Shamanic Apprenticeship: Year Two

April 2nd, 2011

Want to work with me but feel the first year is too elementary for you? That’s fine, just contact me and we can work something out.  Like I said before, everyone works at their own pace, and has had different life experiences.  Here is a look at the second year’s Tutorials.

Resurecting the Old Ways:  Walking the Land & Honoring the Spirits in Right Relationship
Second Year’s Tutorials

  • Spirit of Place:  The Landscape & Spiritual Development
  • Axis Mundi, The World Axis
  • Spirit of Place: Planetary Magnetics & Blood Mysteries
  • Spiritual Significance of Mountains & Trees
  • Medicine Wheel I:  A Cutural Introduction
  • Medicine Wheel II:  The Four Cardinal Directions
  • Medicine Wheel III:  Totems & Earth Astrology
  • Medicine Wheel IV:  Construction
  • Medicine Wheel V:  Putting It All Together

The main focus that flows throughout this cross-cultural, apprenticeship is to help the student become aware of, and work with the spirits all around us.  By learning how the Ancients and Indigenous peoples perceived reality and connected with the land, you will be able to transform your attitudes and lifestyle.

Please, consider letting the momentum of this program, transform your life, so you can Walk in Balance with All Our Relations in our unprecedented changing times.

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

If you are interested in this apprenticeship,

or have any  questions, please let me know.

I’d love to hear from you.

(919) 942-7754

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Darshan With Mother Meera

April 1st, 2011

The second mystical experience happened in the late ‘90’s sometime after my return from Great Britain.  The Guardians told me they wanted me to smoke a pipe to help me release a part of my ego that was preventing me from moving forward in my inner work.  As I began the ceremony, I spontaneously brought in Mother Meera, a living avatar who I had heard about, but never worked with.  As I began feeling like I was being pulled out of my body, I realized I had made a “mistake”, and I was very grateful when the pipe suddenly went out.

As I sat contemplating what had just happened, a vision of Mother Meera came to me and told me the best thing I could do, was to lie down.  As soon as I did, I felt her hands working on me and was plunged into a twilight dimension.  Not really asleep, but not really awake either.  There I stayed for a couple of hours as I went from one experience to another.  The most important one was in India, where Mother Meera gave me Darshan.  When I awoke, I had a split consciousness.  Part of it was in the heavenly realms looking down on myself in the room, and the other was still in my body.  It was a very odd experience and feeling that lasted probably a week, before becoming integrated into my Being.  The Guardians told me that she had brought me into a state of total

Self-actualization, which shifted my perception of reality forever.

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Shamanic Apprenticeship Update: August 2010

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

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?

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

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

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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Valentine’s Day: Where Did it Come From?

February 1st, 2011

As lovers in many parts of the world celebrate February 14th as Valentine’s Day, how many of them know how this tradition came to be?  Historians believe that the holiday originated from an ancient Roman fertility festival that was annually observed on February 15th.  When the Roman Catholic Church became dominant, the Pope declared that this holiday be reoriented to celebrate a 3rd century Christian martyr, named St. Valentine who died for the love of his God and Church.    The holiday once again turned toward romance, in medieval France and England, when it was thought that birds mated on February 14th.

 

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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Spider Totems

February 1st, 2011

Spiders are critters you want in your garden, as they eat lot’s of insects that may be harmful to your plants.  If you mulch, that is, lay down a layer of straw to keep the soil moisture from evaporating, it will establish a good ground cover for spiders to live in.  In the past ten summers that my vegetable garden has flourished, I’ve seen a multitude of these wondrous beings scampering about.

Spiders have a real intelligence about them, that you usually don’t encounter with the everyday house variety.  However, if you have engaged a very large one up close, like I have, you’ll notice it right away.  In the mid ’90’s, I was dragging my heels, about shifting my lifestyle, to one of surrender.  So the Guardians of the Directions sent me a wake-up call, by enticing a huge spider to remind me of my destiny.  There is nothing like being buck naked in the shower, and having a three inch, blobby spider peering down at you from the shower rod, to remind you how vulnerable you really are.  “Ok”, I barked. “I get it.”   Promptly getting my bug jar, and placing him outside, I vowed to put my fears aside and to get on with, what I was being asked to do.

Spinning it’s silken web, spiders are often associated with fate or destiny.  Meditating on the central point of it’s spiral web, may help you to balance your past, present and future.  Are you focused and moving toward one goal, or are you scattering your energy?  Weaving it’s web, spiders can also be associated with awakening your creative sensibilities.  And in many myths, this creature is known as the guardian of ancient alphabets and languages, for the geometric patterns and angles created by the spider’s web, was considered the first true alphabet.

Spider medicine can also teach us how to walk the threads of life between life and death, waking and sleeping, and the physical and spiritual.

If spider has woven it’s path into your life, ask yourself if you are weaving your dreams in to reality.  Or are you using all of your creative opportunities?  Do you need to learn how to walk in balance in your life?

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Your Sun Sign: Will it Change?

February 1st, 2011

Recently there was a huge panic in the news, and online, that everyone’s Sun Sign would be changing because of the Earth’s wobble.  This is simply not true and here’s why.

What is new for the masses, is old hat for astrologers.  We have known about the wobble and precession of the ages for thousands of years.

What is Precession of the Ages?
Because the Earth’s axis wobbles, the stars and constellations appear to slowly rotate around the Earth, and this causes the plane of the ecliptic (the constellations) to shift very slightly each evening.    It takes about  2,160 years for the vernal equinox to move into another zodiacal constellation, and about 26,000 years to complete a full cycle.  This movement is called precession of the ages.  Hence, the talk of moving from the Age of Pisces, to the Age of Aquarius.

Why does this phenomena not affect our Sun Signs?

For most western astrologers like myself, our astrological system (Tropical) is based on how the earth rotates around the sun, so that our points of reference are the solstices and equinoxes.  In this system Precession is irrelevant.  However, for astrologers who follow the Indian Vedic system (Sidereal),  procession will change a person’s sign.  The nice thing about astrology is that both these systems are valid and accurate.  They simply focus on different information.

What about the new sign Ophicuhus? As you may remember from a past newsletter, this sign is not new either.  Recognized in ancient times, Ophiuchus resides between Scorpio and Sagittarius, and is  known as the Serpent Healer, the symbol of eternal life. It also has the ability to prevent death through healing, and can also resurrect you from death.  For some reason, it was removed from the zodiac a long time ago.  Perhaps it was simply easier to work with the number 12, rather than 13, or maybe it was cast off when the Goddess religions fell from favor.  In any case, astrologers are not going to add it back into the mix any time soon.

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