Author: 8hummingbirdway

I'm Annie Breglia and I'm on a mission to help heal the planet one soul at a time. The ancient way. The way of the shaman.

Last Thanksgiving?

by 8hummingbirdway

I love Thanksgiving. It has long been my favorite holiday because of its simplicity, the blessing of calling people together, the simple activity of cooking together and sharing a meal, and the act of giving thanks together. Passover, which I learned to enjoy in my 30s, is a close second in its optimism and its celebration of freedom. It is also a lovely gathering of family and others around a specific meal, but …I don’t feel access to it in the same way. I wasn’t born into the tradition. We had a close friend nearby who would preside at our Passover table for several years in another state, but I rarely have a seat at the Passover table these days.

On Thanksgiving, I remember Grandma and Grandpa, aunts and uncles and cousins gathering in the late morning either at our home or my cousins. I remember the dates rolled in sugar that my father’s sister had on her table before the meal. I played with my cousins, Stephen, Kathy and Beth and my sister May. I soaked up some grandparent love and attention. We passed the time in these most pleasurable ways as Mom and Delphine focused on the extensive preparation of our elaborate and standard meal for a crowd on her fine china. This is one of the occasions where everyone would be called together to the living room, while we were waiting for the meal, so Dad could show off by standing on his hands and playing “Little Brown Jug” on his long abandoned violin. I remember Uncle Billy, a pastor, saying a Thanksgiving grace as the food steamed on the table before us and we impatiently waited to EAT!

As a parent, I took the lead in creating the holiday. Due to proximity, we usually had close friends rather than family join us, although sometimes my brother or sister would join the table. (I remember the year my younger daughter at the age of two absolutely would not keep her clothes on and she stood on her chair naked in the picture of us all at the table.) Although my children didn’t have cousins present, they had close friends. We did not possess fine china, but that was inconsequential to me. When we all sat down at the table, rather than listening to a prayer, we each took a turn giving thanks for the blessings of our lives before eating.

This is the tradition that my children were raised with and continue to facilitate, although an evolution has occurred. Now the cooking is shared by the generations. I still get the turkey into the oven and bring pie, but my son and daughter play their role, and my husband even made a pie this year. And now we start eating while the gratitude is shared around the table. I’m ok with that. I’m grateful to simply be there.

I told my children as they grew up that I wanted them to always come home for Thanksgiving when they grew up. The in-laws could have Christmas. This was successful for a long time, but now my older daughter is 3 hours away. She, her partner and my grown grandsons require flexibility away from “Over the River and Through the Woods to Grandmother’s House We Go.” So far my son has always come home, but the writing is on the wall, and I will have to travel in the future if I want to join a family table that includes my descendants. This morning I will go to my younger daughter’s house, about 30 minutes away, where she and her fiance will host the meal. My husband and stepson will be joining us (last year my ex-husband even came, which was nice).

My daughter and her husband-to-be will be moving to my son’s community next Summer, 8 hours away.

I have decided, while writing these words, that I will bring my fiddle to the Thanksgiving gathering today. I will call the memory of my father forth in words and by playing in my imperfect way “Little Brown Jug” before the meal. (I have only been “playing” for 2-3 months and it’s a very challenging instrument, I’ve discovered.) This is one small way I will feel that I can contribute to the passing on of the thread of family love …for my children and theirs.

There’s a plan for some of them to be here for Thanksgiving next year, but …I am unsure whether that will unfold. The future is uncertain. And I suppose I am letting go of this necessity to be at the table with them on this specific day. My oldest is 42, and so I have had a good long run.

Perhaps in the future we will join my brother-in-law’s table, although his wife has a large family. My husband is not inclined to travel hours to my family’s Thanksgiving. My beloved stepson and stepdaughter might be at our table, and possibly other friends – or we at theirs. I’m not ready to join the meal at the senior center, but I can see the blessing of simply arriving and chatting and sitting down to eat with friends. I do embrace change.

Expressing gratitude in community seems a blessed event to me. I am coming to terms with the changing shape of things. However I am not ready to stop. Perhaps I will try to incorporate giving thanks into some other gatherings. Or bring it to the table at home.

And …if my youngest daughter proves true in her intention to bring a couple of new humans into the world, I hope to be traveling to their table at this time of year in the future. Maybe by then I will be able to lure my husband too.

Dad

by 8hummingbirdway

I recently told my husband that my dad took me and my best friend to a couple of rock concerts in the early 70s. As well as the Rolling Stones, he took me to see Cream.

