Alandria's Tree

I recently had an appointment with a mentor of mine, and though the conversation itself I will keep close to my own heart for the moment, something happened immediately following this meeting that is well worth recounting.

There was much to ponder and integrate after such a fruitful, dynamic talk, and thus I felt myself drawn to the trees, the best folk I know of  for bearing silent witness and holding sacred space. I found my way to a little wood overlooking Puget Sound -- A wood who's existence I wasn't even aware of until a friend mentioned it in passing not long before.  So here I was exploring the trails of this magickal, little wood, searching for a place to sit and ponder.  

For a brief time I perched in the low branches of a tree that had beckoned to me, where, nestled in her fork, I dozed against her trunk. This was not the spot, however. It was right alongside the main trail, and I'd already gotten strange looks from a man who passed close by, yet who refused to meet my eyes. 

Off I set deeper into the woods, further off the main trail, feeling as though there were something calling me. Joking to myself about my "Holy Quest" as I navigated the narrow dirt path over logs and under branches, I stopped cold as I crested a short rise in the trail. I believe my mouth hung open as my heart almost burst from my chest. "No!" I thought. "It can't be!" Yet my racing heart told me it was true. Before me stood a tree, that, though my physical eyes had never fallen upon it, I knew very well.  This was the tree of Alandria!

Who is Alandria? Let me fill you in...

A couple years ago I took a workshop with Tom Cowan, one of the leading teachers and experts in Celtic Shamanism, on Faery Doctoring.  The workshop revolutionized the way I looked at the world and added a whole new dimension to my shamanic understanding.  It was like the Cosmos was already perfect and complete, when suddenly someone cries out, "But wait! There's more!" and opens a door you didn't realize was there, revealing an entirely new world next door to the old world that you thought you knew. It was literally like discovering Narnia.

As the name suggests, it is working with the Fae to perform healings, which as it turns out, are very similar to Soul Retrievals. Parts of a person's consciousness may leave to avoid trauma, a process called 'Soul Loss' in Shamanism and 'Dissociation' in modern Psychology, and during Soul Retrieval, the Shaman finds these errant 'soul parts' and returns them to the person, giving them a better sense of wholeness.

The Fae, who live in the Middle World alongside us and whose job it is to balance the energies between their unseen world and our seen world, will sometimes step in during such cases of Soul Loss and bring the disconnected soul part of a person into their realm where, rather than remaining at the same age that it was when it detached, the faeries nurture the part to grow at the same rate of expression it would have, had it remained with the person.  The Fae treasure such things as creativity and joyfullness, so by nurturing these properties in the soul parts they gather, they help maintain the balance of energies, and benefit both their realm and ours.

From this you can see how the volumes of stories about abductions by faeries, changeling babies, and other tales have grown up through the ages.  But as humanity has evolved, so too have the Fae, and especially in current times with so many people even just beginning to ponder the possibility of the existence of faeries, their world and ours grow ever closer, as does the relationship between us, meaning that, in general, such measures as abductions are no longer necessary. And the Fae are willing to return to us those soul parts when the time is appropriate, and when we can adequately receive them back.  However, in order to maintain the energetic balance between the realms, there must be an exchange.  When they return your soul part you must give something in return.  "Aha!" You cry, "There's the catch! "  You can relax.  They aren't after your first born.  What they want from us is Strength, Beauty, Creativity.  Usually the exchange they ask for is that the person seeking healing, as well as the Faery Doctor facilitating the healing, sing something every day for a week, or draw, or paint, or something similar -- Things that not only give them more creative energy to work with, but that improves us and raises our own vibrations as well.  It's a win-win situation.

So, because the Faery realms are not our home, at least at the moment, just like we require spirit guides for navigating the spirit worlds, we require advocates and helpers for the faerie worlds as well.  Enter Alandria.  In the aforementioned workshop we needed to make contact with our personal liaison to the land of the Fae, and as I was to discover, Alandria is mine.

Above is a drawing I did of Alandria as an exchange for a Faery Doctoring session when she requested that I make a drawing of what she looks like to me.

My other Faery guide, Eocharin, who appears as a two foot tall version of an extinct Irish Elk, is the one who led me to the tree, in a shamanic journey, that is the portal to the land of the Fae where Alandria lives.  My signal to her that I am there is to jump up and down on the ground three times.  Then Alandria appears, sometimes through the gap at the bottom of the tree that grows big enough to step through, or by simply unzipping the bark.  

Though I was told from the beginning that I would find this tree in the 'real' world, I had forgotten about it, and had no longer been scouring the woods looking for it.  So you can just imagine my shock and elation when there before me rose, in solid form, Alandria's tree.

