Spirit Animals: Dolphin

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

The picture is entitled “Happy Dolphin” from the website wileyphotochallenge2.smugmug.com

Over the last while, in my dreams, dolphins appear and come and play with me. Dolphin is ten million years old, and has a brain size that is larger than humans. We, humans, believe that Dolphin has a high intelligence, and therefore, Navy and animal behaviourists love to work with these beings. Some of us love dolphins simply from the very creative book, “So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish!” by Douglas Adams, a book that is part of his Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy series.

As an animal guide, Dolphin is often referred to as “The Inner Guide”. She swims through the water, and comes up for air. In many traditions, the water is seen as the emotions and subconscious. So, Dolphin guides us through our emotional traumas, as well as leads us down the deep paths of self exploration, much like diving deeply into the ocean.

Early pictographs on tablets and on cave walls, show a dolphin like being with a big bubble of water around its head. Speculation is that Dolphin may have come from another time or planet to assist humans on their developmental path. Part of the teaching that comes to us from Dolphin is that playing is a necessity of life as is breathing and eating. If we leave the joy out of our lives, we feel joy-less or depressed.

I have read that dolphins are examples of joyful community, or of community living in balance and harmony with the surroundings. We can take this lesson from Dolphin and apply it everyday. Man unnecessarily rips up the environment, or tries to control it, and therefore, destroys harmony.

Judy@angelsandancestors.com

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Spirit Animals: Raven

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

When I hear the word “Raven” two different thoughts come to mind. The first is the line, “The Raven cried, “Croak”, and they all tumbled down. Fiddle de diddle de dee.” This line comes from an old English nursery rhyme which has many versions. The second is that Raven is the sacred bird of the great Norse God, Odin. His two Ravens, Thought and Memory, went out in the world each day to gather news and bring it back to Odin.

So why is Raven an important messenger animal? First, know that Raven is classified as a song bird. Second, Raven is a scavenger. Third, Raven mimics sounds, including human words. Therefore, when Raven moved to clean up corpses from the battlefield, she would sing and even talk. Anyone stumbling upon this phenomenon found it quite disturbing and Raven was gifted a reputation of being a foreteller of death and a demon disguised as a bird.

What makes Raven so unique is that it has been found in all climates and even as high as 5000 feet in the Tibetan mountains. It does not live all year round in the Arctic, yet most often stays year round in other climates. Sometimes, Raven will follow Wolf or Coyote and forage off of their kills. Diet consists of everything from road kill to cereal grains, insects, and whatever is on hand.

If Raven is coming to you to work with you, feel blessed! She is very discerning and works with highly evolved, intelligent beings. Her colouring reflects her association with magic, with the heavens, with the Dark Mother of the New Moon, and with transformation of the parts of us that we call “shadow self” to an integrated being. Many indigenous people believe Raven is a trickster being that shape shifts as it makes noise. While Raven is a noisy one, she uses her voice to shift perspective and consciousness. If Raven appears, she asks, “Are you using your voice enough?” She pushes you to speak your truth, and to sing what you know. Some belief systems say that Raven can actually impart “magick” to those she favours. Let your heart guide you when you work with Raven, and grow into the light being that you are!

Judy@angelsandancestors.com See www.angelsandancestors.com for new events and newsletters.

Osho Zen Card Deck

Card #27, Healing

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

Our world is one of action – reaction. We do something, possibly thinking it is quite innocent, and someone takes offence to it. They re-act to our act. They retaliate with words, physical assault, or a combination of both types of behaviour. Generally, our ego response is to re-act to their re-act to our act. Act has two distinct meanings. The first meaning is “to do”. The second meaning is “a formal record of something done or transacted. The second meaning tell us that each act is being recorded. Those people working through their spiritual growth will know that this recording happens in the Akashic Records.

Osho gives us a nice lesson on healing this cycle of act-react on the Healing Card. This is the information that matches the card. “You carry your wound. With the ego, your whole being is a wound. And you carry it around. Nobody is interested in hurting you, nobody is positively waiting to hurt you; everybody is engaged in safeguarding his own wound. Who has got the energy? But still it happens, because you are so ready to be wounded, so ready, just waiting on the brink for anything.

