Remembering our history
Yesterday my cousin sent me a treasure trove of genealogical information he researched about my maternal grandmother’s family. Her lineage held a lot of pain and grief. My grandmother’s parents died when she was 16, and she lost an infant son born with a serious congenital disease. Grandma never talked about her childhood, and at the time it never dawned on me to ask. She had thick walls up regarding her past. There was much pain in her family. In a shamanic journey from ten years ago, I was shown the image of my great-great grandmother...
Our names have power
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about names and how much they matter. We might not often think about the power they hold. Many names have symbolic meaning. For instance, Debra is a variation of Deborah, a Hebrew word meaning “bee.” Oleson literally means “son of Ole.” If we resonate with the family energy, our last name can help us embody the strength and resilience of the lineage. The name we were given at birth connects us to these energy fields. Some families have a long lineage of sharing given names. The girls might be named after their...
Energetic templates
For years before every class and healing session, I’ve done a ritual to help me step out of my self and into a channel of divine light and healing. This ritual has remained unchanged for over ten years. There is power in ritual. The repetition creates a template of energy, and over time that template strengthens. I trust the energy of my ritual. After doing it hundreds of times, the template starts to unfold as I do the first step – smudging myself and the space. This signals to my higher self, my helping spirits, and the divine compassionate...
When trusting our gut doesn’t work
“Trust your gut!” We hear this message frequently in spiritual circles and in memes on Facebook. As a teacher, I’ve even recommended it, particularly during basic shamanism classes when students learn to journey. But trusting what seems to be our inner guidance can sometimes be unwise. If our instincts have been injured, we might be hearing our conditioned programming rather than our true wisdom. Our gut might lead us astray if we haven’t yet done the repair work. Here’s an example. If we leave an unhappy or abusive relationship, we might...
Riverland Conservancy
Last weekend in the sunny spring weather, I went for a long rambling hike at Riverland Conservancy. It felt great to get out in nature and stretch my legs after several months of being mostly indoors. I quickly remembered my love of this place. Riverland Conservancy is a large tract of land near Merrimac that’s open for hiking. There are many different trails to wander on, although they are not well marked. The best way to get familiar with this land is to go exploring. The landscape is a mixture of prairie, oak savannas, forests, and...
Working with a gatekeeper
Clients occasionally ask if it’s possible to shut off their abilities completely. This question often comes from highly intuitive or sensitive people who are overwhelmed by the intensity and frequency of sensory input. A friend once memorably described it as walking around in the world as a raw nerve. I feel compassion for the people who ask – they’re in pain and struggling under the burden of their gifts. But I don’t recommend shutting off our abilities completely because it comes at a price. Our gifts are divine and meant to enhance our...