November
26, 2000
Workshops
in Israel, scheduled for March 2001, and co-sponsored
by TendingSacredCircles, have
been postponed due to the current difficulties
in Israel. We will be inviting people to use this
time, across the world, for focusing on peace
in the Middle East. We invite everyone to send
healing prayers to the Middle East.
--Carol Proudfoot-Edgar
March
30, 2001
On
the evening of the Equinox, ten men gathered to
send prayers and healing energy to the peoples
and lands of Israel and Palestine. First we journeyed
as a spirit canoe or giant bird, flying to Jerusalem
to see what the Spirits wanted to show us. Our
journeys emotionally grabbed us and left us troubled.
Amidst the beauty of the land and the dreams of
its peoples, we saw separation and hate and disillusionment.
We returned confused and demoralized. From next
door, we heard the rising anger of a father and
the crying of his son. The neighbor's troubles
punctuated our journeys, and
reminded us that what we were working with lives
in all of us.
After hearing all the journeys, we wondered whether
we even knew what to pray for.Thus our second
journey asking Spirit to guide us in our response
- to inform us as to why we were gathered. Again
our journeys were diverse. Some saw the need for
an extraction of hate, "yet it would take
the size of a tornado". Others saw the darkness/the
misunderstanding/the suspicion being drawn into
a vortex - swallowed by the Earth. Some saw the
need for
re-connection to the earth - connection to the
land beyond collecting stones to throw. The last
member to share offered the following, which seemed
to hold both the sorrow and the hope of renewal.
"I open my minds eye, and this is what I'm
shown. Troops and armored vehicles crisscross
the deserts of the Middle East. War planes crisscross
the sky. The drumbeat of the death machine is
relentless.
Ancient monuments stand as reminders of what most
of us have forgotten. I see the pyramids, the
temples of the Nile, Babylon and Ur, Petra, Catal,
Huyuk. Even in these places the world is mostly
lifeless - lots of sand, few trees or plants,
almost no animals except domesticated ones. The
manmade world dominates - buildings and machines.
Nature is in retreat.
I return to Ein Gedi, a beautiful oasis on the
shores of the Dead Sea where lush plants grow
amidst waterfalls in deep canyons. Here the wildlife
of Biblical times has been reintroduced. They
come now as teachers. They show
the qualities that have enabled them to survive
and thrive in a harsh world, and which can help
humans to achieve the elusive gift of peace. The
leopard tells of leadership, the hawk of vision,
and the ibex (a goat-like antelope) of agility.
Their message is bright and strong. It transcends
discouragement. It is about BEING the answer,
BEING the peace, BEING the oasis, carrying it
in our hearts. Beyond hatred, beyond revenge,
beyond the words which so quickly
divide us. Using sound, movement, imagery to unite.
Action, not reaction. The passion of compassion.
In our troubled world, there are many oases. As
we nurture these places and learn of each other
we weave pathways of green
and life returns to the desert." - Jim Berenholtz,
3/21/01
Jim's journey of an oasis scattered our despair
and we sent the message of the leopard, hawk and
ibex to the peoples of Israel and Palestine through
song. Together we sang, HEE-nay ma-TOV, a traditional
Hebrew song. We sang in the original Hebrew and
then in the translated Arabic: "Sha-hi du,
Sha hi du ma al ta fa". As we alternated
languages, the meaning of the song took hold:
"Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren
to sit together."
We closed the evening by watching a slide show
that highlighted the diverse beauty of the peoples
and lands of Israel and Palestine.
Lanz Lowen
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March
16, 2001
March 20 Ceremony in Israel from Ziva Garbi
In
March 20 we are planing to make a "pre -
equinox" ceremony in which we'll celebrate
the conjunction of the opposites and to reach
thebalance and the harmony as without so within.
In my journey I saw a real ritual of marriage
between the opposites...Our circle decided, with
much excitement, to do a real marriage ritual.
It will be a long ritual because we are planing
to make marriage between several opposites. Now
we are working on bringing this idea into practice.