How generous of him! To sit and listen to that loud rock music with me!

This was not what other friends’ dads were doing.

When I was about 7 or 8, Mom petitioned for a weekly day of relative peace and quiet. Dad, who also worked all week in the city, took the ‘big’ kids out on Saturdays, mostly lunch and bowling or golfing. We held up other golfing groups, and I’m sure navigating us (all under 10) was a challenge, but I don’t recall him losing his patience.

When I was younger, I remember him giving me rides on his back and playing math games with me. He was fun, and I couldn’t wait for him to come home from work every day. I still love numbers.

I don’t know if I ever thanked Dad for the concerts.

I will be thanking him this morning at my altar, for all of it.

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The blessings of channeling

by 8hummingbirdway

My recent reconnection with Norlen as a result of her channeling has brought me significant healing and expansion. I ask questions of Sri Pune, by Zoom often, about relationships, limitations, how to approach challenges, cognitive abilities, etc.

A few weeks ago I asked for help with feeling ungrounded and for a “frequency adjustment.” A shift occurred within me that I can’t fully explain. I feel more settled, more balanced, more alive, more connected.

Last week they started the conversation! They offered to release something within me that has been buried, and said joy would follow. I said yes! Since then I’ve had some emotional ups and downs, some positive memories, digestive shifts, and some more personal things have occurred.

Norlen is still available for healing and guidance/information (for self or others – although they will not cross others’ lines, meaning that the person in question has to want the help).

If interested, don’t hesitate. You aren’t imposing, but helping Norlen on her path.

My cousin who is working with Norlen is more confident and happy and at ease. A friend has been to many psychics and channelers and says she is “the real deal.” Others are connecting with her too. I make an email introduction and then people contact Norlen directly, so it’s private. And free at this time.

As for me, I am floating through my days, and yet my feet are on the ground and I am not missing anything critical.

Contact me if you want to explore this avenue for yourself.

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Eunice

by 8hummingbirdway

Eunice is my father’s cousin, and my oldest relative. My sister suggested I connect with her a few years ago, just before I retired, and I did. What I delight! She was wise and open-hearted and liked to write, so we did write. She was 90 or 91 at the time. We wrote about the past – her brother’s closeness with my father, her upbringing, a visit to Maine with my Grandma when I remember meeting her parents, her life in the Midwest, and their move there facilitating the meeting of my parents. We also talked about the present – my children, her husband Don, his poetry, and her continuing sporadic work in counseling others. She pointed me to a decision-making process that helped me decide to retire earlier than planned.

I do recall my childhood being peppered with references to Eunice, but somehow she never entered my life or my awareness.

A few months after connecting with Eunice, during Covid, I was able to visit her in the Boston area that at her assisted living facility – outside with masks on. I had the pleasure of meeting Don briefly when he handed Eunice over to me at the door. He was charming in that moment. More importantly – he was the love of Eunice’s life.

Eunice and I had a good visit, discussing her mother and grandfather (my beloved grandmother Bessie’s sister and father), along with other family members. I shared with her photos of my oldest daughter and my grandson – who carry a resemblance to Bessie and her father. There was no shortage of animated conversation. She tired before our allotted hour was over, and I helped her back to the entrance and a caregiver’s support. I remember being elated to have simply been in her presence. I had been the oldest in my immediate family for well over 10 years and it was a great blessing to be in the presence of an elder …and to hear family talk and details from her …and simply to connect in person.

That day I continued my journey back in time by finding Bessie and Forrest’s (Grandpa’s) apartment building a few miles away, where my memories of life began. I lived across the hall from them briefly in that building, then lived a few miles away. I have treasured memories of playing games with Grandma, brushing her long hair, and also walking to the playground with Grandpa, which was still there. I hadn’t been there for over 50 years!

A few months after that visit, Eunice had a stroke, then Don died. Shortly afterward, Eunice moved into the nursing home where she now resides.

In September of this year, I was in Massachusetts and had set up a time to visit Eunice, 2+1/2 years after she entered the nursing home. I had not been allowed to visit in the interim due to Covid restrictions, but we had emailed sporadically – mostly sharing youtube videos of lectures by wise people. We had had some Zoom meetings to check in and connect – mostly we would talk for a bit and then Eunice liked to be quiet together.

Communicating was challenging during this visit. Her mental faculties are very much in place, but I felt her walls were up. I can understand that, and I cannot imagine living in a nursing home.  She said the people there perceive her as difficult, which was surprising to hear. She didn’t elaborate on that. She seemed very protective, but she is still engaged in life – has made a couple of friends there and has developed a relationship with at least one of the aides.

