Magin Rose

Archive for the ‘StarFire Alchemy’ Category

The Greenwich Shamanic Spirit Circle is a monthly event open to all who are interested in exploring the shamanic path and deepening their connection with Spirit. Each meeting focuses on a particular aspect of shamanic work, and usually begins with a talk on the subject followed by practical exercises. These meetings are suitable for absolute beginners as well as those who have some experience of shamanic work. Our circles normally include drum and rattle work so please do feel free to bring yours along!

The Soul Tapestry , Friday 13th July at 7pm

Within the northern tradition we work with the concept of ‘Wyrd’ which might be considered similar to karma.  Northern practitioners are skilled at weaving and re-weaving Wyrd as a means of bringing about deep soul-level healing.  In this special session we will be working with the Mistresses of Wyrd, the Nornir, to find out what our individual soul tapestries can tell us about our soul paths and healing journeys.

For more information or to book online visit http://greenwichshamanicspiritcircle.eventbrite.com/ or email magin@starfirealchemy.co.uk. Tickets are available on the door at £10 and are available on a first come first served basis.  Please do email me or telephone 07958 742 497 if you are planning to come along. 

I wanted to let those of you based in London and the South East know about the calendar of meetings of the Greenwich Shamanic Spirit Circle in 2012.  Half of the Circles will have a ‘northern tradition’ flavour while the other half are being co-hosted by the truly magnificent Bhavna Mistry from Life Healing Values and will focus on connection, soul path, and heart-centred awakening.

The Circle is based at The Yogi Tree.  You can receive further information by following StarFire Alchemy on Facebook, joining our newsletter, or simply letting me know you plan to attend by emailing magin@starfirealchemy.co.uk

Friday 13th April 2012: Working with power animals

This class will focus on one of the most important, and well known, aspects of shamanic practice – journeying to find, and then working with, power animals.  This is the last in our first six-month series of Circles and the proceeds of the Circle will be donated to The Shamanic Voice.

Friday 11th May 2012: The Eagle and the Serpent

During 2012 a number of sessions will be devoted to the northern tradition which has a rich heritage of shamanic practice.  At the very heart of the Germanic cosmology is the World Tree Yggdrasil (‘Odin’s Steed’) which contains within it the Nine Worlds of northern tradition.  At the top of the World Tree rests a great Eagle while, at its base the serpent Nidhogg gnaws continuously upon its roots.  In this circle we will be exploring their mysteries and ways in which we can work with them.

Friday 8th June 2012: Power of the Sun

I am delighted to be running a number of circles with special guest teacher Bhavna Mistry from Life Healing Values.  Bhavna is a phenomenally gifted healer and teacher who works at an intense level with heart focused healing and soul path work.  In this first joint circle we will be sharing different approaches from around the world for working with the energies of the Sun.

Friday 13th July 2012: The Soul Tapestry

Within the northern tradition we work with the concept of ‘Wyrd’ which might be considered similar to karma.  Northern practitioners are skilled at weaving and re-weaving Wyrd as a means of bringing about deep soul-level healing.  In this special session we will be working with the Mistresses of Wyrd, the Nornir, to find out what our individual soul tapestries can tell us about our soul paths and healing journeys.

Friday 10th August 2012: Power of the Moon

In this joint circle Bhavna and Magin will be sharing different approaches from around the world for working with the energies of the Moon.

Friday 14th September 2012: Energy of Dragon

The dragon is a revered and often feared creature within many cultures.  Ferocious, terrible, powerful, beautiful, these fabulous creatures hoard wisdom, wealth and great magical skill.  Many cultures identify dragons with the elements, or as the spirits or protectors of the land, sea and sky.  Our work with dragon will be focused on the individual soul paths and healing needs of the group.

Friday 12th October 2012: Power of Star

In this circle we will be looking at the idea of the ‘guiding star’, exploring the idea of our soul path being ‘written in the stars’, and working the energy of star as a transformative and guiding force.

Friday 9th November 2012: Working with your Disir Circle

Within the northern tradition every person is said to have their own personal disir circle; a circle of protective spirits who guide and guard us from birth through to death (and quite possibly beyond).  The traditional disir circle is made up of female ancestral spirits and goddesses, although many find that their circle also includes power animals, male ancestors, and spirit beings.  Getting to know your disir circle is a hugely powerful way of connecting with your spiritual and ancestral heritage and forming a deeper connection with the protective powers who are there to help and guide you in times of difficulty, sorrow or danger.

Friday 14th December 2012: The Heart Seed

The shamanic path is sometimes referred to as ‘seeing with the heart’ and much of our work as shamanic practitioners is focused on removing the obstacles to this true vision.  The heart seed contains the potential of our true selves and, at the darkest time of the year the heart seed burns brightly, yearning to guide us into growth for the new year.

Over the last few days the universe has been providing me with little reminders about the ways in which we can train our brains, or perhaps a better word is ‘consciousness’ to help us find wholeness, self understanding and empowerment.

The idea of ‘brain training’ has become popularised through the latest generation of techno-gadgets which, helpfully, remind us that buying more computer games is actually educational and therefore good for you… I have to admit that jumping about with the Wii and playing Trivial Pursuit with the family on New Year’s Eve was actually quite fun – but in moderation!  Brain training works on the assumption that the brain is like any other organ in the body: it can be damaged through abuse and strengthened through a good work out. All of us who are seeking to develop and transform our lives and our environments for the better know that physical addictions damage the brain and moderation is key to a balanced and healthy mind and body. On the ‘mental’ level the theory goes that the more we challenge our brains to use different types of thought process, the stronger and smarter our brains become.

When I was at university I was a member of the ‘Thinking Society’ and we used to do tests looking at our individual strengths and weaknesses in lateral thinking, analytical thinking, creative thinking etc. There were about five of us and the tests we were doing were largely photocopied out of old Psychology manuals. Today ‘brain training’ is big business with any number of self-help guides, on-line tests, brain training gurus and games; there is huge competition in the technology industry for the brain training pound.

