This Wednesday Sandbox gathering we go on a Samhein Shamanic Journey.

Samhein (or Halloween) is a time when the veil to the spirit world is thin. We take this opportunity to go on a shamanic journey. In shamanic practice part of the soul is free to leave the body, for example in dreaming. When we journey we do this deliberately with intent - the soul leaves the body, and may travel to a spiritual aspect of places on the earth, or may go within the earth, or above it.  

The journey occurs by shifting awareness or consciousness in order to allow part of your soul to leave the body.  A drum or rattle is frequently used.  The slow repetitive rhythm shifts the individuals "rhythm" so that he or she can journey.  Journeying like meditation is a tool for spiritual growth.  It is also a tool that can be used for healing, obtaining information, and working through psychological issues.

When you go on a journey you can communicate on a spiritual level. You can visit guardian spirits or spirits of the land. You can examine the health of your body or another's body.  You can also discover things about the world.

Psychologically you may a journey to work through emotional issues.  You may confront a deceased or living relative about past abuse.  A journey provides a safe environment to express anger, or to work through grief.

The journey provides a tool for spiritual growth because the individual can seek out evolved spiritual teachers.  The messages given often have an unexpected depth of meaning.

The journey starts after dinner at 8pm.  I invite you to join us, though as always what ever choice you make you will be honored in.

This entry was posted on September 28, 2008 at 2:42 PM and has received 604 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

This Wednesday Sandbox gathering we look at the healing energy of Reiki.

Reiki (pronounced "ray-key") it is an ancient Japanese practice that uses "Universal Life Energy" or " God directed energy" for natural healing. It is a gentle non-invasive method of hands on-healing that does provide balance to the physical, emotional, spiritual and mental issues in our life. In practicing Reiki healing you may develop personal and spiritual growth too. Reiki is very easy to learn, simple to use and can benefit everyone. It has nothing to do with a particular Religion and can be practiced by all. You can use it on family, friends, pets.

You don't have to be ill to experience the benefits! If you use Reiki every day, it can reduce the tendency toward illness and support the body's natural healing ability to keep healthy.

Note that  "healing" is not always the same as "curing". Our mindset (positive) makes a considerable difference in the outcome of what may happen. Illness is usually a message from our body, take notice, something is not right in our lives. Are we going in the right direction? Do we need to learn something? Forgive someone? Bring more joy into our lives? Release old memories? Make a healthy life change? Love ourselves more?

Ultimately if we want healing to be permanent we must take responsibility for healing the cause. Reiki healing may help with this too by allowing you to approach the changes in a calm, relaxed manner. Allowing you to let go of negative thoughts and attitudes. It can bring about greater self-awareness and your capacity to love yourself and others and can connect you with the the Divine. Reiki can transform your life in many ways.

We will look at what Reiki is, do some energy exercises and then share energy healing with each other in a Reiki share.

The Reiki share starts after dinner at 8pm.  I invite you to join us, though as always what ever choice you make you will be honored in.

This entry was posted on September 28, 2008 at 2:25 PM and has received 616 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

This Wednesday Sandbox gathering we look at Body Mod - extreme acceptance

All of us know that we should not pre-judge others. Does this acceptance apply to to people who modify thie bodies in beyond what is normal? Extreme is relative to perception. What is normal anyway? Everyone modifies their body in one way or another to show on the outside how they feel on the inside - whether it is clothing choices, hair style, make up or jewelry.

This gathering will have two parts. First we will show the movie Modify http://www.modifythemovie.com/index2.html that documents more than 50 body mods including tattooing, piercing, branding, scarification, bodybuilding, tongue splitting, implants, trans gender and more. Interviews with the modified and the artists who created them reveal their feelings on discrimination, addiction, spiritually and legal limits regarding our right to choose what we can and can not do to our own bodies.

Second we will do a boy mod sharing where we will share what body modifications we have made or want to make.

The movie starts after dinner at 8pm.  I invite you to join us, though as always what ever choice you make you will be honored in.

This entry was posted on September 28, 2008 at 2:20 PM and has received 640 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

This Wednesday Sandbox gathering we do Kirtan. Meditation doesn't come easy for many people. And that's where kirtan can help. Kirtan is an ancient participatory music experience from India. There is no need to mentally quieting the mind - kirtan can carry us effortlessly to a place of quiet, to stillness. The kirtan call-and-response chanting with ancient Sanskrit mantras calls upon sacred energies which serve to quiet the mind, remove obstacles, and bring us back to the center of our being.

Not musically inclined? Don't worry. Although kirtan involves music, the underlying art of kirtan chanting is not actually about musical ability or training-it is about the heart. Everyone can participate, regardless of age or cultural background. The purpose of this music is to get us out of our heads and into our hearts. Typically, the songs can last for 20-30 minutes each with a few moments of silence in between each song so you can soak it all up. The longer songs allow for deeper experience of the effects, and with the simple, repetitive lyrics (it's a chant, after all!) we really don't have to think much about the words. If you have a drum, or other percusion instrument please bring to play along as you chant. And if you want to dance to the kirtan that is fine too!

The chants begin after dinner at 8pm.  I invite you to join us, though as always what ever choice you make you will be honored in.

This entry was posted on September 28, 2008 at 1:56 PM and has received 613 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.