I did get to massage her shoulders and neck a bit, which was important to me because she had spoken about lack of touch. She was resistant though, and said “oh – you thought I meant physical touch” – so … I was uncertain. But I came and I was present with her in the best way I could be.

I remember now that Eunice really enjoyed the massage at the base of her skull, so I guess there was some value for her in my touch. I was unsure how much pressure to use because I had hurt her arm when helping her reposition when I first arrived. I sustained a fairly gentle touch and that seemed to work out.

I remember my mother-in-law was grateful for touch and seemed to like me to sing to her. I sang to Eunice too and she did like that. There are things I wish I had said and done as I look back on this visit.

I’m reminded now of my last visit with my Grandma Bessie. It was in the hospital, and she had cancer. I was in my early 20’s and my father brought me. I don’t recall whether he told me that she was dying. I think now that maybe Grandma asked for me. I have often wished that I had simply held her hand and said I love her. Instead I just remember feeling awkward. And that was the last time I saw her.

I’m glad I went to visit Eunice. I made it a priority and overcame some obstacles that day to get there.

A nursing home visit is rarely satisfying in my experience. I especially don’t like leaving anyone there when I go home. Not my ex-husband’s stepfather, not my mother-in-law or my mother, and not Eunice. It’s just not home and everyone knows it. And not a lot of people visit. (I worked in 2 nursing homes in my youth.) I’m comfortable with death, but not with nursing homes.

I’m glad I was able to be there and be present with Eunice. However, I haven’t emailed since our visit in September.

I know she is just marking time, waiting to rejoin Don; she has said this repeatedly. I also know that God is her constant companion, and this helps me.

I saw yesterday that Eunice sent me a video. I’ll have to watch at least some of it and respond.

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Decision making

by 8hummingbirdway

Last week I had a session with a friend/client who had a decision to make about how to move forward in her career. She had a couple of exciting options and yet she felt paralyzed in moving forward.

She had worked with me before and knew how to journey. We talked for a while, discussing the beneficial aspects and challenges of each choice, and then she journeyed to ask what attitude or belief was preventing her from moving forward with her decision. She got an answer. When she went home, she began a process to release the attitude or belief. I also gave her some additional homework – 3 other journeys to do on her own.

She has the option of having a 2nd session with me – or of completing the release process on her own. (I am available to discuss her progress as well and we have talked since.)

I have thought several times in the past week that this process might be helpful to others in sorting out life’s pathways, It’s a process my teacher taught us as part of Soul Retrieval, and I have used it personally myself in overcoming obstacles. This is the first time I used it for another person outside of the SR process and it is a big success so far. My friend is delighted!

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Can we be like drops of water …

by 8hummingbirdway

Last month my husband and I went to a concert in Ithaca. We arrived early and went on a short hike at Buttermilk Falls State Park. It was beautiful. I’ve missed hiking since we seem to have turned to bike riding (also fun!). We walked along a stream that meandered through rock that had been worn away by the stream over many lifetimes.

A beloved song came to me, one that I learned in my 20s – a song written by Meg Christian and Holly Near – “The Rock Will Wear Away.”

Here are the words: “Can we be like drops of water, falling on the stone. Splashing, breaking, dispersing in air, weaker than the stone by far, but be aware that, as time goes by, the rock will wear away. And the water comes again.”

I started to sing it, this song of my soul that comes to me now and then. I love the truth it tells, of the water impacting stone. I saw the evidence of this all around me on the hike. I sang the song and videoed the water and the rock walls a few times.

It was a frivolous moment, and maybe part of me knew that I would share it in this way. My voice is imperfect and falters a couple of times. But I AM a singer – of lullabies and love songs, songs to the water and so on …and since I am to write from the contents of my soul, I guess this is the thing to do. So I’m sharing it here.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zu4JPyjjbjI

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Help is available

by 8hummingbirdway

I want to say how deeply working with Norlen, my channeling friend, has impacted me. I am moving forward in alignment with my soul more quickly than I could have imagined through asking questions and receiving channeled answers from Sri Pune. Aligning with my soul was not even a conscious goal a month ago. Now I pray for it every morning, giving thanks for the movement that has already occurred. The answer to one question often leads to another. I am coming to know weekly how great this gift is.

