Fall Equinox & Harvest Moon Practice

The Fall Equinox is Wednesday, September 22nd at 10:08PM CDT. Six hours later is the Harvest Full Moon, Thursday the 23rd, at 4:17PM CDT. With the combination of the equinox and the full moon in such close proximity, we have a beautiful opportunity to align with nature to create from our higher selves.

We can come into rhythm with nature by observing its cycles and applying its symbolism to our lives. Solstices and equinoxes, new and full moons, are symbolically rich and potent times for setting intentions and coming into balance and harmony with nature. By doing so we are able to utilize nature's energy toward consciously manifesting reality.

The Autumn Equinox is a balance point, a pregnant pause where the light (day) and dark (night) are of equal duration. In Western astrology, the Autumn Equinox marks the entry into the sign of Libra whose symbol is the scales of life. This a powerful time to weigh the differing qualities of one's life to invite balance and wholeness. The Equinox is also the threshold between the expansive and externally oriented summer to autumn, where nature releases and begins to turn within.

On September 22nd or 23rd, set aside some time to honor and work with the Equinox and Harvest moon with the following practice:

Take stock of what you’ve been putting energy into creating, consciously or unconsciously, over the spring and summer cycle. Is anything now ripe for harvesting? Sometimes it’s easy to get so caught up in the work of growing that we neglect the harvest. Take a moment to acknowledge your good work and experience its benefits, receive the fruits of your labor with gratitude.

The time of the harvest not only includes the work of reaping, it also includes decisions about how to best utilize the newly available resources of your harvest. Take an inventory of the internal and external resources that are best utilized now and what can and should be prepared and stored (for the winter months ahead).

Next, consider what is ready to be released-- old ways of thinking or reacting, habits, relationships, career choices, health issues? Visualize yourself gathering, like the remnants of a garden or autumn leaves, those things you are ready and willing to release. Imagine placing them into a compost bin or a fire. With gratitude, ask the Earth or the fire to transform them, freeing up the energy to put toward the new. Better yet, if you have the opportunity, write the items down on a piece of paper and compost or burn them in your own little ritual of release.

Finally, allow yourself to resonate with and experience gratitude for several minutes or more. Count your blessings, be grateful for nature and her symbolism guiding the way, be grateful for all you’ve sown, grown, harvested, learned, released and healed and for all the creative potential that lies ahead in the coming cycle. Allow this gratitude to open and fan the flames of your heart. With an open heart, contemplate, receive or experience your heart’s truest desires, the seeds to be planted in the coming cycle. The heart’s desires are different from the personality’s desires, they stem from the higher-self, a place of source and essence. Through intending to create the heart's desires we co-create with spirit. The result is a more beautiful, harmonious, joy-filled reality that contributes to the greater good of all.

May your harvest be abundant and your heart dream well!

Blessings,
Tammy

www.BroadcastSol.com

September New Moon

Times are intensifying and we’re in for some radical shifts in consciousness. What seems stable and reliable one day can dissolve and vanish the next. Take nothing for granted. Definitions of stability and security will be stretched and are up for re-interpretation. You may experience mood swings, erratic dips in vitality, feel altered and ungrounded. Simultaneously, there’s a powerful moving centered quality that encourages us to make choices, take action, dissolve confining structures and expand through dynamic creativity. This is the spiritual awakening so many traditions have prophesied and it’s here. It’s Now. Truly, a miraculous time to be alive!

An alarm is sounding. A deep, loving and primal intelligence is being broadcast from the core of Mother Earth, inspiring us to re-dream our world anew. The depths of the human spirit is blossoming and awakening from a long slumber. Yet many continue to hit the snooze button. This is the dichotomy we face as the seduction of our modern culture collides with the deeper yearnings of the intuitive heart. Do we have the courage to answer the calling of our hearts and become peaceful stewards for the planet? Or do we continue to consume, pollute and destroy our home through our addiction to being asleep and unconscious of our creations? Do we receive the parameters for our experience from the immaturity of our culture or do we broadcast our divinity from our hearts and project out to inspire others to do the same?

