Monday, April 16, 2012

The Nature of Change: Turning Fear into Bear

Wow! When people told me 2012 would be a year of change, I couldn’t have foreseen how wholeheartedly - how whole-souledly - I’d be throwing myself into it!

I was away for most of the winter at my long-lost sister’s in Austria. Besides the gratitude I have for the opportunity to have been able to reconnect with her and be part of some amazing healing experiences within the family, being in such a loving environment also afforded me the security of a safe place to release through some life-changing experiences with the process of shamanic death.

Winter… season of hibernating, introspection, and death. Having an appreciation for the processes/seasons of nature is one thing, but - Shaman or not - ‘on the ground’, there was a lot more resistance involved on my part (as compared to what an ascended being with a Divine overview might experience. Ha!).

Sure, somewhere in the back of my mind lay (dormant) the knowledge that spring would come, and rebirth, fresh, new and squeeky-clean. But while you’re in it and your adult mind is playing you, one Coyote trick after another (argghhh), hell is a womb. Oddly enough, as scary as it was, after a few shake-ups, it actually felt weirdly warm and comfortable for me to be there. At some point, I became aware that the Fear I felt had become so familiar that I actually started to feel more vulnerable about coming out of it than staying in… a good sign (in hindsight. Ha!). I realized that since I’d been courageous enough to accept this journey in the first place, reminded myself that we do this over and over, birth after birth, I stopped resisting. I came to the point where I felt that there was nothing I could personally ‘do’ to ‘fix‘ things. I gave it up to my higher power, opened myself up, and reached out for love. As inevitably follows, ‘spring’ did, indeed, come.

I gained a real appreciation of the idea that death is not the unfamiliar, the unknown that we all fear. It’s a return to the centre, and where we come from. Without our mind’s machinations getting a hold of us, we have in innate awareness that it is, on the deepest level, a journey about Love, a re-birth, a return to greater Love. What lies ahead is more of ‘us’.

I say ‘us’, because we’re not just rebirthed as individuals…

Look at Bear. Bear gives birth, hardly waking, in the sleep mode, the ‘death’ mode of winter. As the days get longer, the light starts to get brighter. She wakes up and leaves the den with her cub(s). Having gone in as bear, she emerges as mother.

Sure, not having eaten for so long, she’s bound to be a little shaky at his point, but her transformation is not unsupported; as nature would have it, all the things that will sustain her also wake up and start their new growth cycles.

Part of what the shamanic death experience is is being willing to face your successive deaths as a natural process of growth, and of reaching for the sun. Thankfully, I was prepared to die (even more thankfully, I didn’t have to. Hahaha!).

So, did anything else come out with me when I got ‘birthed’? Yes!! And thinking about it now, I just realized that it’s no coincidence that my partner has Bear as a totem!

Throughout the winter, my twin-flame and I were separated (geographically speaking), each of us going through our own individual experiences of letting go (long story short). Thankfully, we were there for each other in support through our ordeals, to remind each other (metaphorically) what winter teaches us, and - most thankfully - helping each other navigate a course through the darkness.

Rubbing our eyes and shaking the weariness out of our heads, we came out into the luscious green of spring‘s new growth to realize that something new had indeed been created, and we’re really excited about it. Tip of the iceberg: we’ll be working together a lot more, combining our individual talents, abilities and experience. Jenny’s an exceptional intuitive and healer.  She's especially good at helping people to access the powerful transformative energies of change. If you feel that you've benefited from my help in the past, you'll Love what she and I can do for you together! 
As a taster, I’ve made some changes to the 'Services and Mission' page, and added one of our combined offerings, so you can take advantage of Jenny‘s expertise already. ‘Pinpoint Your Power’ is our commitment to helping you access your power in a way that best enables you to squeeze out every drop of magnificence that you are. It’s like tapping into fuel you didn’t even know you had! On top of everything we’ve been working on, we’ve also developed a great referral program that enables you to take advantage of things like, well, your own ‘Pinpoint Your Power‘ session, for one! …as well as credit towards any of the services I offer.

Black Feather Medicine will still exist, but it’ll be part of something Bigger. As I alluded to, what I’ve offered previously will still be available, but ‘morphing’ somewhat. Please be patient as the transformation is taking place. Big Medicine Love to You, and more coming!!

~ Black Feather and Jenny Griffin