Tag: journeying

Tribal Ways on Planet Earth

by 8hummingbirdway

I have long perceived tribalism as a sacred way of living.

Until very recently, my perception and understanding of tribal ways has largely been informed by my limited knowledge of Native American tribes. There is something about this way of life that tugs strongly on my soul.

In my early 20s I first came to feel that I was born in the wrong time; I still yearn for greater simplicity, even though it comes along with a harder life, and sometimes a shorter one. The richness to me of connection to nature and to each other, and of simplicity seems incalculable in comparison to our current path of what I would call Disconnection.

My deepest connection, even in childhood, has been to the Land and to Trees and to Water and to Music and to Loved Ones and to other simple aspects of life that I now understand connect me to “Spirit.”

My knowledge early in life was largely of this land, North America, and it’s history. When I looked back in time, I looked to homesteading and growing one’s own food, having access to nature, including plants and animals. A life like this is also more connected to the cycles of nature.

In my late 20s and 30s I researched and learned about Native American history, practices, and beliefs. What I learned aligned with my understanding of what is important and valueable in this life. And so when I looked to the past, I now had a broader view, which included the four directions, the four elements, ways of planting according to natural cycles, animal and plant spirits, and other sacred tribal ways.

My knowledge of Native American tribal ways also includes stories such as “Dances with Wolves,” The Education of Little Tree, and Return of the Bird Tribes. All of these stories bring me to tears. These tears are not unrelated to the tears I held back when I visited the Bulango Refugee Camp in Democratic Republic of Congo, where the refugees have been very recently ousted from their ancestral (tribal) lands, and are now reorienting themselves in a strange place with no connection to their longheld and sacred ways.

Another experience that informed my understanding of my own yearnings for deep connection was participating in and leading full moon gatherings for over 30 years, something I will share about another time. This practice brought to me a deeper awareness of natural cycles, and simple practices that align with gratitude, wisdom, compassion, and more.

The final aspect that connects me to tribal ways is my shamanic work, which includes journey circles and shamanic healing. I could write a great deal about this. For now, I will simply say that it is sacred work that originates with a tribal understanding of the soul. And I must include the fact that Ancestors, the Four Elements, as well as Animal Spirits and Plant Spirits, Great Spirit or Creator, and our Natural World and Cycles play significant roles in tribal ways of life and perception, in my work, and in my life.

My visit to Africa has me returning to the deepest inquiries of my soul with new information, a broader perspective, and some questions.

I have a great deal more to say regarding these matters.

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About my last post …and about me

by 8hummingbirdway

I reread my last post and it feels unbalanced. I’m not sure it’s expressing what I want to express. It took me a very long time to write and perhaps that should have been a clue.

Also – I have been told by a friend that the post before – that I wrote about my closest sister in age – was less than of the highest integrity. This friend always speaks his truth. We do not always agree on what truth exactly is, but I do take note of his words.

I made a small adjustment, but I’m not sure that it is enough. More review ahead.

I now see that I have not painted my far away sister in a kind light. And that I actually painted her in an unkind light. (I have removed this post.)

And I woke this morning with the fear that I am using this particular story, and possibly writing other posts, in a self-aggrandizing way.

Yesterday I discussed this with my kind and wise youngest sister, who mentioned the negative aspect of memoirs, which I tend to stay away from myself.

These family posts – are they not memoirs? Although there is a soul searching aspect to memoirs that I do appreciate. But one has to get it right. I don’t think I have gotten it right.

I have been attmepting to show myself. My imperfect and challenged self. But my family members cannot be used as fodder for this goal.

I have removed the post about my far away sister. I will have to look at all of my posts about family members more closely and take the appropriate action.

It’s not that I have a huge following. I don’t. But what am I doing here?

This blogging aspect came with my website. And I love to write. And if I claim to help others, it seems I should share myself in some way.

It’s my intent to share the contents of my soul.

My life, my past, the way it has formed me – are surely of my soul. But …there are sevral things at play here. I clearly have to sort them out.

It is and has been my intention to write with humility.

The first email that showed up when I got online this morning had this title Ego Death: Restore Your True Self-Identity. Ha ha thank you very much Creator, Universe, Source, Spirit, God/Goddess. I signed up for the class.

And thank you to my friend who holds truth. And to my youngest sister. I am extremely blessed to have people around me who call me out when I go astray.