We are engaged in the process of ascension. Ascension is a term that describes the maturation of consciousness as we channel our primal energies (Kundalini) up the spinal column to awaken and empower the higher capacities of our divinity. This is occurring both on a deeply personal level within our own bodies and on a collective level with the diverse lifeforms and energy systems of the planet. It’s a process of birth and initiation. Ultimately, to qualify as a steward we must each journey inward to explore our darkness and deepest fears in order to know the true brilliance of our light.

Luckily, we are not alone on this inner journey. We are surrounded by support. Each of us is interconnected through a quantum web of intelligence, a living library that responds and molds to our intentions. As we awaken and ascend, call out to that vast intelligence. Connect to your ancestors, your guides, your totems, the spiritual masters, the heavenly bodies of the sun, moon, planets and stars. Immerse yourself in nature, listen and receive the teachings of the plants, animals, insects and elementals. Harmonize and heal. Trust your body and give it proper rest, nourishment and exercise. Seek out qualified teachers and healers that can help you when your karma intensifies. Remember, we are all in this together. 

A very potent New Moon arrives this Wednesday, Sept. 8th, at 5:30AM CDT. New Moons are opportunities to reset our internal compass and set clear intentions for positive change. Create a sacred space free of distractions. Be present and ground through some deep breathing. With sincere willingness, examine your life and take responsibility for your reality. Identify your power leaks, your ambivalence, your limited thinking and beliefs and your addictions. Then shift your identification to your inner essence, the Spirit within. This is easiest done by focusing on the heart chakra and coming into resonance with gratitude and appreciation for life. Chanting or singing several I AMs also efficiently opens this portal. From that place of essence, invoke your allies and support system and direct the energy to appropriately destroy the patterns and stuck energies of your karma. Do not rush this process, stay vigilant and be thorough.

Once complete, direct your essence and your allies to fill you with vast abundance, creative light, happiness, playful expansion and coherent intelligence. This is the essence of who you are. You are worthy; receive and accept your birthright! Once you feel complete with this process thank your allies and helpers. Then get practical. Write down and make an action plan of mundane tasks that further demonstrates your commitment to anchor and live an awake and empowered life. Be ruthless with any and all interference patterns that arise as you embark to manifest these tasks. Follow through until you complete them all.

Tammy and I commend you on the courage and willingness to evolve yourself and this beautiful world. May every moment be a powerful blessing and inspiration to all. Please do reach out if you need assistance, insight and/or healing. We would be honored to be of service.   

From the highest in me to the highest in you,
Deva


www.BroadcastSol.com

What is Shamanic Healing? Can it treat chronic pain?

A friend recently mentioned that his wife has chronic pain in one of her wrists and asked if this something that could be treated with a Shamanic Healing. My general response follows: 

Shamanic Healing really works on the psycho-spiritual aspect that's at the source of whatever is causing symptoms, rather than treating symptoms themselves. So, something like acute or chronic pain may or may not be relieved during a session, depending on where the person is in their process and if they're in the right space to release or shift whatever is at the source of the pain. Often, you might get insight into the source of the pain, which you then work on over time to heal. For instance, I have Celiac Disease/ gluten intolerance, which I have discovered, for me personally, has to do with a combination of setting appropriate boundaries, claiming/using my personal power and learning to receive and be nourished (worthiness). It is taking me several years to sort through this because apparently I have a lot to learn from it. It's been a growth inducing experience and I am much healthier and stronger  than I was since I began working with Shamanic Medicine to help heal the issue, although there is more work to do. This one is like peeling an onion and sometimes that's how it goes. That said, sometimes spontaneous healing occurs & is fully possible, I've seen it happen & have personally experienced immediate relief from things like migraines. Following is my recent attempt to explain Shamanic Healing. See if it resonates with your wife as far as a treatment goes. We would love to help if she is open to this approach.

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Shamanic healing strives to create and preserve inner and outer balance and harmony and can be applied to the individual, community, nature, the world at large and beyond.