Help is available to you as well. If you reach out to me, I will send you + Norlen a joint email, allowing you to follow up with a private question for her to ask Sri Pune. She will send the answer to you. If you ask, she will video the answer to your first question and send it along. Although she is a little shy about this and it takes some time to upload the video, she is willing. The experience of seeing the energetic and physical change when Norlen turns her being over to Sri Pune AND of having Sri Pune answer your personal question for you is powerful and deeply impactful.

And then you may have another question. A conversation of this sort is just amazing.

Norlen and I are on a similar path. We share the goal of helping and healing our fellow humans. Every time we have the opportunity to help, we experience blessing and happiness. This is why we were born. We ask you to make use of us. We have both worked to find balance, to come to a place of wellbeing in our lives, and to land in a place where we can provide relief, self-love, ease and blessings to others.

This is our offering toward a shared vision of a world of love, kindness, peace, harmony, and delight for all of humanity.

I know Norlen will have a website soon and hopes to leave behind the job that provides her living expenses. This means her offerings will not always be free of charge as they are now.

This message has been approved by Norlen.

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Leader

by 8hummingbirdway

Somehow, by offering journey circles, I have become a leader for others. They look to me for guidance and answers. I feel honored by this. In truth, sometimes I know the answer, and sometimes I know no more than they do. As far as being a leader, I feel no different. I don’t put myself above them in any way. Yet I know the blessings of the shamanic path and I have taken on a responsibility in offering the journey circle. I do my best to answer questions that arise. Sometimes the truest answer is “I don’t know.” 

Three of the attendees have had a hard time journeying to their power animals or spirit teachers in our current circle. I know some reasons. We tend to be overly cerebral, it’s hard to simply let go and “allow.” (This was me at the start of my path to shamanic knowledge and practice. It took me 5 times to meet my power animal). Other reasons are it’s hard to learn to “see” in non-ordinary reality (this is also me – I have come to understand that I get glimpses of images, not a sustained visual experience. And I have learned to trust my perceptions.) 

There are unfamiliar beings that show up as helping spirits. Is COLOR a spirit teacher? Possibly. I worked with someone whose spirit teacher showed up as a flash of light and she recognized him.

Lack of recognition can be another reason. One woman found herself walking down a road immediately in our first session and said “nothing happened, ” giving up because her entry to “non-ordinary reality” was not as she expected from my guidance. 

Another woman has shared that each time she journeys, she arrives at a place that was important to her and her deceased husband. I don’t think I did a good job of helping her “tease that out” and move forward …or figure out why she was in that place. She has missed the last 2 sessions. Sigh. It’s a lot to respond to a group of people with various experiences and questions when there’s a time limit on the room and some topics are definitely private.

Fear or uncertainty can be another reason for delayed success. 

For some it is so easy and immediate. 

I don’t know all the answers. I do know that I’ve always had success teaching others to journey when working one on one. I do know that my teacher taught us by having us lie down on mats covered with blankets. We have space and I have mats, but everyone stays in their chair in this circle. And for most people it works.

There may also be a group dynamic that impacts some people in a way that I have to understand and hopefully conquer or work with.

I have limited power despite my leadership. (Duh!)

One man had success in this journey circle that has never succeeded before! (Can I take credit? Probably not.)

It’s a lot to sort out, and I learn from each person how to be better at helping others.

I am grateful to have the trust of the group members.

I am grateful for the opportunity to learn and to help others.

I am grateful to the local senior center for having space and time for this endeavor.

I wouldn’t trade this opportunity and experience for the world.

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Kiss the Moment

by 8hummingbirdway

A friend sent me a post from Frank Ostaseski which brought forth delight. He writes about how he introduced the topic of mindfulness to several classes of 8th graders in a Catholic school. The title of his post is “Kiss the Moment” and here is an excerpt …

“Today, I would like to teach you how to kiss really well.” The normally apathetic eighth-graders lifted their heads and their eyes got wide as saucers. The teacher in the back of the room looked a bit alarmed and began to clear his throat to get my attention.

I continued, “When you’re kissing somebody you want to be there for the experience. You don’t want the other person looking out the window. You don’t want to be checking your phone for texts.”

“A kiss is an intimate act. At its best, it engages all of your senses. You want to be able to see, hear, smell, taste and touch in ways that are vivid, fresh and alive. Ideally you want to feel your heart fully and observe your mind with curiosity. It’s unlikely you will be able to open to these experiences if you haven’t cultivated the habit of attention. We have to learn to kiss the moment.”

For continued delight, read the entire post at the link below:

Frank Ostaseski’s primary mission is related to death and dying. If you seek support and wisdom in this realm, you may want to review some of his other writings through this link as well.

Frank Ostaseski

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