You cannot touch a man of Tao. Why? - because there is no one to be touched. There is no wound. He is healthy, healed, whole. This word whole is beautiful. The word heal comes from the whole, and the word holy also comes from the whole. He is whole, healed, holy.
Be aware of your wound. Don't help it to grow, let it be healed; and it will be healed only when you move to the roots. The less the head, the more the wound will heal; with no head there is no wound. Live a headless life. Move as a total being, and accept things.

Just for twenty-four hours, try it - total acceptance, whatsoever happens. Someone insults you, accept it; don't react, and see what happens. Suddenly you will feel an energy flowing in you that you have not felt before.”

Judy@angelsandancestors.com See www.angelsandancestors.com for new events and newsletters.

Spirit Animals: Coyote

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

In mid February, several years ago, Roger and I were hunting for a house in Calgary, we were drawn to live near Fish Creek Park. We weren’t sure why, and yet, when we looked in different communities, none felt exactly right for us. That changed the day the realtor drove us down into an area called “Deer Run”.

As we drove along the main roadway into the area, which also leads into Fish Creek Park, two coyotes ran along the road side, keeping pace with the car. Playing and jumping and watching me. They seemed to say, “Come live here. It will be great!” Short story – we did buy in Deer Run about a week later, and, in June, after we were settled, we spent time walking in the park. One evening, we were entranced to see, in the middle of a large field, Mom and Dad coyote, and four cubs. I knew that it was the same pair that frolicked along the road way when we first drove down to the Deer Run area. It seemed that the coyotes and us both had the same idea – to move in to the area and make it a home.

The coyotes in our area of the park are very used to humans, and watch them all the time, much as we watch them. I have watched a coyote sitting on the bank of the channel, island side, watching all the people walk along the walking pathway on a Sunday; people who were completely oblivious to Coyote as he blended in with the grass and small shrubs. He seemed to enjoy the oblivion of others, and grinned at me. Coyote’s ability to grin is part of the reason for his name as “Trickster”.

Watch for more on Coyote in a future blog.

Judy@angelsandancestors.com See www.angelsandancestors.com for new events and newsletters.

Angels Speak: Earth Keepers' Challenge

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

I once heard a story from my Great Aunt about a group of women from Sweden. They were called “The Ladies of the Trees” because, similar to Nuns, they lived cloistered until they were called to move out into the world to care for the trees. They knew, you see, that the trees held together the earth and the sky, and that the trees also changed the air to make it more breathable. These Ladies moved through Europe and eventually into North America, tending to trees, planting seeds, and keeping the land healthy. They stayed only a short time in one place, moving constantly, keeping to themselves. My Great Aunt said that some believed they were fairy people who asked for a way to move more freely amongst the humans. The story caught and held my imagination for many decades.

We now understand that the trees and other plants transform carbon dioxide into oxygen. We are also learning that the trees help control the climate and keep the earth healthy so that crops may grow. Areas where trees have been totally removed from the earth have now become deserts. Shaman around the world have been telling corporations and governments that they must take care of the Earth, or lose the Earth. Shaman call people like “The Ladies of the Trees” a different name. They call them “Earth Keepers”. Earth Keepers have a great challenge at this time because the ancient trees around the world are either being harvested or are dying from pollution and insect disease. It seems like the trees have given up!

Conservationists, also Earth Keepers, are understanding that to change the behaviour of man towards nature, early education (in the kindergartens and schools) needs to happen. What can you do? You can help change the vibration of thought to a new level by simply saying the following meditation for the trees and meditating on the trees.

Meditation For The Trees

Oaks, and willows, and poplars and aspen,

Fir trees, and juniper, and cedar and rowan,

Elder, maple, chestnut and birch,

Hickory, teak, dogwood, cherry,

Apple, holly, hawthorn, and olive,

Redbud, hackberry, raspberry, and ash,

Walnut, and witch hazel, tamarack and gum,

Honeysuckle, ironwood, spruce and pine,

Pear, current, gooseberry, sumac, cypress,

Sassafras, basswood, mountain ash and elm,

Rubber, eucalyptus, pear and peach,

Plum, apricot, nectarine, persimmon, and grape,

Wattle, orange, grapefruit, cocoanut, pineapple,

Cocoa, banyan, ficus, and macadamia nut,

Cassava, iron wood, lime and lemon,

Bedfordia, banana, fig and date,

And all the trees and names recorded to date,

I wish you love, long life, with much rain.

I apologize for mankind – for those who have caused so much pain

To the trees, to the world, and to their fellow human beings.