The way we think about the brain has changed massively over the last ten to fifteen years and today it is recognised that physical, emotional and spiritual activity are just as important to brain training as performing great intellectual and analytical feats. A quick search on brain training brought me to My super-charged life which identifies meditation, sex, nutrition, singing from memory, and walking around blind-folded as just some of the ’20 ways to train your brain’.  In our super adult, super charged, super fast world we are being reminded that play is the single most effective method of keeping ourselves smart, effective and happy.  Apart from the sex of course, the adventures of the Secret Seven, Famous Five and the Swallows and Amazons are perhaps the nearest I could get to ‘brain training camp’.  Get some good tuck, run about a lot, play games, use your keen observational skills, do a bit of problem solving, help each other out of scrapes, have a good old group bonding session and then home for a well earned rest.  The problem is that, to most of us, the activities of the Secret Seven would leave us knackered for days: we simply don’t have the resources to solve crime before supper.  The Western world seems designed specifically to drain us of our mental and physical resources; we no longer recognise our overall being as a self sustaining organism that is meant to be in balance.  For me ‘brain training’ does not go far enough, we need to recognise that we are more than a brain, indeed, we are more than just a body. 

As adults we tend to see play as something which is usurped by responsibility.  Anything that is worthwhile will require seriousness, effort, self-discipline, hard work, time, and probably money (all the stuff that drains our physical and mental resources).  Play is relegated to the luxury of ‘leisure time’ which, at most, gets a couple of hours a week lip-service if we’re lucky.  Of course, our brains and bodies still crave play, which is why alcohol, television, watching other people playing sport, and web-surfing all eat away at our lives: they are sanctioned, sterile and largely inactive past times which con our brains into thinking they are training when really they are being filled with crap.

From a shamanic perspective the brain is simply one part of our consciousness, indeed, the entire body is really one part of our overall ‘self’.  For me there is really no limit to the self.  We are not self contained little beings wandering round with a body and perhaps some form of spirit or energy body attached to it like a balloon.  We are part of a web of being which includes the physical world that manifests us, the mental world that stimulates us to growth, and the spiritual/ imaginative/ dream world that is us.  All of these different bits of us consume and produce ’energy’ which I’ll describe for now as ‘movement that effects change’.  Energy changes form all the time:  food turns into fuel that turns into physical movement or mental process.  Anyone who works with energy healing or magic will also tell you that, after a session they are famished; after all, they’ve been working hard channelling energy.  A person who has received an energy healing may feel full of energy, or perhaps lighter if stagnant energy has been shifted to allow new energy to flow once more.

Shamanic practice is about working with energy.  All shamanic practitioners work on themselves and some will also work on others.  The most commonly recognised shamanic practice is called ‘journeying’ where the consciousness of the practitioner is either said to leave their body and travel elsewhere or to expand outwards so that they are able to access other realms; in any case, the purpose of journeying is to seek wisdom and to retrieve power, soul essence, or energy that has been lost.  In a world that drains us this is obviously a key skill to learn and develop and, luckily, the majority of us now seem to be born with an innate ability to journey once we are shown how.  Perhaps this gift comes from the universe seeking to restore balance, or perhaps the sheer power we now have to change our world is opening our eyes and minds to the consequences.

Some people are just naturally able to journey, but most of us need some guidance to get us started.  However, just because you can journey doesn’t mean you have the clarity to see truth when it’s in front of you, or the wisdom to act on that truth.  I doubt that any shamanic practitioner out there can say with hand on heart that they have always immediately understood messages from spirit and acted upon them.  This is where brain training comes in: learn to still your mind and find clarity; learn to support your process through self care; learn to differentiate between ‘I should’ and ‘I am’; learn that obstacles are largely illusions; learn that play is work and work is play.

Sadly, a spiritual experience, even the most intense, is seldom enough to do more than give us the initial impotus for change.  Our ability to then bring change into our lives is determined by the overall state of our consciousness.  How much energy is available to you?  What perspective do you have on your ability to make change?  What support networks have you created for yourself?  Does the thought of changing your life make you feel knackered already or are you bursting to grab some tuck, track down the baddies, save the day and be home in time for supper?  If the answer is ‘knackered’ then perhaps some brain training is in order before you start to tackle any serious life change and so deplete your already exhausted resources.

You can book a mentoring session with me in-person or via Skype to develop a personalised programme using techniques that promote clarity, boost your energy levels, identify blockages and get you on track.  Mindfullness, meditation, stress management techniques and journeying form some of the methods we can work on together and your journey can also be supported by in-person or distance energy and shamanic healing.

We are now at the very heart of the half month of Nauthiz, the rune of necessity which is both the dark hollow of longing and the bright flame of the self-kindled fire. I find that Nauthiz comes up with surprising frequency for those seeking a spiritual path of self development and healing.  At some point the rune of necessity starts to pull at you, exposing the tangled knots in our personal web and demanding that we begin the work of freeing ourselves.
This week Kay and I worked with a wonderful group of healers exploring shamanic techniques for cord cutting.  Our course has developed under the guidance of Spider and the Nornir and we have been led to work very much along the principle that in order to cut cords, we must understand how they come into being in the first place.  A cord is an established flow of energy between you and another person, situation, object, place or illness (in fact anything through which we define ourselves) - your entire self is made up of cords which wind together to create the person that is you.  Many of our cords are positive, but some of them will be negative or may have started out positive and become negative along the way.  Imagine a spider weaving its web, or a weaver sitting over the loom.  As you look at their work you can see that an established pattern is forming and that the spider or weaver skillfully pulls different threads taut at different points to maintain that pattern and ensure that their work holds strong and steady.  Our lives are like that, we have established threads within them that set the pattern of our future, and we cannot simply remove a thread without understanding that the overall tapestry will then change.