Shamanic medicine is a tradition dating back some 25,000 years. In simple terms, the basic perspective shamanic healing assumes is that external reality, the material world, is a symbolic manifestation of the inner world, also referred to as consciousness or spirit. Furthermore, everything that exists is consciousness, is vibration, is energy, is imbued with it's own innate intelligence and unique gifts, often referred to as medicine. Simultaneously, everything that exists is interconnected, forming a web of life where even the smallest, most individuated part influences the whole and vice versa.

In this web of life, human consciousness is uniquely individuated with capacity for abstraction, reflection, memory and other complex physical, emotion and thought processes. As we mature, our essential nature often becomes clouded or distorted by our individual life experiences, familial and cultural imprinting. These internal distortions of our essential nature tend to manifest as physical health issues, mental or emotional suffering.

Shamanic practitioners work with a variety of tools and techniques to identify and address the obstacles, imbalances and distortions at the core of suffering, with healing intent to restore one to their fullest expression of essential truth and authentic power.  A Shamanic Healing session typically lasts from 1/2 an hour to an hour and may include the use of song and other sound instruments to move and transform energy, shamanic prayer (co-creative direction of the spirit world, also referred to the quantum field of consciousness), plant, herb, mineral and animal spirit medicine, visualization, soul retrieval, extraction, hands on healing or physical body manipulation.


Blessings,
Tammy

www.BroadcastSol.com

Shipibo: Medicinal Application of Song

Over the summer, I was able to spend some time working with the Shipibo of the Peruvian Amazon. A significant aspect of their work involves healing via song patterns called icaros (or iqaros).

The shaman (at least my teachers) seem to consider themselves keepers of balance and harmony, both for people and the earth. (In the jungle, a word that I often heard was tranquilo, tranquil). In observing them, I see that they value keeping the frequency of both space and person high (mental and physical), keeping the heart open, keeping new/clean energy coming in & clearing out old/stagnant energy, keeping energy flowing and moving -- essentially assisting life's unfolding and harmonious manifestation. With a visit to the jungle, singing becomes an obvious mode for such facilitation. The jungle is constantly resounding with the songs of birds, insects, animals, reptiles, the river, and the rain and wind interacting with the plants.

The Shipibo understanding is that we are all made of patterns of light that is also cosmic sound. Interestingly, the Shipibo don't have a word that differentiates sound from sight, when they are healing someone they are able to both see their pattern as well as hear its song. They see distortions in the pattern (illness or negativity) and sing the pattern as it should be, reinforcing its whole/healthy state. They listen for and sing the melody, which is considered the primary healing agent, regardless of words. Secondarily, words are added to the melody, like adding herbs to influence the healing effects of a medicinal brew, the words add specific medicinal qualities to the melody. If a shaman sees that you have a lot of sadness, for instance, they'll sing happiness into your body/pattern (in their own language they may sing something like, "I am putting happiness into you"). Or, they may sing the song of a specific ally, like pica flor (humming bird), directing the ally to pierce your heart with love. Of course, even more important than the melody & words, the shaman sing with strong and penetrating intention.

Songs to help receive the wisdom of the plants and open the path to Shamanism.



Other Shipibo song techniques involve embroidering the song patterns onto cloths which can be worn to influence your energy or pattern; and drawing song patterns onto the skin using a plant dye called wito, which temporarily tattoos the skin much like henna, however, wito is applied with healing intent.

Song to heal the digestive system with intent to prepare the body for pregnancy (it's fading on the lower abdomen because I also had a significant amount of massage work, another Shipibo technique, after the wito was applied, and this photo was taken about 3 weeks after application.)

The Shipibo recognize the plants of the jungle as intelligent beings. They live closely with nature and work with the plants by taking them ceremonially, dieting with them, talking with them, and perhaps most importantly, listening to them. They ask the plants to gift them with knowledge and wisdom, strength, health and power. As a result of their acknowledgment and trust, the plants have gifted the Shipibo with the ability to see/hear and work with the song patterns that underlie physical form. Although difficult, if not impossible, for a Westerner (if not anyone) to see these patterns without the initial experience of Shipibo medicinal plant ceremony, there is still much we can glean from the ways of the Shipibo to help us (re)connect with local nature and the medicinal power of song.

