Smoke Signals

I am finally starting to get the idea that this whole internet thing has its good points. I have a couple of dear friends in other countries that I would never have met otherwise. Not that I've technically met them yet, but it's amazing how close you can get to someone you've never seen face to face.

Anyway, one of them lives in Sri Lanka, and we will chat live maybe once a week online when our individual schedules intertwine between the 12 1/2 hour difference -- usually on the weekend when I don't have to worry about getting up in the morning. So one night this past weekend I checked to see if she was online. Since I had just chatted with her the night before on a 'school night,' I thought she might be on at the same time so that we could talk longer. "Oh well," I thought when she wasn't, and went to check her facebook page to see what she was up to or what might be going on. What I found was a status, written a bit cryptically but I knew it meant trouble.

What had happened I didn't know for sure, just that "every thing's falling apart," and my blood ran cold. I knew she was having some challenges in her life, had just chatted to her about them the night before and thought things had smoothed out a bit. Apparently not!

I don't know if there's anything more frustrating than knowing someone you care about is having trouble, and having no possible way of reaching them, even just to let them know you are thinking of them. The internet is our only physical means of connection and without that she may as well be... well... on the other side of the world.

So I did what I could with this only bridge between us, sending an email telling her I was worried and to please contact me, and writing on her facebook wall the same basic thing saying that I would stay up all night if I had to until I heard from her. And though I dozed intermittently, I slept with my computer, and wrote on her wall about once an hour to let her know I was still there. I can't help it if Chivalry still runs hot through my veins!

Before retiring, though, I did the only other thing I could think of, or that I was drawn to do, to help shamanically and that was to smudge. Smudging is the process of burning various plants or woods, each carrying a specific purpose, the most common being the burning of sage for the clearing and cleansing of energy, whether it's a person or a home. I have done this a number of times for a number of people, cleaning out old energies that linger in their home, but it had always been in person -- when I began that night I didn't even know it was possible to do it long distance.

Anyway, I pulled out my smudging stuff and started by burning some cedar. Cedar carries the properties of protection, and so I started with that to send that energy to my friend, along with numerous prayers to Artemis, my Matron goddess and Protector of Women, to guide and protect her. I saw the smoke creating a bubble of sacred space around my friend.

Then I pulled out the sage, burning that in an effort to clear whatever dark energies and thought patterns were haunting her, to help her mind to clear so she would be able to see through the confusion of emotions swirling around her.

I then burned lavender, in my mind as a way of filling the space I'd just cleared, this protective bubble, with calmness and peace. And to seal the deal I burned more cedar -- perhaps a bit more than I needed to as I now have a few more divots in my couch where stray bits burned and popped off (and as a further insight I recommend you never burn cedar while you are shirtless -- just sayin'.).

I finally heard back from her around 8 the next morning and she was alright. She said the storm in her head had subsided and she was feeling okay and strong. "Hmmm," I thought, and told her what I had done with the smudging. Whatever I did must have worked, it really must, she said not believing how different she felt in light of what had happened earlier that day.

All I could reply with was to say, "One of these days I'm going to stop being surprised that the things I do actually work and help people!"

...One of these days...