There are lots of different reasons why we might choose to cut cords.  A common reason is when a relationship has come to an end but the energetic connection between the two people is still there; sometimes we want to let go but we simply can’t – in which case it is likely that the energetic cord between you hasn’t yet been cut.  At other times a relationship might be stuck within old patterns that need to be released before it can move on: we see this a lot in relationships with our parents or sibblings who continue to treat us like they always have, even if we have changed.  Marking rites of passage such as birth, maturation, marriage and death represent one way in which society has traditionally marked the end of one phase of life and the beginning of the new; the lack of these rites will often mean that cords that would otherwise naturally have been released still need to be cut years later. 

Nauthiz is the rune that embodies the necessity of the pattern; but it also tells you when something has gone wrong with the pattern.  People often associate the ‘dark night of the soul’ or a period of depression with Nauthiz; the rune brings trying times that can either be the making of us, or our destruction.  On a wider scale, Nauthiz lingers within a disatisfied society: strikes, rebellion and rioting represent the many faces of Nauthiz that tell us the fabric is not holding and change is being demanded.  Our job as rune and energy workers is to work with the underlying energy in our own lives, and that of our society, to skillfully cut what needs to be cut, remove what needs to be removed, and mend what needs to be mended.

For this half-month I want to look at Nauthiz as the rune which tells us when change is required.  Nauthiz is, in many ways, a double edged blade.  On the one hand it represents that which must be because of what has come before (it is the pattern we have fixed for ourselves), but on the other hand it also holds out the possibility of releasing that pattern.  This possibility for release comes about through the work of the goddess Skuld, patron of Nauthiz, and goddess of that which must be.  For me, work with Skuld is all about attitude.  There are those who walk blindly in the world and believe that the pattern they have laid for themselves is simply an external force at work bringing them good fortune or ill at whim; there are others who choose to look the Goddess of necessity in the face and to seek her guidance on what work they must do to change their destiny.  Skuld never promises it will be easy, but she certainly takes an interest in those who dedicate themselves to changing the web.   

In our own lives we might already know what should change but not yet be able, or want to, change it.  Our negative cords represent the negaive side of Nauthiz: addiction and compulsion.  Often, a particular behaviour or the consumption of a particular thing represents our attempt to fill a need for something else which we haven’t yet identified or which may seem impossible to fulfill.  A person who has low self esteem may not believe they are able to fulfill their dreams, but the need is still there and it demands to be filled.  Our society is adept at providing us within things that we are told will make the need-ache go away: alcohol, cigarettes, sweets, clothes, cars, television, computer games etc.  These things represent items which we might rationally tells ourselves we can do without, but there is a big difference between what we know we should do, and what our need tells us to do.  Nauthiz is not the rune of should, it is the rune of must, ‘I must fill this emptiness inside me’.  The need is real even if we haven’t yet found the best way to meet it.  Committing to work with Nauthiz and Skuld represents a commitment to find out what you truly need.

My You Tube video for Nauthiz represents a very simple meditation you can do at home to open yourselves up to ‘true need’.  We can do this work on behalf of ourselves and we can also do it on behalf of society. 

Changing the self

For ourselves we can ask Nauthiz to begin the process of revealing the negative and empty cords which we are holding on to, preparing us to release them and so create the space in our lives for our true needs to manifest.  I am currently working with this meditation to help ready myself for a cord cutting I want to undertake but which I know I am not yet ready for.  This cord runs particularly deep for me as it was formed in my teenage years and there is a lot of raw, unprocessed, emotion tied in to it.  As I started on this work I found that I dreamt more and more often about the particular person this cord is attached to, even though I haven’t seen them for years and years.  As my work continued the dreams became more focused as I explored what need in me is being met by this strange attachment to someone from so long ago.  As I write today I have been shown where on my body the negative cord between us is, so I know that soon I will be ready for the cord cutting itself.

You can use the meditation simply to say ‘I am ready to meet my true needs’.  Over time you may start to receive information during the meditation itself about negative addictions, relationships and situations you are ready to release, as well as what your true needs are.  You might also find that your relationship with the world around you is changing, perhaps you get itchy feet when you sit watching television too long or maybe you are less eager for an hour’s gossip with a friend who always leaves you feeling drained and inadequate.  These little hints are signs from Nauthiz regarding where action is needed.  

Changing society

There  is so much in our society which seems empty, barren and destructive at present.  It is easy to become overwhelmed by a feeling of hopelessness which is all too common a response to the harsh truth of Nauthiz.  We don’t even know how to begin to make a change or how one individual might remedy such a widespread problem.  We can wonder why we bother with our little efforts when nothing seems to make a difference.  Of course our individual efforts do make a difference, even when we don’t feel it; but we can also use our skills as runesters to bring about change in the underlying fabric of our society.

You can use the meditation simply to say ‘We are ready to meet our true needs’.  Know that your focus and concentration are working upon the very fabric of reality to help loosen the knots that bind us to unhealthy, damaging behaviours.  The bright flame of Nauthiz exposes the empty, negative threads for what they are and, collectively, we are able to unpick these threads and release them to the flames.

In shamanic healing we talk about concepts of power loss and soul loss; from a shamanic perspective the process of healing is considered to be one of recovery where the soul is restored to a state of wholeness.  In this state of wholeness we are more able to express ourselves, less susceptible to illness and wounding, and are able to achieve fulfillment in our lives.  Some might also characterise a state of wholeness as being a state in which we are able to achieve our ‘soul purpose’ (more on that later). 

The concept of ‘wholeness’ is particularl important within the Northern tradition because the modern English word for ‘whole’ shares a common root with both ‘holy’ and ‘hale’ (as in ‘hale and hearty’ or ‘healthy and hearty’).  As part of this series I am going to be looking at Teutonic concepts of the soul (Teutonic referring to the common origins of languages including English, German, Icelandic etc), but for now I want to look specifically at the idea of ‘wholeness’. 