May you grow strong, and long! And may your roots spread deeply!

judy@angelsandancestors.com
See www.angelsandancestors.com home page
Check out www.thestoryoflight.com

Spirit Animals: Toucan

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

CBC featured a story on the Toucan on July 23 2009 called “Toucans' huge beaks make them cooler — literally” and you can find it at http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/07/23/tech-toucan-bill-cool.html.

The picture caused to me to think about why this bird looked so familiar. Then I remembered that, as a child, our family would visit my Grandmother in her nursing home. The nursing home had a set of bird cages at the end of each hall. There was a Toucan In the cage at the end of the hall, close to my grandmother’s room. My brothers and I chatted with Toucan each time we visited.

It was interesting to me, that Toucan was showing up again in my life after thirty plus years of silence. Toucans are only found in Central and South America. They have red, yellow, blue, black or orange plumage, often in vivid patterns. Toucans have short bodies and legs, and their wings are shorter in comparison to other birds since Toucan does not fly very far. She eats mostly fruit, and will eat some insects and small lizards if they are in range of her very large beak. The noise that she makes is somewhat like the croak of a frog. South Americans have many different tales about Toucan, however, the story that resonates with me is the Toucan can be a tribal totem and the medicine man can use it as an incarnation to fly to the spirit world. The story implies that Toucan is very smart, and very much part of the spirit world.

Toucan may bring several different messages.

They are:
• Are you eating enough fresh fruit in your diet? Fruit is critical in maintaining high evels of Vitamin C that helps the immune system fight viruses. Toucan eats mostly fruit and has few diseases that it needs to fight.
• It is now time for you to begin crossing into the spirit world to talk to and to understand what is happening beyond this physical, third dimension.
• Take time, now, to clean and align your chakras. Toucan’s colors cross over all the colours of the chakras and she takes care of her coloured feathers with zeal.
• Do people need to hear what you have to say? Toucan has a rough voice that carries for up to half a mile! Everyone hears her.

Spend time contemplating the picture of Toucan, and meditating with her. She may bring you wonderful messages of inspiration.

Judy@angelsandancestors.com
See www.thestoryoflight.com for info on the book, The Story of Light, and to get your paperback or ebook copy.

Spirit Animals: Gopher

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

Photo from Wikipedia, from Banff, Alberta

Gopher is a movie hero and played a starring role in the 1980 movie “Caddyshack” which also starred Saturday Night Live Alumni member, Bill Murray, as Gopher’s arch enemy. What is interesting about the movie is that it reflects how many ranchers and farmers in the west feel about Gopher – believing that Gopher is a pest.

A small rodent, Gopher lives in a colony with others, understanding that there is safety in numbers and that family will watch out for you. The Gopher family speaks with clicks and whistles, and even has a special ultrasonic whistle for family members. Ants live underground and store their food for winter as do many other animal/insects.

Gopher is actually a “ground squirrel”

Gopher, too, gathers and stores some food for the winter since even though they hibernate, they make wake up as the weather shifts from cold to warm, and require a little snack.

All beings that live underground are said to be “Secrets of Life” Keepers. Gopher, like many of the others that live underground, has tunnels that intersect and connect to allow the gopher families to be safe underground for extended periods of time. Whether life is above ground, or below it, or even in the water, the series of tunnels show us that everything is connected, even though it may be hidden from us. Gopher knows how to dig and uncover hidden truths and meanings. She shares this gift with you.

Partially because she is very small, and partially from spending so much time underground, Gopher has poor sight. When Gopher keeps watch, she always tries to be on the tallest point of land so that she can see movement, and warn her colony. She also is able to feel vibration in the ground, and therefore, often has advance warning of coming visitors. If Gopher shows up in your life, she is telling you to feel around you. Do you too pick up vibrations of energy? If so, are you fully in that place where you will do vibration or energy medicine work?

While many see Gopher as a pest, one needs to see her attributes. She runs backwards and forwards, quickly, with ease, and is able to jump down small holes at a moment’s notice. She feeds from her tunnels by pulling down plants. Gardens that are planted on gopher territory take a beating. Gopher does however, bring the message – look to your own growth process and watch where you plant your seeds. Try taking responsibility for your actions instead of adopting a victim role and blaming others.

Why not go out to a field and get acquainted with gophers and observe their wisdom?

judy@angelsandancestors.com Send us your stories about your experience with Gopher.

