them, and to support their love for the Peruvian people through the World Ayni Association. Roger has a practice in Asheville, NC https://www.communityshaman.com/ NEW WORLD KIRTAN = Kitzie's podcasts include interviews with artists and kirtan music. I love attending her weekly Satsang group and the New World Kirtan Band concerts - newworldkirtan.com/ NOTE!
None of the writing on this website was generated by AI and are all my original thoughts except what what I have included as references from others.
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