So let’s assume for a moment that if something is not whole it is characterised by weakness and is in some way ‘unholy’.  A structure which isn’t whole is unstable and dangerous.  A place that isn’t whole is isolated, barren and polluted.  A group that isn’t whole is characterised by division, conflict, miscommunication and inequality. A person that isn’t whole is powerless, needy, vulnerable, lonely and wounded.  To the Teutonic mind ‘unholy’ does not mean evil; instead we might recognise it as the chill down the spine felt in forgotten and neglected places, that sense of emptiness that fills us with fear and a desire to be somewhere else.  Unholiness comes about when we forget to treat ourselves, each other, and our environments as sacred.  In the modern world many of us are all too sensitive to the lack of wholeness which is present all around, and within, ourselves.

One of the modern world’s biggest demons is the demon of consumerism.  From a shamanic perspective over-consumption and addiction are symptoms of a lack of wholeness; we sense that we are empty and desperately try to fill the hole inside us with the items we have been convinced will make us feel better.  I’ll be talking more about this when I write about this coming half-month of Nauthiz – the rune of necessity and desire.   

So what has wholeness got to do with past life healing?  My answer would simply be ’everything’.  We are the sum of our past and, from a shamanic perspective, that past isn’t just the tiny bit of your existence which makes up your conscious memory of your current lifetime.  Your past includes your dreamtime, your pre-conscious memories, the stories you have woven to make sense of your own reality, the memory stored within your body in both sickness and health, the memory stored within your DNA, our shared human history, and the vast record of memory that is the collective past.  Quite a lot, you might say – perhaps too much to even begin worrying about!

To many of us, the past is that which is gone or forgotten.  This has become so true that it is common in Western society for death to be so frightening that we just don’t talk about it at all: we don’t want to be reminded that we will one day become part of that past.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  In Teutonic Magic Gundarsson tells us that:

The Germanic time-sense is not threefold [i.e. past, present, future], but twofold: time is divided into “that-which-is”, a concept emcompassing everything that has ever happened – not a linear progression, but as a unity of interwoven layers – and “that which is becoming,” the active changing of the present as it grows from the patterns set in that which is.  Teutonic Magic: A Guide to Germanic Divination, Lore and Magic

Imagine for a minute that you are a tree.  Your present self, your conscious self, exists as the bark of the tree – the very surface of your being which is your own particular ‘that which is becoming’.  Beneath the bark are the rings of the tree, each representing a year of your life; these rings represent ’that which is’, they are the past which defines how you will develop and grow in the future, what your tree looks like, how big and strong it is, how hardy and ’hale’ it is.  To the Teutonic mind the past is not that which is forgotten, it is in fact part of the present: the past is embraced as part of our entirety, or ‘wholeness’.  In this sense, the modern world’s championing of the future and our discomfort with death and forgetting is a manifestation of our lack of wholeness: we have become disconnected from our past and are therefore not whole, the tree is still there but we are blinded to it.

Past life healing is the process of getting to know our own tree, of discovering our strengths and weaknesses and of creating healing that works on both the past and present.

Know thyself

I work regularly with a group of seidr practitioners and one of the pieces of advice which we have been given is that the questions which are important for us to ask in our work are ‘why’ questions.  It is very easy to get stuck in ‘what’, ‘which, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘who’ and ‘how’ questions: we like to know facts about what we should be doing, which option is best to take, where we will find happiness and with whom.  However, these questions do not give us wisdom or self-knowledge, they simply seek guidance from an external source on the best course of action.  In a sense, we work on the assumption that some guiding force exterior to ourselves knows best what we need and desire.  It is the why questions which tell us about our pasts and so allow us to find wholeness through self-knowledge – only then will we find the inner knowing that help us access all the other answers for ourselves.

Past life healing is a process of remembering, integrating and, in many cases, forgiving.  When I work with people through  past life regression we seek to find parts of the self which we have lost conscious access to that can help us understand ourselves and so begin to change our lives.  One common problem is repeated behaviours which we can’t seem to change – it is almost as if the past is constantly trying to make itself known within the present because, until we recognise what we are in the present, we cannot become something different.           

 This month I am working with the energy of ‘shadow sister’ in preparation for my show on the Shamanic Voice.  She is coming through as the part of self and society which we seek to push further and further away – she informs me that the harder we push the more she must force her way back.  Many people I know are experiencing the recurrence of old illnesses, the resurrection of old hopes, and the rekindling of old passions; this is a time when healing really is possible for us – shadow sister is calling out to us to recognise and embrace her.  When the past rears its head it is tempting to run and hide, but this is a wonderful opportunity for us to actually tackle our skeletons in the closet and lay old wounds to rest. 

Fulfilling soul purpose

Earlier I talked about the fact that a person who isn’t whole will try and fill the lack they sense inside them with something else.  Our society is all too ready to tell us what we can consume to make us feel whole again.  The problem is that, even if we resist the urge to blindly follow the consumerist trend, we still don’t know what we need because so much of our soul tree is hidden to us.  This is where self-help books come in, as well as a whole plethora of people who are able to tell you what has worked for them and, indeed, what has worked for the majority of people.  The difficulty is that these approaches can’t help each individual to find their unique soul purpose.  This is why knowing yourself is so important and why past life healing can help you to find the path that is right for you.  You are one vast well of experience about what works for you and what doesn’t, embedded deep inside the tree rings of your own past are thousands of moments of perfect clarity where you confronted, understood, accepted and embraced your true self. 

 Remembrance 

This time of year is an important one for remembrance. In my November 2011 podcast Honouring the Ancestors on The Shamanic Voice I talked about the difference between places of the dead which are ‘living’ and those which are neglected.  To me places of communion between the living and the dead exemplify the difference between a ‘holy’ place and an ‘unholy’ place.  Burial grounds, ancestral altars and other places of memorial are important places of power; we become extremely upset when a place of special remembrance is defiled or defaced.  Some places of remembrance are special because they act as places of communion between the living and their immediate relatives, but other places are considered important even if we don’t know exactly who is buried there – think of the unnamed graves of warriors, prisoners of war and victims of massacre.  We may not have such clear ideas on why we wish to remember as our Teutonic ancestors, but many of us instinctivly feel that remembrance is part of what it means to be human.  Undertaking some simple acts of remembrance for thos who have gone before us is, in itself, a form of deep soul healing.