Tarot Discussion:
Card of Completion

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

This is the Card of Completion –
Card XXI from the Osho Zen Tarot.

I have been a practitioner with my husband, in our business Angels And Ancestors, for almost three years. For the last several months, things feel like they are changing in the business. I am getting guidance in my meditation to be doing less workshops, to concentrate my clients on three days, and to begin writing books – a task that my guides tell me is long overdue.

So today, when I pulled the Card of Completion from the Osho Zen Tarot deck, I saw the confirmation of what I have been hearing. Some of what I have been doing is complete. Here is what Osho’s comment is on this card. I felt the truth of it. May you also find the truth you need to find in this card.

“Here, the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle is being put into its place, the position of the third eye, the place of inner perception.
Even in the ever-changing flow of life there are moments in which we come to a point of completion. In these moments we are able to perceive the whole picture, the composite of all the small pieces that have occupied our attention for so long. In the finishing, we can either be in despair because we don't want the situation to come to an end, or we can be grateful and accepting of the fact that life is full of endings and new beginnings. Whatever has been absorbing your time and energy is now coming to an end. In completing it, you will be clearing the space for something new to begin. Use this interval to celebrate both - the end of the old and the coming of the new.” – Osho

Judy@angelsandancetors.com

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Karma Files:
Self Sabotage in Career

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

Self sabotage refers to what you may do consciously or unconsciously to stop yourself from achieving a clearly desired goal. Self sabotage can happen any time - to athletes, to children, to volunteers - to anyone. Mostly, though, it seems to happen in our careers. For example, you are two weeks away from finishing a big project that will enable you to achieve a new status ranking at work. With this status ranking, you will be considered for a new position. One week away from the final goal, you come down with severe pneumonia, and end up in the hospital for several days, and because of the nature of the illness, will be off work for several weeks. Your place is being filled by someone relatively new, who will complete the project and get the promotion, even though they did not do most of the work. You did! Now you feel sick and miserable because of the lost opportunity.

Hundreds of books have been written on goal setting and how to avoid self sabotage. The mind doctors call it "fear of success". Is it really? I propose that it is your ego and body taking care of you. The main purpose of the ego is to take care of the body. It therefore creates fear so that you will not knowingly damage the body. The ego analyses success as putting more strain on the body and on it (yes, it may act independently). Therefore it does create a sabotage scenario. Further, it may buy in to belief systems that were part of your family's belief system - you don't deserve; you aren't good enough; you aren't smart enough; and others are using you. How do you get around this? My suggestion is to find a method that works for you to get your ego to listen to you and not all the beliefs. For each person, this method may be different. Send it out to create to-do lists, to find stuff that you may have forgotten years ago, or even to plan or design something. At the same time, create your own positive affirmations. Use these as mantras to recreate the belief systems. It works.

What if it doesn't work? If a person has tried the goal setting and affirmations and it doesn't work, then one may be certain that something else is going on. The next step then, is to see a healer-shaman. The self sabotage may simply be the body telling the person that there is some ailment that will prevent going further. When this is corrected, the person moves forward.

The other block may simply be "karma". No, not the negative punishment type karma that has been discussed so much. Simply karma or remembrance that stays in the cells. It may come from the parents, grandparents, or a long line of ancestors. It may be their block that is inherited that stops the person moving forward. Generally, if the person clears the blocks, through the help of a shaman or healer, the person gets clarity around other events in their life, and how the "pattern of behaviour" may be affecting their life. When clearing is done, the individual generally feels lighter and more peaceful.

I wish all success at what ever they choose to do in life! Judith

For more information on karma clearing, refer to
http://www.angelsandancestors.com/workshop.html#karma

Spirit Animal: Wolf

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

The timber wolf is a fascinating predator that can track its ancestry back to about 300,000 years ago. Research suggests that timber wolves and dogs share a common ancestor which may be one of the reasons that many humans love wolves and identify with them as they would with a dog. Wolves are pack animals, built for stamina, and carry surprising bulk.

Wolf weight varies geographically; on average, European wolves may weigh 85 lbs, North American wolves 80 lbs, and Indian and Arabian wolves 55 lbs. Though rarely encountered, extreme specimens of more than 77 kg (170 lb.) have been recorded in Alaska, Canada, and the former Soviet Union. The heaviest recorded gray wolf in the New World was killed on 70 Mile River in east-central Alaska on July 12, 1939 and weighed 79 kg (175 lb.) – from Wikipedia…

Wolf is very territorial and marks the territory by both scent and by howling. On average, a territory may be 200 kilometres in length with the width being about 75 kilometres, and bordering on another territory with perhaps a 35 kilometre buffer zone. Wolf will fight to death to defend its young, its pack and its territory.