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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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It was a soulful weekend

by 8hummingbirdway

I had a soulful time visiting my daughter in mid-October. She lives 3 hours away.

I always love my visits with her, but this time was different because F met me there. Until then our relationship consisted of phone and zoom conversations, and it felt important to meet. (see prior post about F here)

I’m so grateful my daughter made space for this meeting. F and I arrived on Thursday and I taught him to journey while everyone was at work. We worked outside in a couple of beautiful spots. F journeyed 4 times with increasing success on Thursday and Friday. (He still didn’t meet his power animal – though in the 4th journey he saw some distant owls who didn’t respond to him). In retrospect I think Owl is his power animal, but we shall see when we resume our work. We also shared a meal, went food shopping, and did a short hike on our own. We both felt that our friendship was cemented.

We also had 2 family campfires while F was there and had meals together with my daughter, her partner and my grown grandsons. F took his leave Friday night and continued his travels.

On Saturday I spent time with my daughter and her partner (the grandsons were off on adventures), I had tea with two old friends in the afternoon, and contributed to the making of dinner. I had especially wanted to see the quiet friend, and the other talkative one got invited by her. The 2 of us yapped it up, then I found a moment to offer soul retrieval to the quiet one and she is taking me up on it! I am so grateful. I have offered before. She is in need, and has been since I’ve known her. She is humble and gentle and true of heart.

I simply want to help. 

Being able to help feeds my soul.

I’m so grateful for the shamanic and practices I have learned which allow me to help.

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About F, my friend

by 8hummingbirdway

A loved one asked me in early August if I could journey for someone else, a longtime friend, who plans to end his life. I said yes, but that he would have to ask me himself, or be ok with it – that he should reach out to me. A couple of weeks later he did. I will call him F (for friend). I have been on a journey with F for about 2 months.

On our first call we spoke for an hour and a half about his life. He is currently driving around the country in his car on a “farewell/gratitude” tour, visiting those who have been important in his life. He plans to end his life in April 2024. He told me during that conversation that as a young child he asked his mother “Why did you bring me here?” He has never felt that this physical reality was his home. He has not aligned with others that feel like his people. He calls himself “relational” – meaning that he cares more for people and authenticity than for things or peripheral occurrences or what might be driving forces for others. He also has seen his mother and his aunt suffer from dementia in recent years, and he does not want to experience it. He does not have children to tether him or to look out for him in his aging years. He has no strong love for any particular place here on Earth to feed his spirit and to hold him.

As we spoke, we were very open and forthright and a friendship developed. I feel strongly aligned with F and I recognize him as a warrior, which is something I have found in myself and in others. Warriorship to me means that one has strong values and stands in their truth, stands FOR the truth as they see it, walking a path of authenticity that nobody can sway or influence. F is a loving, wise, openhearted man. My opinion is that this physical reality in which we live NEEDS warriors like him in the current time of confusion, division, corruption and deception. I expressed this to F, but he feels he has done his time and is ready to leave it behind.

I shared with him about the work I do and told him I thought soul retrieval might be helpful. He was open to the possibility.

On our second long call, F told me that he is thinking about “exiting” in December 2023 rather than April 2024 to avoid bringing darkness to the birthday month of a sibling. We spoke about patterns in his life and I found him to be unusually self-aware. Surprisingly to me, F does not believe in a soul, or that one’s core being sustains after death. This felt like a substantial obstacle to my being able to assist him. However, we set a time for a soul retrieval process.

I asked for chalnneled guidance from Sri Pune and was told that my working with F would be an opportunity to create a shift for him.

On a 3rd call we talked about his family of origin; he is close with some of his siblings and had a positive relationship with his mother. His relationship with his father was not close or supportive. He did have 3 significant men in his life that were positive role models.

I did a soul retrieval for F in late September and returned 2 soul parts to him very early one morning. A 2 year old holding onto a kitchen chair and a 4 year old sitting under a tree. He reported that he woke with a great deal of energy.

F’s journey took him to Long Island, and I felt moved to invite him, this close friend of a beloved one, to join me in a visit to my daughter’s home in CT in mid-October. He also felt that it would be positive to meet. The next part of the soul retrieval process was to teach him to journey, and doing it in person is always a delight. F was surprisingly open to it; he enjoyed the experience. We had dinners and campfires at night with my family. We became friends in the physical realm and our time together felt “soulful.”