Personal healing work

From a shamanic perpsective, even events which are seemingly random have roots within the past – even if we are unaware of these roots. You may already know the source of the behaviour or belief but, in many cases, the source is unrecognised.  Sometimes it is important to go back and find the source of the belief or behaviour (more on that in later articles) but, often, your healer will be able to perform work for you that doesn’t require that you consciously dredge up the past. While all healing work ultimately aims to restore wholeness, these are some of the most common methods used in past life healing:

• Past life regression to help your conscious mind re-connect to your own roots and personal heritage
• Power retrieval and soul retrieval to bring about restoration of parts of the self we have lost access to
• Work with the ancestors and spirits of the land to heal isolation, separation and loneliness
• Cord cutting or extraction work to release beliefs and energy which we have inadvertantly taken on in place of our own essence
• Work to connect with the different aspects of our soul including our physical body, power animals and guides
• Ceremonies that honour our own achievements, deeds and souls

In the ancient runes, wholeness and fulfillment are represented by the rune Wunjo.  The Teutonic peoples saw union with family and the gods as the source of their greatest happiness and this rune is traditionally associated with kinship and dicine ecstasy. THe experience of Wunjo might be brief and fleeting but it acts as a compass that guides you steadily through life, always drawing you on to greater moments of wonder and happiness.  Every step you take towards wholeness in yourself makes that inner compass stronger.  Blessing of Wunjo upon you.

You are the sum of your past:   you learn through experience; the world judges you on our previous actions and inactions; and you interpret your experiences by comparing them with what has come before.  Your future welfare, success, health, prosperity and happiness hinge on what you have done and who you have become.  All healing is essentially an interaction with the past, it is done by working with the manifestation of that past: you.  

This article is the first in a series looking at how we can work with our pasts to bring about healing and strengthening of the self in the present.  I will be looking at why past life healing is so important to our welfare, Nothern tradition perspectives on the progress of the soul through lives, and how to enage in long term work with your own past life.

Releasing and restoring

Imagine that you are an iceberg.  Bobbing about above the water is the part of yourself that you know well. The surface area of that visible bit of ice is the bit of you that other people can see while, underneath, there’s a whole lot more that is either forgotten, or is made up of the ‘unconscious’ bits of yourself – your body, sleeping awareness, and links to the past beyond your conscious lifetime.  Now imagine that the ice is not made up of water, but rather of intricate webs of thoughts, actions, beliefs and behaviours that go to make up you.  Some of them play out upon the surface of the ice – but most intertwine around each other, sometimes appearing on the surface, then stretching down into the lower layers of the ice.

Many therapies work by helping us to remove or  ’unlearn’ behaviours or beliefs which have become ingrained within us.  It is only when we are able to perceive the threads within the ice that we are able to work with them.  You may feel that you are trapped within a particular pattern of behaviour or that, every time you try and move forward in your life, you are blocked by an external force, or by feelings that drag you back.   

Some people choose to see a ‘talking’ therapist, someone who helps you to trace the threads of the conscious self and recognise the patterns rising up from the unconscious, hidden, parts of your soul.  Others choose to see a healer who will work directly with the threads at all levels on their behalf: transforming negative energy into positive; extracting beliefs and behaviours that have been ‘imposed’ from outside (i.e. a thread that is actually someone elses); restoring lost threads that are rightfully yours; and removing blockages so that you are able to access more of your ‘whole self’. Many people choose to do both and, in practice, you will often find that a healer is often qualified in forms of therapy, and vice versa.

Energy healing such as reiki, crystal healing, rune healing and sound healing represent some of the methods that a healer might use to gently release negativity (harmful beliefs and behaviours, blockages and intrusions) and restore positive energies.  These are really important healing forms and shamanic healing ceremonies (which we will be looking at later) should always incorporate energy healing to support deeper, more intensive work.  These types of ‘releasing and restoring’ healings are carried out regularly by healers and those serious about their own personal healing journey – they represent the on-going maintenance necessary to undertake more challenging work both in healing and everyday life.  These types of therapies focus on the person you are now, recognising that the past has had a negative impact and that healing must occur within the present.     

Dealing with trauma

Talking therapies help you to trace the threads of the web as they manifest upon the surface of the ice, slowly coming to terms with them and helping you to transform the negative beliefs and behaviours into positive ones.  These types of therapies are particularly important for people who are literally trapped by traumatic events to the extent that their present is wholly defined by them.  For people whose previous experiences are painful but bearable, talking therapies can occasionally reinforce the pattern of  ‘victim’ as the past is replayed over and over again.  However, for people who have suffered severe trauma, this is already the case, which is why seeing a therapist who specialises in that area is so important.  Imagine that the surface of the ice is extremely fragile, meaning that work needs to progress slowly and carefully.  Only once the ice is fairly stable can work be done beneath the surface, allowing the energetic source of suffering to be interacted with directly. 

Over time, these sorts of healing will bring you into a state of wellness, inner peace, and balance.  From a shamanic perspective, however, they might not have the ‘clout’ necessary to get right down into the depths of the iceberg and find the deep, tightly bound threads that tell us who we are and what we should become – the root may still be buried within the ice meaning the old ways are liable to come back in time.  A shamanic healer doesn’t simply recognise that the past has impacted on the present – they seek to journey into that past so that healing may be undertaken at source. 

Incidentally, and for those of you of a runic disposition, the rune of ice, Isa, relates to ego and identity.  It is a rune of ‘self’ but also represents the desire for stability which can manifest as resistance to change and an unwillingness to let go of the past – even when we know it is bad for us.  Isa is often considered to be a dangerous rune, and perhaps a large part of that is based on the fact that its stabilising influence is always focused on the present.  One of the goals of many spiritual systems is to be fully ‘present’, not worrying about what has gone before or what is to come; this is the positive aspect of Isa – its negative aspect is a rigid fear of change which holds us, unrelentingly in the present, even when we feel in our hearts that our situation could be better. 