Wolves convey much with their bodies. If they are angry, they may stick their ears straight up and bare their teeth. A wolf who is suspicious pulls its ears back and squints. Fear is often shown by flattening the ears against the head. A wolf who wants to play dances and bows playfully. Wolf does not fight without reason, and usually will go out of its way to avoid fighting a pack mate. The pack is headed by a dominant female and male. They organize the pack to hunt deer, elk, and moose, and look for the very young or very old. The whole pack raises the young after the pups reach ten weeks. Before that, pups are fully dependent on Mom and Dad.

Wolf is a common Spirit Animal or Guardian Animal. Our Ancestors hunted down dens to capture pups that they could raise and use for hunting and for guarding the tribe. Even though there is a lot of animosity towards Wolf, she comes to us in real time or dream time, or by symbols, and delivers messages that we need to hear.

The Wolf howl may be telling you to defend your boundaries, or perhaps you need to create boundaries first.
Although Wolf is very loyal to the pack, she maintains her own identity. She may be guiding you to look at whether you are too dependent or submissive. Perhaps it is time to leave the pack and find your own territory.
Wolf is also about balance – in family because only one female usually bears young as this is the number the pack can support, and in life. Wolf hunts and feeds and plays. Do you play enough?
Wolf speaks with body language and vocals. She is about sending the right messages and communicating her needs. She asks if you are sending the message that is truth for you, or whether you submerge your needs. Do you need to change your style of communication?
Wolf is about confidence in themselves and in the pack. Where do you have confidence? Do you need to find a career or hobby where you are totally confident in what you do?
May you find your territory and a great pack to run with!

Judy@angelsandancestors.com

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Buddha Speaks:
A Story about Ghosts

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

This story is one that puzzles me. I am happy to receive any insights into the lesson intended in this writing.

Banishing a Ghost

The wife of a man became very sick. On her deathbed, she said to him, "I love you so much! I don't want to leave you, and I don't want you to betray me. Promise that you will not see any other women once I die, or I will come back to haunt you."

For several months after her death, the husband did avoid other women, but then he met someone and fell in love. On the night that they were engaged to be married, the ghost of his former wife appeared to him. She blamed him for not keeping the promise, and every night thereafter she returned to taunt him. The ghost would remind him of everything that transpired between him and his fiancee that day, even to the point of repeating, word for word, their conversations. It upset him so badly that he couldn't sleep at all.

Desperate, he sought the advice of a Zen master who lived near the village. "This is a very clever ghost," the master said upon hearing the man's story. "It is!" replied the man. "She remembers every detail of what I say and do. It knows everything!" The master smiled, "You should admire such a ghost, but I will tell you what to do the next time you see it."

That night the ghost returned. The man responded just as the master had advised. "You are such a wise ghost," the man said, "You know that I can hide nothing from you. If you can answer me one question, I will break off the engagement and remain single for the rest of my life." "Ask your question," the ghost replied. The man scooped up a handful of beans from a large bag on the floor, "Tell me exactly how many beans there are in my hand."

At that moment the ghost disappeared and never returned.

Judy@angelsandancestors.com See our May 2009 newsletter online.

Spirit Animals: Snow Leopard

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

"Their big eyes are so well adapted for low-light vision that snow leopards can hunt in near total darkness—but they can still go hungry when humans compete for their prey. Though trophy hunts for wild sheep and goats bring income to local communities, they can deplete food stocks for snow leopards."

Snow Leopard has the colour brown, for the Earth, black for the Night and mystery and magic, and white for the Day, and connection to Great Spirit. The reverence for Snow Leopard is displayed in the many legends around it.

In Nepal, in Dolpo, there are stories of great lamas frequently making trips to Tibet in the form of snow leopards, in search of rare medicinal herbs. Other folklore describes the snow leopard as a “fence” for the crops, meaning that in the absence of snow leopards livestock would be free ranging and thus would invade crop fields.

Dr. John Mock, in 2004, went to Pakistan, and investigated some of their myths. This is one around the Snow Leopard.

