Archive for March, 2011

Shamanic Apprenticeship Update: August 2010

Friday, March 4th, 2011

This will be an in depth, shamanic apprenticeship that looks beyond the obvious, by teaching about ancient, cross-cultural, wisdom that has been forgotten through the centuries.   Each tutorial will have unique information, with the purpose of stretching your perceptions of nature or of yourself.  Once learned, you will then be able to apply this knowledge toward transforming your consciousness, and developing right relationship with the earth and all her creations.

A few of my favorite Tutorials written thus far, are:

  • Spirit of Place:  The Landscape & Spiritual Development
  • Spirit of Place:  Earth Magnetics & Blood Mysteries
  • Language and the Concept of Time
  • Axis Mundi:  The World Axis

By learning about the past, we can know more about the present and what is really going on.

The Earth is calling out to us, to learn her secrets!

If you are interested in this program, just email me from my website .  I’d love to talk with you.

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Shamanic Apprenticeship Update from June 2010

Friday, March 4th, 2011

Several of you have wanted to hear more information about the shamanic apprenticeship program I am in the midst of developing.  So here it is.

As we speed toward the end date of the Mayan Calendar, Spirit has called me to bring together my research and experience of the last 25+ years and teach it to others who are interested.  This program will be cross-cultural, delving into “lost” beliefs, and practices of the ancient wisdom traditions of the Mayans, Celts, Australian Aborigines, American Indians, , Norse, Vedic and others.

Although this is a work in progress, right now I see the program being accessed from my website,  where there will be various Tutorials, arranged as Foundational, Intermediate, and Advanced.  Each tutorial will have information and
exercises to help ground the teachings in your life.
There will be two tracks.

The first, includes everyone.  Folks can purchase as many tutorials as they wish, in any order, without  commitment for further study.

The second, is for students who really want to apprentice with me and learn the teachings in greater detail, expand their consciousness and work on themselves in depth.  I foresee this program to be two years in length and that you would commit one year at a time.  Each year will be broken down into four semesters.

I also see giving a “package deal” to people who follow the second track.  Their fee would include tutorials, spiritual advancement sessions, and time spent with me in person, over the phone, and in person.

At the end of the two years, students would receive a certificate of completion, and an opportunity to join my
Medicine Society to continue their work through World or Community Service.

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What is a Gnomon?

Friday, March 4th, 2011

The other night, I looked on with interest as I was watching the movie The Way Back.  This is a saga of several escaped Siberian gulag prisoners, making their way on a 4000 mile trek to India.  Certainly a flick worth watching on its own merits, however, as a buff on the ancients, two scenes in particular caught my attention.

To the amazement of the other escapees, and probably the movie audience as well, one of the treckers knew how to use a Gnomon to figure out which direction to travel.  Gnomons were commonly used all over the ancient world to construct Medicine Wheels, buildings, and stone circles, according to true North.

By placing a stick vertically in the ground during the day, the shadow of the pole is marked with two stones or sticks  to figure out direction.  With a rope attached to the pole two circles would be made, that would cut across the two stones.  Then a line would be drawn to connect the two places cut by both of the circles.  This line would then denote East and West, and a line drawn perpendicular to it, would indicate North and South.

Now if you ever get lost, you’ll know how to find your way home, providing of course, you’re not in a forest.  I suppose then, you’ll just have to follow the adage, that moss only grows on the North side of the tree.

 

About the Author…
 Barbara-Lynn Freed has over twenty years experience in Shamanism and teaches a 3 year Shamanic apprenticeship called Resurrecting the Old Ways:  Walking the Land & Honoring the Spirits in Right Relationship.  To find out more about this program and how to sign-up visit her website.

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Groundhog Totem and Spring

Friday, March 4th, 2011

Thank goodness our Piedmont brother, the Groundhog, was wrong this year, when he predicted six more weeks of winter.  But I knew beforehand that spring was on it’s way.  That’s because I was paying attention to the early blooming garden flowers I have planted.  The crocuses were already coming up, and now I can see short, green stems of my daffodils as well.

What do Groundhogs know about Spring anyway? By themselves, not a whole lot, for our Groundhog Holiday is merely a watered down version of the Pagan cross-quarter day of Imbolc, celebrated on February 1st or 2nd, and representing the beginning of Spring.  This day is also midway between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, and was celebrated by the ancient Irish, and now by neo-pagans.  Looking at a groundhog’s shadow is a
19th century custom, brought to us by the Pennsylvania Germans via Europe, that apparently originated in antiquity with a bear.

In Shamanism, however, the Groundhog is a noble totem that symbolizes several qualities.  Because of its ability to dig and tunnel, people with this totem,  take on a nature of working deeply and slowly with an area of interest, that may reach fruition many months down the road.

Spending about half it’s life hibernating, anyone with this totem, will also be able to embrace the idea of death without dying,  work with dreamtime medicine, and explore altered states of consciousness.

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Astrological Aries in the Limelight: March 2011

Friday, March 4th, 2011

This month Aries, the most masculine sign of the zodiac is in the limelight.  Mercury will be in Aries when it goes Retrograde on March 30th, and will stay in this sign for nearly three months.   As Mercury rules the mind, and Aries rules impulsiveness and unbridled action, it will  probably be a good idea to watch what you say during this time period.  Remember, Mercury Retrograde is a time to tie up loose ends and not start projects, so when you feel that burst of mental energy luring you into a task, make sure to use it finishing up things, instead of forging forward.

On March 13th, Uranus will end a seven-year cycle of being in the sign of Pisces, and enter Aires and stay there until 2018. Those of you who have Planets in cardinal signs, (Capricorn, Aries, Cancer or Libra), will be affected more than the rest of us.  This planetary sign and planet combination will activate your impulse for freedom and be sure to clean out anything in your life, that is no longer working for you, in the next few years.

It will also mark the beginning of a Uranus/Pluto square that will continue for many years.  As the square denotes conflict and challenge, expect to see fireworks fly.  Uranus represents spontaneous combustion, and Pluto symbolizes, construction through destruction, we may see a break down in societal institutions, and much transformation in our own lives.

And on March 28th, Jupiter in Aries and Saturn in Libra will begin an opposition, that will need balancing in the next few weeks.  Watch out for your personal pleasures and desires, interfering with your professional and relationship responsibilities.

March 20th the Spring Equinox marks the Sun moving into the first degree of Aries.  This is one of two days during the year that we have equal time of day and night.

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