****************************************************************************************************************

 I offer gentle energy healings as well as shamanic healing and ceremonies.  If you would like to work with me on your own healing journey please see my healer page. I am a shamanic practitioner, meaning that I work with any of the range of healing methods I have trained in as directed by spirit.

Crystals have been used for healing and magic since ancient times. Cultures including Egyptian, Inca, Aztec, Greek and Stone Age European all worked with these beautiful gifts of the earth.  Priests, shamans, magicians and healers used crystals to contain, transmit, restore, rebalance and extract energy; building a huge body of lore around the properties, uses and benefits of crystals, stones and metals.

Today holistic healing is often understood as working with vibration – every object, every energy, everyTHING has its own vibration which we can work with to bring about change.  Modern science has now confirmed that different crystals resonate at different frequencies, creating unique vibrations.  This discovery helps to explain why crystals of different mineral content, structure, and colour work to assist with particular diseases, disorders and imbalances.

My own training incorporates a shamanic approach to crystal healing.  Shamanic practitioners take an ’animistic’ approach to the world around them, we don’t see crystals as simply having unique properties - we work with each crystal as an individual being, a spirit gifted from the earth to assist us in the healing of ourselves and our world.

Crystal healing works on all levels to bring about physical, emotional, mental, spiritual and soul-level healing.  Receiving a crystal healing is a beautiful experience which brings about deep relaxation and long-term healing.  During treatments I create a unique matrix of crystals around my client’s body; the crystals’ energies then combine to work in a way that is fine tuned to my client’s needs.     A one hour crystal healing session can be booked by emailing magin@starfirealchemy.co.uk or telephoning 07958 742 497.  I also incorporate crystal healing into shamanic ceremonies as their energies bring powerful support to power and soul retrival work.   See my healing page for more information on crystal and shamanic healing.  

Below you will find more information about specific aspects of crystal healing – don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions!  I have also put together a selection of books at the top of this page that you may like to look at for more in-depth information about this powerful healing method.

Working with a healing matrix

A healing matrix is created by placing crystals on and around the body.  Each crystal has unique properties and is ‘programmed’ by the healer with a particular healing purpose.  Each crystal performs its own unique task during the healing, but is also part of a wider matrix which works to balance, release and restore energy across the body.  Common matrixes include the placement of crystals at the chakras, the creation of a balanced pattern around the body, or a clustering of crystals around the centre of a particular illnesses, injury or site of imbalance within the body.  During a healing I will normally adjust the matrix a number of times, removing crystals that have completed specific tasks and positioning new ones to move the healing forward to the next phase.   

Working with pendulums and wands

Pendulums and wands are crystals which are not placed on the body, but are rather used by your healer as tools.  You may be familar with the concept of ‘dowsing’ (using a tool to locate a lost or hidden item), this is a very common technique used within crystal healing to find areas on the body that need to be worked on.  Pendulums and wands are also used to connect your matrix together (helping the crystals ‘talk to each other’), clear and extract blockages within the energy body (e.g. opening the chakras and meridians), and promote the flow of healing energy through the matrix.

Colour healing with crystals

Colour healing is a powerful form of healing in its own right, but there is a great deal of crossover between crystal and colour healing because crystals are, after all, prized  for their beautiful colours and brilliance.  I have already mentioned that crystals work with the chakras and, of course, many of the best crystals to use with a particular chakra will share its colour.  On other occasions, a crystal matrix may be made entirely of crystals in a single colour, bringing powerful healing on a particular spectrum. 

Spirit guidance

Because I am a shamanic practitioner, I work hard to develop a relationship with each of my crystals so that I can understand how best to use them for your healing.  My practice is, of course, always guided by spirit and there are times when the guiding spirits and ancestors of my clients will also come forward to assist in our healing work.  After your healing we will look at the work you can do for yourself to further your healing and I will also relay any messages from spirit which have come for you during the healing. 

Self healing with crystals

My clients often bring their own crystals to treatments which can then be programmed to work with their healing matrix (and provide further healing after the treatment). On other occasions I am guided to empower a particular crystal for my clients to take away with them and work with.  I also work with clients through one-to-one mentoring which may include crystal healing in the form of meditations you can use to connect with the crystals you already have, or recommendations for crystals it will be helpful for you to work with.

What does it feel like?

Different people experience the crystals in different ways.  Some report a gentle sensation such as the flow of reiki, while others feel heat, a pulsating energy moving through them and, every now and then, someone will ask me if there was an earthquake during the healing!  It is common for people to feel that they go to a deep, peaceful place during healing and, those who are psychically sensitive may receive messages and guidance during their treatment.  I begin my sessions with a relaxing meditation, bringing you to a receptive state ready for your healing, and I will always ensure your energy body is sealed and you are fully ‘present’ before we finish.

-TESTIMONIALS-

I enjoyed my crystal healing session very much, and felt very relaxed and refreshed – similar to the effect I get from a yoga lesson but without actually having do to anything!  I was surprised when Magin told me afterwards that she had detected a problem with my left shoulder and had spent some time working on it.  I had strained the shoulder a few weeks previously and it was causing me increasing discomfort, but I hadn’t mentioned this to her at all.  There was no instant miracle cure, but I’m pleased to report that the pain disappeared completely over the next few weeks.  Linda, North London

 I found Magin provided a warm and holding space that gave me nurturing and rest. This brought it’s own depth which allowed two important new images to emerge, which I am still working with and gaining benefit from. I would happily recommend Magin.  Tim, South East London

Norns by HLM, 1901

The Norns (or Nornir as they would have been called) are three extremely powerful and important figures within the Germanic northern tradition (the tradition from which languages including German, English, Dutch, Norwegian and Icelandic come).  Without them there is no time, no story, no evolution, no destiny.  In some ways their arrival in the cosmos caused ambivalence among the Gods as it ended the carefree, timeless, golden age; but the stories tell us that their coming was inevitable, they are the inevitable.