Pari are female supernatural denizens of the high mountains. People in Pakistan, Afghanistan, north India and throughout Central Asia are familiar with pari. The Wakhi ethnic population in northern Pakistan, China, Tajikistan and Afghanistan have their own word for pari: mergichan. The mergichan inhabit the mergich realm, which is the realm of the mountains and high pastures. It is a pure, even sacred realm, where the supernatural mountain spirits tend their wild flocks of blue sheep and ibex. The Wakhi word for snow leopard is pes. A pes is a mergich animal found only in mergich areas. It rarely interacts with people, is hard to see, powerful, beautiful, and potentially dangerous. As such, it exemplifies many of the qualities of the mergichan, and so is an appropriate animal shape for them to assume.

If Snow Leopard comes to you, then know it brings several messages, and all of them or some of them may be for you!

Living high in the mountains, this animal is at one with Great Spirit and Mother Earth. Leopard communes with the Wisdom Keepers (in Munay-Ki the mountains are Wisdom Keepers). She reminds you to open up your intuitive abilities.
Snow Leopard moves invisibly and so is able to stalk her prey, as elusive as her prey is. The message is clear – keep a very low profile as you pursue your goals to avoid drawing attention and competition to what you do.
Leopard is a hunter that attacks the neck from the back. As many belief systems say the soul enters and leaves through the back, it is believed that Leopard may consume souls. If Leopard comes to you, know that she is telling you that it is difficult for you to meet people face on, and to ensure your back is covered. She also cautions about moving up on someone else’s back. Balance in all things is required. If you do need to defeat someone, beware of taking on their “stuff”.
Leopard medicine is one that requires strong bodies – and quick action. This may lead to humans with quick, angry tempers. Leopard cautions that the angry energy must be released. If not released, it will settle into the body causing pain in the bones and limbs…arthritis may result.
May those of you with Leopard medicine find peace.

Judy@angelsandancestors.com See our May 2009 newsletter online.

Spirit Animals: Wolverine

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

The wolverine is known for its great ferocity and extraordinary strength. Indian mythology describes the wolverine as a trickster hero, a link between the material world and the spirit world. In ancient mythology the energy of a trickster is linked to the underworld where the secrets of creation live.

Baby wolverines are born blind and weigh less than one pound. This prompts all their other sensory organs to awaken quickly, their sense of smell, feeling and inner sight are heightened at an early age. Small yet insightful, the new born wolverine acknowledges and responds to all its intuitive senses from the moment of birth. They respond to life and the challenges it holds with clarity, focus and persistence giving them a deeper understanding of personal power. Those with this medicine should ask themselves if their personal power is serving them appropriately. Learning how to utilize personal power in a balanced way is one of the teachings the wolverine holds.

The wolverines crafty cunning nature coupled with their perseverance and focus keeps them aligned with the energies of creation. This alignment serves them in many ways. They know when to act, when to retreat, how to respond to any situation and how to become invisible. All of these abilities inherent in the wolverine are also inherent in those who hold this medicine. Wolverines are masters at shape shifting their reality to benefit them in some way and can teach us how to do the same. Shamanic studies is helpful for those who have this totem.

Wolverines are excellent scavengers although not the best hunters. They are very resourceful and know how to make do with whatever is available. They turn trash into treasure and teach us how to do the same. Alaskan natives consider the wolverine to by a symbol of the wilderness, a survivor of the elements. Its fur is commonly used for parka trim and hoods because of its durability. The guard hairs of the wolverine fur resist frost accumulation helping people survive in extreme cold weather.

Solitary creatures with tremendous physical endurance the wolverine can travel up to 40 miles a day in search of food. Because of their great strength and endurance wolverines have become the center of folklore, although its fierce reputation has been exaggerated. They rarely attack any predator larger than itself and only attack when food is needed. They show us how to go the distance and acquire that which we seek.

When this medicine is fully developed in humans the capability to survive in any situation is common. If under developed challenges regarding survival are common. Because the wolverine is a shape shifter the art of survival doesn't just represent the physical realm. It also indicates the challenges associated with mental clarity, emotional balance and spiritual understanding.

The wolverine is a master teacher and embodies a variety of skills. When it appears in your life it is asking you to take a serious look at your self and your life, change anything that does not serve and utilize your personal power for the good of self and others.

Judy@angelsandancestors.com See our May 2009 newsletter online.