Now he is on the road continuing his gratitude/farewell journey. Heading south toward warmth.

He keeps reminding me that he has not changed his mind.

I have to say that I understand F. I remember reading long ago that when the time came to leave this world, in some Native American tribes, the elders would simply walk over the hill to make the journey on. I am a few years older than F, but I am tethered by my beloved children, husband, grandchildren, stepchildren, my work helping others, and by my love of this earth, the woods, the ocean. I can, however, imagine a time when I will be ready to go.

F has no descendants to tether him, nor is he tethered to the land. He moved a great deal in his life, especially at an early age, and now he is on a long journey in his car, without an anchor. He has an estranged wife that he cares for, but she does not provide a reason to stay.

This warrior is a vibrant strong man of wisdom and love.

I am grateful for the opportunity to work with F.

I am somehow encouraged by the fact that F + I have developed a strong connection and genuine affection.

I am encouraged by my gut sense that it’s not his time yet.

I am hoping for him to make a new choice.

However, in all honesty, I am not attached to the outcome.

I know in my heart and soul that F WILL continue on after death. And I will check on him if he chooses that path to make sure he arrives in a place of wellbeing, love and light.

In the meantime, I am committed to doing the best that I can for F. I am pulling for him. I don’t have a sense that it’s his time. I feel we need him.

We will continue the soul retrieval process when he has a long stop later this month and in early November. There are integration journeys ahead (to align with his returned soul parts), releases to make, important questions to answer, and more.

I hope this work will be pivotal.

I hope that beloved others that F connects with on this gratitude/farewell journey of his will reach out with love and show him they ARE his people, that there are pockets of love in this world, and cause him to want to stay here in the physical realm with their support.

I envision him finding solace and purpose.

Of course this is not mine to decide.

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The Shaman vs the Shamanic Practitioner

Featured by 8hummingbirdway

In a tribal paradigm, the shaman (a word for the tribal healer in Siberia) is responsible for the well-being of the tribe as a whole, and also for the well-being of each member of the tribe. He or she can sustain physical well-being by setting a bone, healing a wound, relieving a fever, and so on. S/he can deliver a child into the world if something goes awry. This healer also journeys to sustain a deeper well being for tribe members – using soul retrieval, extraction, and other techniques, such as assisting others to connect with helping spirits who support the individual’s soul journey in this life. Upon death, the tribe’s healer ensures that the soul crosses over to the next world. The shaman also brings forth information – such as when and where to hunt, when to plant, and when to move to a seasonal home.

A shamanic practitioner is not a member of a tribe, and is not raised in a tribal environment. S/he studies and serves as a healer of the soul by journeying to helping spirits on behalf of others in a non-tribal culture, through the ancient practices of soul retrieval, clearing/extraction, and assisting the soul to cross over after death. A shamanic practitioner also teaches and assists others to journey to access knowledge and support in their own life journey.

A shamanic practitioner may also assist an individual to connect with and facilitate healing for their ancesters, navigate challenges with the spiritual world, and clear unsettling energies from one’s home or work space.

Annie is also a channeler of Lei Lei.

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Welcome

Featured by 8hummingbirdway

My name is Annie.

It’s my desire to assist others – the ancient way, through shamanic healing …and also through channeling Lei Lei.

I believe that we all came here for a reason, and that in conforming to the expectations of the world around us, many of us lost sight of our reason for being, of our true selves.

We can recover.

In truth – the answers, the healing, and the wisdom lie within each of us.

Through shamanic healing, it’s possible to return to yourself, to love yourself, to know who you truly are and to rise up and step back onto the path you came here to walk.

Recieving channeled information and guidance can bring an immediate response to your questions, as well as ease, and a deeper understanding of your soul’s purpose. Channeled healing is focused on soul healing and has reverberations that impact all aspects of your being. Explore what Lei Lie offers.

At this time, we are all needed to take our place at the helm of our lives – to transform our reality to one that we can all share, in balance and love.

It would be an honor to help you reach this goal.

Private sessions for channeled healing + guidance and/or shamnaic healing are offered in person and remotely by phone, video conference, or email. Contact Annie to book a session, host a workshop, for sliding scale rates or to discuss barter arrangements.