The Nornir are often likened to the three Fates, the Moraie of ancient Greece or Roman Parcae.  Three women sit and spin the threads of fate, they weave the tapestry of being, they cut the threads at the end of each life.  Certainly the Nornir are weavers, but so are the Valkyrie, the choosers of the slain; and, indeed, Skuld, the youngest of the Nornir ia also said to be a Valkyrie.  Like the Fates, the Nornir are also spinners, but so is Frigga, the Queen of the Gods who, it is said, has primary responsibility for spinning the threads which the Nornir then use.  It is also true that the Nornir take an interest in the lives of individual men and women, in fact, a whole entourage of lesser nornir are described as being guardian spirits who attach themselves to particular individuals at birth, bringing gifts for both good and for ill ( a bit like bad and good fairy godmothers).  However, this is also a shared role as the Gods also come to the Well of Wyrd where the Nornir reside to sit and debate the fates of men, perhaps subtly plotting to influence their own fates by dabbling in the Wyrd of man - even the Gods themselves are subject to the laws off the Nornir.

Where the Nornir really come into their own is not so much as spinners, but as law-makers, writers of the inevitable, guardians of the Well of Wyrd: the substance of time and destiny, the waters of the past from which the threads of the present rise.

At StarFire Alchemy the Nornir are regular visitors to our Circles and have also helped shape and weave some of our key courses including shamanic regression, cord cutting and rune casting.  All of these techniques deal with a reading of, and interaction with, the stories of the past and the flow of our Wyrd.  Who better for our students to work with and journey to for wisdom, protection and guidance than the guardians of Wyrd itself?

•  About the Well of Wyrd
• The First Norn – Urd/ Urðr/ Wyrd/ ‘that which was’
• The Second Norn – Verðandi/ Werthende/ ’that which is’
• The third Norn – Skuld/ Sculd/ ‘that which must be’

About the Well of Wyrd

The Well of Wyrd is also known as Urðarbrunnr, Urd’s Well, or the well of that which was.  It is one of three wells found at the root of the great world tree Yggdrasil,  the others being Hvergelmir (bubbling/ boiling spring) and Mimmisbrunnr (Mimir’s well); Hvergelmir is the primal well from which the first waters flowed, while Mimir’s well is a place where knowledge and foresight may be obtained.  You can see that all three of these wells are, in some way, a manifestation of the idea of origins and the unfolding of time.  

The Nornir dwell by the Well of Wyrd and are said to have a shining hall there, they are often depicted as three cloaked figures, almost indistinguishable from each other.  Each day the Gods cross over the rainbow bridge and gather at the Well to debate and cast judgements, testifying to the Well’s importance as a place of truth and source of law.  Any beings who bathe within the Well of Wyrd are said to emerge shinig white, like the membrane of an egg; and a pair of swans (said to be the ancestors of all other swans), are said to feed at the well each day.  Interestingly, some accounts state that Munnin, one of Odin’s ravens, is pure white – Munnin is the raven of memory and, perhaps, he too drinks at the Well.

It is said that the Nornir gather white clay from the edges of the Well and smooth it upon the bark of the World Tree to keep it strong and healthy.  In this sense the waters of the past are seen as strengthening and healing the present.  As a healer this makes a great deal of sense to me, it is through self acceptance that we come to love ourselves and through acceptance of the truth about ourselves and the world we live in that we gain wisdom. Healing cannot occur when we live in falsehood or deny the past which has made us who we are. 

Urd

Urd’s name has been translated as ‘that which was’, ‘the past’ or ’origin’; it is the past tense of the Old Norse verb for ‘to become’. Urd is often seen as being the oldest of the Nornir although, as I said above, for others the three Nornir appear as women of the same age with similar faces and builds.  As the Norn concerned with the past Urd is often seen working at the Well of Wyrd itself; some say she washes the threads of Wyrd within the Well but, for me, she is drawing fibres of being from the Well itself.    To me Urd appears as a wise, round faced woman wearing sensible clothing; she is the Norn who speaks the most frequently – perhaps because, as the keeper of the past, she has the most to say. Over time she has taken on the aspect of  wise ‘crone’, echoing the ‘maiden, mother, crone’ archetype of modern witchcraft.

Urd is a force to be reckoned with, she tells it like it is and does not suffer fools gladly.  Although the Nornir are harbingers of Fate and might be thought not to take sides, at the final battle between the Gods and their enemies Urd will come forth from the Well armed and ready for action – perhaps to bear witness, or perhaps to ensure that the outcome of the battle is played out to her liking.

Verðandi

Verðandi is said to select the threads and weave them together into the great tapestry of being, her name has been translated as ‘happening’, ‘present’, ‘becoming’, ‘in the making’ and ‘that which is’; it is the present tense of the Old Norse verb ‘to become’.  Each person has their own tapestry, their own past and their own destiny to fulfill, but each of these is woven into the greater whole, intersecting and interweaving in a myriad of patterns and colours.  When I visit the Well of Wyrd Verðandi is always busy, her hands continually working the thread.  To me she embodies the principle of mindfulness: always intent upon the present moment, not weighed down by the past or caught up in fantasies of the future; she is at peace in herself and in her work.

Verðandi is often equated with the energy of the ‘mother’ and, as Urd might be said to hold the wisdom of the crone, Verðandi does indeed resonate with the mother, continually birthing the present and bring it into form as her hands work across the loom.  Verðandi often appears to me with a full figure and luxurious golden hair, her nature is gentle and she will not speak unless she has something particularly important to say.

Norns weaving by Arthur Rackham (1912)

Skuld

Skuld is often depicted as the youngest of the Nornir, she is a Valkyrie, a warrior maiden and is often considered to be the most frightening of the three.  Her name has been translated as ‘debt’, ‘necessity’, ‘that which must be’, or ‘future’.  In some ways her function might be said to be the upholding of karmic law - except that this implies an inherent fairness to her actions when, in fact, she might be described more as ensuring the patterns woven into the fabric of the present play out as they must.