Spirit Animals: The Beaver

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

I always find it fascinating when people discover beavers where none have been before. This is the case for the folks in the Detroit area. After 75 years without beavers, the Detroit River now has a beaver lodge, complete with beavers, within the city limits.

What I began to wonder was why, after all this time, Beaver wanted to return to the area. Was it because Beaver had a very large message for the Detroit citizens?

Beaver is about eating what is naturally in her area, and usually, only harvests trees no further than about thirty-six meters or forty yards from the edge of the water. She is about cleaning and conserving water. She is able to create wonderful gravel and wood sieves that bring only clean water into her pond (yes, there may be some pesticides yet much does get held by the gravel and sand). In fact if the water is quite dirty, Beaver may create several of these sieves upstream from her main pond area so that she only gets clean water for her kits (babies).

Beaver is unique in that she works at conserving the land and her energy. All is done with maximum efficiency and minimum energy, from how she creates her home, to how she cares for her young. She mates for life, and keeps her kits around her until they feel the need to leave. She tends the trees in a way that we do not understand. After cutting down the larger trees, she leaves an opening for the willow and poplar saplings to grow.

When Beaver appears, she is telling you that “busy as a beaver” is really about doing tasks that are productive, making each action count, and being conscious of the conservation of the land. She eats only the food that is good for her. She creates a carefully constructed, water tight, energy efficient house.

Look at your life.

• Do you recycle and conserve energy?
• Are you eating healthily?
• Are you using resources indiscriminately?
• Does your work produce something tangible?
• Or, does it produce something no longer required
• Or does it produce something unhealthy for the environment?
• Do you honour your family and have the patience to nurture it until they know they can leave?

May your work instincts follow that of Beaver!

The Ancestors Speak -
The Goddess Lakshmi

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

The Hindu Goddess, Lakshmi, is often called upon to increase our abundance and to give us the goals that we have been reaching for.

Within in two days, I received several emails from different friends, none of which knew the others, about the Goddess Lakshmi. Now, I have learned to pay attention when something comes to you over and over… especially if it is a Goddess! To me, this is an indication that Lakshmi wants to work with me. Since one of the Cosmic Laws is reciprocity, I know that Lakshmi expects me to do something, as well.

I find it fascinating that Lakshmi is the wife of the God, Lord Vishnu, and that this is the God responsible for creation. Lakshmi, by the way, provides him with all the wealth and abundance that Vishnu will need to maintain creation. So, in a sense, Lakshmi is responsible for creation which supports the Second Universal Law – All creation comes from the female.

I know that the four hands of Lakshmi represent the four directions as well as the four elements, and the four aspects of what happens in a person’s life – physical, symbolic, mythic, and energetic. Four is also about stability and being grounded. The life path number four is about organization, intelligence, and mechanical ability. It appears that Lakshmi has these in spades!

So what does the Goddess want with me and all of us? The Message seems to be about asking us to care take Creation as it is unfolding. The coins are at her feet, and are almost so insignificant that they are like ground cover. What she cradles to her is a plant, and she sits on a Lotus. Growing things, green things, are the most precious possession right now. To have green plants, we must care take our water, and allow it to be available to everyone, and not at the control of the corporations. We must also carefully collect seeds and nurture seedlings that have already started to grow, and not allow them to be unceremoniously bull dozed down for housing developments.

Gather some heritage seeds for growing this year as our Ancestors did.

Protection—
The Ancestors' Ways

by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

“Every summer, we hear that we need to wear hats and sun screen for protection from the summer sun. Police wear bullet proof vests and carry guns and stunners for protection. We ask our children to carry cell phones - for protection. If we walk into a place with bad vibes, we want to leave in a hurry because we don't feel protected. Protection then has many forms. Our Ancestors did not have all the inventions that we have. They relied on their spears and knives. As well, they created their protection energetically, either with the help of a Shaman or Elder, or through a ceremony. The energetic protection insulated the Ancestors from physical as well as spiritual (energetic) attacks. Learn how to create different forms of protection. We will work with chants, meditations, ceremony, and invocations. Join host Judith Hirst-Joyeux and discover a protection that works for you.” - From the invitation to the Feb 3 Angels And Ancestors Radio Show... now on Archive.

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One of my favourite indigenous chants reflects all the elements of the Earth, as well as the four directions. It may be repeated three times, each time increasing the volume and intensity.

• Earth and Air
• Water and Fire
• Give me Protection
• This I desire!
• Stone and Wind
• Flame and River
• Protection now
• please deliver!