Practice suggestions:
The first step is to acknowledge that nature is imbued with intelligence. This is perhaps one of the most difficult steps for us as Westerners, we may have to shift our beliefs and overcome cultural imprinting to do so, but once this recognition is embraced connection is possible.

Second, spend some time alone in nature, observe, be present with nature, and listen. (After a while you may notice that nature is constantly singing, and later you'll find it enjoys being sung to as well, that nature is actually quite responsive to song.)

Third, choose an aspect of nature to be the focus of your attention, it may be a plant, flower, stone, crystal, mountain, river, the sun, an insect, etc. and begin talking with it, either out loud or mentally. Tip: the shaman understand that nature, like people, responds to recognition and admiration. Begin talking to your chosen focus by describing it and all of the things you appreciate about it. A conversation with a rose, for example, may go like this: "Hello Rose, you are so beautiful, just one look at you brings me joy, thank you so much. You are so fragrant, your perfume is rich and lovely. I appreciate your vibrant colors, the deep green of your leaves and the pink of your petals. I also appreciate your thorns, which protect you..." Next, begin to ask for what you want, in this example I might continue with, "Rose, please gift me with your wisdom, teach me your ways and how to use your medicine. Rose, will you gift me with a song?"

The next step is also potentially difficult for us Westerners. It involves becoming receptive, requiring patience, a quiet mind, subtlety, and a willingness to listen/receive without attachment or expectation for how the communication will show up. You might need to wait a while before you get anything. Furthermore, the communication may show up as a feeling or sensation, audible sounds, words or instruction, a visual insight, a knowingness, or a combination of these. For instance, you may or may not hear a song, you may feel a song.

Finally, begin to sing, in this case, sing the song of the rose to the rose. It can, and probably should be just a melody at first. Later you may receive words from the rose, or you may wish to gift the rose (or object of your attention) with words of your own.

This practice strengthens your connection with nature and has a few other positive side-effects, including: deepening intuition, quieting the mind, opening the heart and raising your frequency/vibration (which supports health). Additionally, a cross-cultural shamanic universal truth is, "Where attention goes, energy flows." So, doing this practice also benefits the natural object of your attention.

Blessings,
Tammy

www.BroadcastSol.com

Psycho-spiritual Hygiene: Forgiveness

It is impossible to be truly present or at peace if you are harboring anger or resentment about past injustices. Forgiveness is a most powerfully elevating practice that cleanses and unburdens. Most famously, Jesus' primary teachings were about the healing capacity of forgiveness.

There is so much to be said about forgiveness, but here I'll share a forgiveness practice loosely based on Ho'oponoPono, an ancient Hawai'ian practice for familial and community harmony. A simple yet powerful exercise for conflict resolution, with it's roots in Hawai'ian shamanism.

Whenever conflict or discord arisises, those involved practice in four steps:

I am responsible, I apologize...
First, each person takes responsibility for creating the situation. One might say, "As creator of my reality I take FULL responsibility for creating this situation, for my actions, for yours and all that has transpired here. I apologize to myself for creating this situation, which has caused suffering. I apologize to each of you. I apologize to the universe, as well, through which all are connected and through which all is impacted by this discord." Each person involved follows with the same acceptance of total responsibility and apologizes.

I forgive...
Next, the apology is accepted and each person is forgiven for their having created the situation. "I forgive myself for creating this situation, which has created suffering. I accept your apology and lovingly forgive you, I forgive the universe for allowing such suffering to be created, and of which we are an extension."

I Love You...
In the recognition that we are all one we say, "I love you." Said because it connects hearts. Said because love is truth, love is spirit. (Love is God.)

I Thank You...
Said because there is nothing left to say. "I thank you for your forgiveness, it unburdens me. I thank you for your apology, for your willingness to re-establish harmony, and for the lessons we're learning through resolving this conflict. I thank the universe and I thank myself."

Traditionally, it is assumed that each person involved in the conflict participates. However, I find these same principals, applied privately, are powerful in helping me to forgive myself and others when its not possible or appropriate to ask the others to participate.

May we be blessed with great capacity for forgiveness, may we dwell in the peace that follows.