Skuld is often seen carrying a knife ready to the cut the threads at the end of a lifetime but, for me, a far more important function of Skuld is as the overseer of the knots within the tapestry of Wyrd.  The idea of oath making is hugely important within the northern tradition, an oath made must be fulifilled, to not do so is to damaging both to your own Wyrd and the greater tapestry as a whole.  Imagine that two threads are knotted together withina cloth to begin a new pattern, then the weaver forgets about the knot and leaves these threads hanging: the tapestry will either end up tangled up in itself, or with gaping holes where the threads should have been.  Skuld’s rune is the Nauthiz rune, the rune of need, to me it follows on from the promises made by the Gebo rune of exchange. oathmaking and gifting - at some point those promises are tested and the knot is pulled taut (have a look at the shapes of the runes to see what I mean).  Skuld is the tester, she makes sure the tapestry is strong and that its pattern runs true.

I said earlier that Skuld was a Valkyrie.  These terrifying women were maidens of battle, choosers of the slain who would bring fallen warriors to Odin’s hall where they would join his army ready for the final battle.    In this sense Skuld selects the brightest threads, the finest heroes for this special purpose – like her sister Urd she is perhaps not so neutral in the affairs of the cosmos as we might believe.  In her role as a Valkyrie Skuld bears a shield and wears a shining helmet and cloak of swan feathers.

Chalice Well Gardens, Glastonbury

A common practice within many healing traditions is the creation of an imaginative ‘safe space’ where a person can go to feel relaxed and secure during meditation and healing sessions.  The most common place to imagine is a garden, a safe, natural setting where Mother Nature can tend and care for us as we heal.

 I work with the concept of a ‘life garden’ which takes this concept a bit further.  Imagine a garden that acts as a representation of your inner world: the layout of the garden tells you about the way you think, the health of the plants tell you about how you care for yourself, the way you feel about the garden as you view it tells you how well you are fulfilling your own needs and desires.

Working with my life as a garden helps me to think like a gardener: I need to take my time in planting, tend those plants I already have, work in tune with the needs of the land and plan around the seasons.  Shamanic practice is a little like seeing underneath what is happening in the physical world: getting to the source of things, accessing and working with the root cause of what is going well and what is going wrong.  Working with a life garden is one way in which you can begin to access your own ‘inner knowing’: your imagination is a limitless mechanism for communication between your conscious and unconscious self.

One-to-one mentoring can help you develop your own ‘inner knowing’ through learning to work with concepts such as the life garden.  This means that you can take control of your own healing path, identifying for yourself areas where you need assistance to dig out deeply entrenched beliefs and patterns of negative energy which shamanic healing is designed to tackle.   

Find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed and make yourself comfortable.  You may want to play some music, light a candle or burn some incense to create the right mood for yourself, but these aren’t essential.  Close your eyes and draw your attention inwards, away from the outside world into your own self; focus on your heart centre and keep drawing your attention inwards, into the quiet of your own being.  Allow all worries, images and intrusive thoughts to float away (I find that releasing my worries as I exhale is effective).  Let yourself be surrounded by darkness.

When you are ready ask your garden to reveal itself to you.  You may hear birds or water, perhaps you smell particular flowers, feel a gravel path beneath your feet, or see the green of leaves dancing in the sunlight.  Allow your senses to guide you and don’t worry if you don’t experience much at first, you have plenty of time to explore your garden at your own pace.  Make a note of all you see.  Are there other creatures in the garden?  What plants are growing there, is it open or enclosed?  Where are you particularly drawn to in the garden?  There may be areas of darkness or patches of land where the plants are sickly or dead – don’t worry, you can deal with these.  Some people have very few plants (don’t forget that some beautiful gardens are made entirely from sand, rocks and water); these gardens still have messages for you that you can access if you think like the person responsible for the garden).

A life garden can be used to help you get some perspective on your life and see what’s going well and what’s going wrong.  Let’s say you have a new project you want to initiate.  Have a look at your life garden, is there space for another plant?  If not, what needs to be cleared to allow you time to start your new project.  Time wasting activities, acts of self sabotage, and negative habits can appear in your life garden as weeds; as you work through these you can symbolically dig up the weeds to make room for the new.  When you have enough space, mark the beginning of your new projects by planting a seed in your life garden.  As time progresses check on the progress of your seed, how is it growing? Are you giving it enough care and attention?  Have weeds sprung up around it or is the soil too dry from lack of watering.  Your life garden functions on two levels: you can make changes to your life garden to represent change you want to make in your ‘real life’; you can also visit your life garden to give you an overview of what is happening in the physical world.  Your life garden is a representation of your life – what happens in one will happen in the other.

When I first started working with my life garden it was quite small and enclosed by beautiful grey stone walls, it felt safe and peaceful.  There was a door in it out onto fields at the back, and only I had the key.  I needed this safe, nurturing space to feel truly comfortable and able to relax.  Sometimes I went to the garden simply to relax, at other times I went for healing work, or to look into the waters of the well there and see the messages from my subconscious that formed on its surface. As my life progressed new objects would appear in my garden, as my personal healing and development moved forwards the garden expanded outwards and I ventured more often into the fields beyond its walls.  Finally, a crisis point came, a time when I was ready to make the big changes in my life which I knew I needed.  As part of that journey my garden was raised to the ground; I cannot say I was happy about this, it had served me so well and I still miss it.  For a long time I visited the place where my garden had been and found only darkness, then, one day, I saw a huge seed, sitting right in the centre of the dark earth – the next time I visited the place had exploded into life.  My new life garden is teaming with places to go and things to explore so I expect I will be busy for a while to come.

Blackbird and goddess

One-to-one mentoring can help you develop your own ‘inner knowing’ through learning to work with concepts such as the life garden.  This means that you can take control of your own healing path, identifying for yourself areas where you need assistance to dig out deeply entrenched beliefs and patterns of negative energy which shamanic healing is designed to tackle.

Dear all

Please note that I won’t be responding to emails or sending out products between 2nd -16th May.  Apologies for any inconvenience causes.  If you would like to book on to any courses please email info@starfirealchemy.co.uk  so that Kay can take your booking.  Electronic products will still be sent automatically upon payment.