I jumped up and down three times to let Alandria know I'd found her, then I sat, leaning against the trunk for quite a long time in a contemplative, meditative state (perhaps dozing off a time or two), taking in and processing the day's occurrences and the earlier conversation, with rare Seattle thunder rumbling overhead, adding an extra accent to the importance of my quest's completion.

And I sighed a sigh of gratitude for this increasingly amazing, unfolding path of mine.

Cut a-CORD-ingly

I've had a number of people asking me about this, so I thought I'd write a blog entry because it may be helpful to others as well.
In shamanism, as well as a number of other spiritual practices, there is something known as "Cord Cutting."  In a nutshell, we have cords of connection with everyone we are in relationship with, whether it's as family, lovers, friends, acquaintances, but usually the closer the relationship the more cords there are connecting us. 

These cords are basically where on-going energy exchanges take place, so ideally these are exchanges of love and light which empower and feed us, but of course not all of them are like that.  In some situations, extreme examples being co-dependency or abusive relationships, these connections can be where energetic tugs-of-war take place as people give up their own and/or try to take someone else's power.

It is an unfortunate situation that results in a lot of 'soul loss' in shamanic terms, and is also referred to as 'soul stealing.' The really unfortunate thing about this is, even if you could take someone else's power,  you couldn't use it or do anything with it.  We are each infinitely powerful beings with our own unique frequency, so anyone else's energy or power put on top of that just weighs you down more and blocks the expression of your own power.  This can result in what have come to be known as 'energy vampires' (those people from whom you feel drained after spending any time with them) as this snowballs in the constant (conscious or unconscious) belief in the inadequacy of one's self and power, and the need for energy from others.

The fortunate thing is that no one can take your power without your permission. No one. And one of the ways to reclaim your power is by cutting the unhealthy cords between you and someone else.  Now this may be a total ending of a relationship, or it could be just good maintenance in a healthy relationship -- cleaning up and discarding any unhealthy cords to make a healthy relationship healthier.

Now the name of this process pretty much describes what is done.  Like I said earlier, there are many versions, rituals, and practices to do this, it being pretty much a universal occurrence, but like the name suggests, it can also be a little... well, violent.  Most methods utilize seeing the cords in your mind and cutting them with a blade of one's choosing.  I do understand how this can be very empowering for someone who has been in an abusive relationship, sometimes for their entire life, but there also are so many instances I've heard of where people cut cords with someone, and within 24 hours that other person contacts the cord cutter because it is a palpable shift of energy.  Now just speaking for myself, if I feel I need to cut cords with someone, the last thing I probably want is to hear from that person right afterwards.  It seems a little counterproductive to have such a back lash, and in my view the backlash is the result of the process being done from fear, or from focusing on getting away from the other person rather than going toward your own future.  Like the saying says, "Energy flows where consciousness goes."  Focusing on where you've been, on getting away from that person, will just draw that energy back into your life, whether it's this same individual or someone else embodying that same kind of energy.  Nothing less than love, and a win-win situation will truly heal the situation, and after all, healing is the goal, right?

So, with that long-winded introduction to cord cutting, I thought I'd share the process as a very good friend shared it with me.  This is tried and true by myself and a number of others I've shared it with, and it moves toward wholeness and the healing of both parties without loose ends.  Besides people, this process can be done with other challenges such as specific fears, or addictions. It may also be repeated as necessary. So, here is my adaption of what my friend taught me:

Picture yourself sitting on the sandy floor of a cave.  As you look around you notice the very walls of the cave are filled with and pulsing with light. The cave entirely encompasses you like a bubble, holding you safe in its golden glow.  There is a small, cozy fire burning just in front of you, in the center of the cave, and there is an empty space on the other side of the flames.  Now, if you are comfortable with it, picture the other person sitting there on the sandy floor with the fire between you.  If this is too uncomfortable, place a symbol or object there to represent the person, perhaps a doll or teddy bear. Remember you are totally safe.  Ask to see the unhealthy cords that exist between you and this person, then take a moment to notice where they connect with you on your own body.  One by one, take each cord, unplug it from your body, and plug it into the wall of the cave.  Once all the cords are removed from your body and plugged into the cave wall, you may feel free to say anything appropriate to this other person, such as "Good-bye," or "Thank you for your lessons," or "I release you to your own path," or whatever.  It is also alright to say nothing at all.  Take a moment or two to bask in the glow of the cave, as well as your newly reclaimed freedom, knowing you are no longer responsible for providing the other person with energy because the light and love of the cave will provide them with everything they need. You are free.  When you feel complete with this process, and recharged and empowered in yourself, you may return to ordinary reality.  Open your eyes upon the new path of freedom that lies ahead of you filled with excitement and hope.

I now release you to your own regularly-scheduled path, already in progress. :)