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When I call in sacred space, one of the methods that I use is to call in the Archangels.

Call in Archangels

I call in the Archangels to come in and create sacred space around me in the four corners of this place…above me and below to allow in only the greatest and highest energy for my well being, and holding out all negative energy.

• I call in Archangel Michael
• I call in Archangel Gabriel
• I call in Archangel Raphael
• I call in Archangel Uriel
• I am grateful and it is.

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A protection rite that I teach my students in the StarTalker Program is called “Protection of The Three Spheres“. It is used by Pagans in many parts of the world—Celtic, Norse. . .

Here are the steps for the protection meditation. Notice as we do this that we ground with Mother Earth first and then create our protection.

PROTECTION OF THE THREE SPHERES

1. Set sacred space.
2. Breath deeply a couple of times to relax your shoulders… in through the nose, out through the mouth
3. Create a cross in the sole of your foot from the toes to the heel and from side to side.
4. Create this cross with the intention of anchoring to the Earth.
5. Pull out the seven cords from all of your chakras, while breathing in through your nose and out through the mouth
6. Cord one, two, etc
7. Slowly and deliberately send beams of light and the seven cords from your chakras down to mother Earth, to
   her central core energy.
   
8. See or feel a large sphere of energy – gold and white light – like a central sun. Plug into the energy – become one with it.
9. Take a deep breath.
10. Open your heart to love and to appreciation of the earth, yourself, all others and all levels of your oversoul.
11. Take a deep breath.
12. Exhale.
13. Open your crown chakra.
14. Take a deep breath.
15. Exhale.
16. Send a beam of light and energy from the middle of the brain to the highest level of oversoul that your body can stand.
17. Seek communication with all levels of your cosmic Christ consciousness.
18. See, feel, and know that there are large spheres of gold; white and violet are around you.
19. Plug-in to that energy.
20. Now as you see that energy began to visualize that energy moving around you.
21. Next see a white light bubble, 360° around you, approximately 12 feet out from your body. This is the white light of protection.
22. Now from the colors, pull down a pink light bubble that goes around to 360° above and below you, and is approximately 8 feet out.
23. The next color your pullout is violet or purple, and this bubble will be also be 360° around you above you and below you, and approximately 4 feet out from your body.
24. Set the intent that no one can penetrate the bubbles of the protection around you.
25. Sit in this protection and get the feel of it.
26. Notice how everything seems a little further away.
27. When you are ready began to release the protection, set the intent to release the energy.
28. The first color that you release is the violet bubble 4 feet out from your body.
29. Thank it and let it go
30. Now release the pink bubble that is approximately 8 feet out.
31. Thank it and let it go.
32. Finally, release, the white light bubble that is 360° around you.
33. Thank it and let it go.
34. Now, pull the chords up from Mother Earth and put them back in your chakras
35. Thank the Mother for her healing and grounding.
36. Let her go.
37. And when you are ready, come back to the now.

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I love attending the Crystals’ Light Workshop that my husband, Roger, teaches. He uses a wonderful invocation for protection.

“We invoke the spirits of light who work with us in our best and highest interest. Any entity not working in our best and highest interest must now leave, and is commanded to do so.

We invoke our current, past, and future spirit guides to work with us now. We invoke the Archangels Michael, Raphael, Uriel, Gabriel, and the Ascended Masters: Kwan Yin, Kuthumi, Lord Lanto, Ashtar, Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, Sananda, Serapis Bey, St. Germaine, and Sanat Kumara. We call upon Maitreya, Metatron, and Melchizedek to be here with us. We invoke the angels and the archangels of Crystals to be with us now.

We invoke all of these spirits to be here now for our best and highest interest.”

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I also recommend using protection oil. This oil is quite common and uses easily attained ingredients. It is Spanish in origin.

PROTECTION OIL

• 4 drops Basil
• 3 drops Geranium
• 2 drops Pine
• 1 drop Vetivert ---- grass grown in India, Haiti.. very popular for lovely smell..
• 1/8 cup of base oil- olive oil – pure virgin…

---If you have an altar or safe place, leave the oil sitting there to increase vibration…

All of the animals and birds and fish and even insects have a way to protect themselves as they make their journey through this world. I believe that all of us should use protection as we walk the Earth each day.

Sacred Prayer

by Alberto Villoldo

from his book
Mending the Past and Healing The Future With Soul Retrieval