Blessings,
Tammy

www.BroadcastSol.com

Psycho-spiritual Hygiene: Grounding

So, we're on day 19 of our 40 day meditation for peace. The intention behind the 40 day meditation for peace is to make a positive contribution to the collective consciousness, understanding that we are all are connected and all is impacted by our inner harmony (or discord).

I'll have to admit that attempting this meditation at this particular time, tapping into a frequency of peace, is proving to be quite challenging for me. It's giving me the opportunity to become aware of how easily I can be impacted by the collective consciousness and its current fearful state. Since we started the meditation, election politics has been ramping up, the U.S. financial system has taken a dramatic turn for the worse, the global economy seems to be in a downward spiral, the news is seemingly constant, unavoidable, and overwhelming. I've found myself easily distracted from taking the daily self-care actions necessary to help stay in a mentally and emotionally healthy/stable place. However, I recognize that in times like this my commitment to such discipline is of utmost importance. In fact, it's nearly impossible to do a meditation for Peace without attending to my psycho-spiritual hygiene, so to speak. So, my next few posts will be around techniques to help stay centered and stable amongst external instability.

One that has been particularly helpful for me this week is grounding. Last year, while laying on a huge stone in the Andes mountains, I was struck with the realization that the Earth is incredibly generous, the most powerful of Curranderas (healers). She is willing to receive and has the ability to transmute negativity.

This exercise can be done in just a few minutes. Stand, sit or lay on the Earth. Acknowledge her, thank her for her beauty, power, abundance and blessings, then ask her to soak up any negativity and fear that you may have taken on from others and from the news. Continue by asking her to receive and transmute any of your own fears. Allow it all to drain from you. Next, send your energy into her, rooting deeply into her like a tree. Ask her to ground you and keep you safe. Allow yourself to feel safe, connected, grounded, and unburdened. Allow these feeling to take root and grow strong. When you feel finished and stable, thank the Earth for her generosity. May we be blessed with great capacity for such generosity.

Peace and blessings,
Tammy


www.BroadcastSol.com

The Significance of a 40 Day Discipline

We live in a world of endless diversity and global complexity, creating an often frenetic pace of life that is hard to maintain. Often there are a myriad of problems and challenges awaiting to be solved in our environments. Yet, all too often, we attempt to solve these problems by focusing on external results and by creating strategies from the past. As Einstein so clearly informed us, "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it". To empower ourselves and transcend our fears, problems and challenges we must instead focus on internal results (our state of consciousness) and with intuitive intelligence (instead of relying 100% on the conditioned, rational mind).

How can this be attained? We must embark upon a discipline of the mind in order to shift our most fundamental dysfunctional habits. Interestingly enough modern day psychologists and the ancient mystics agree on the time this takes, roughly 40 days. In the ancient Christian texts, it was represented by Jesus' initiation of fasting in the desert for 40 days and nights, a time for purification, focus and commitment. In the yogic tradition, 40 days of meditation brings about specific results (depending on the meditation) while erasing and transforming old programming.

For example, say you wish to stop smoking. You've been smoking for 10 years, so you have 10 years of accumulated energy behind that particular habit. You go cold turkey but in the days and weeks to come the temptation is great and you succumb to smoking once again. Obviously, the scales are tipped in the favor of the old habit/pattern re-asserting itself as it has 10 years of habitual energy behind it. This is where a spiritual technology, like meditation, comes into play. If, after going cold turkey, one also commits to a powerful 40 day meditation, then the power and energy released from the meditation can equal and often exceeds the energy behind the previous 10 years.

Why? Because all 'true' change must come about through a fundamental change in consciousness, which is the essence of meditation. Meditation addresses the internal and intuitive faculties for problem solving that so many people on Earth are oblivious to. In essence, a 40 day meditation discipline is a primer for evolving one's state of consciousness. Such a discipline can be applied to any number of issues that often plague people:

Physical Healing
Emotional Imbalance
Lack of Abundance & Prosperity
Enhanced Intuition, Intelligence & Clarity
Protection and Appropriate Boundaries
Transforming Relationships

In future posts on BroadcastSol we will delve into different practices for various issues that prevent us from living a heart centered life. Keep posted.

Truth, love & energy,
Deva


www.BroadcastSol.com