Part of the ceremony will be healing for Israel,
in which we'll sow seeds of peace. In this festival
of fertility and birth we'll send our prayers
for rebirth of peace here in this area.
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February
18, 2001
Lori Levine, Tucson Circle
The
Tucson circle, with some visiting friends, did
some journey/healing work for Israel February
11th. There was a strong sense of greater forces
at work here, a bigger picture difficult to
see, but that these forces were at work not
only in Israel, but other situations and even
personally. As a large family of Bears circle
and enlighten Israel the message is clear: A
fierceness and gentleness is needed to come
to a place of peace. We are all connected, so
embrace ways to spread hope and love; art, drumming,
singing, dancing, praying. When someone's beat
is different from yours, it is hard work to
keep your vibrations flowing. What is required
is to flexible and fluid, to get out of the
head and into the heart. Listen to differences,
to the elements and to the earth and let your
heart expand. As the heart gets bigger and bigger
the emanations are of connection and knowing
we are all one. We will continue to send healing
energy as we think of our family in Israel and
Palestine.
Love,
Lori Levine
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February
13, 2001
from Lanz Lowen, Oakland CA
Dear
Brothers,
On the Equinox, March 20th, a group of men are
gathering to send prayers and healing energy
to the peoples and land of the Middle East.
We would like you to join us.
Some of us had originally planned to participate
in a shamanic gathering to be held in Israel
in late March, but given the recent deterioration
in the peace process, this group is now calling
on circles all over the world to take time to
hold this part of the world in their hearts.
In subsequent journeys, a few of us have been
told that there is need for men to gather
with other men; that we have work to do; that
the men of Israel and Palestine need our support.
The Equinox is a time of honoring opposites,
the beauty of the whole, the dance of discovering
balance. This is an opportune time for us to
hold another part of the world close to us,
to recognize our connections, to call forth
the powers and wisdom that can bring healing
and wholeness to all of us.
On the Equinox, we plan:
1. To journey as a group to the Holy Lands -
to taste the beauty and spirit of this land,
to feel what is in our Israeli and Palestinian
brothers' hearts, to witness their fears and
sorrows, to hold with them their hopes and aspirations.
2. To work shamanically and as a circle with
what this brings up in ourselves. How do we
as men become more whole How do we as men heal
those parts of ourselves that have been wounded
or have wounded others? How do we as men step
into our destiny - to learn to hold up the sky?
3. To ceremonially drum and sing our love, our
healing energy, and our prayers to the peoples
and lands of the Middle East.
We will gather on Tuesday, March 20th at 6 p.m.
at my house in the Oakland Hills. A light dinner
will be provided. At 7 p.m, we will circle and
begin our work (indoors). Weather permitting,
we will hold our concluding ceremony
outdoors on the large deck behind my house.
Feel free to forward this message on to other
men you know who are interested in shamanism
and might join us in this healing work.
I look forward to circling with you. Blessings,
Lanz Lowen
LrLion@aol.com
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February
1, 2001
This is from Jean-Marc in France, jean-marc.pouchelon@wanadoo.fr
Dear
Carol,
I just come back from a journey with my PA to
see what we could do for Israel and Palestine.
Strangely we journeyed my PA and me to Jerusalem
as crusaders did it some centuries ago : beginning
in Paris, crossing north of Italy, Yugo-slavia,
Istambul and getting down to Jerusalem. There,
we met the town guardian spirit who is a tiger.
I asked him what drumming circles could do to
help him to bring peace in this region. In response
he drew a Reiki symbol on the earth with his
paw ( The one which amplify energy )
I
understood ( for I am a Reiki practitian ) that
we have to send energy to this land ( Reiki
/ prayers / drummings ...) being aware that
its guardian spirit will use this energy to
bring peace between peoples
On
the 5th of February at 20.00 ( Paris hour )
our drumming circle will send energy for this
land. I think that all around the world, drumming
circles but also individuals would have to do
so.
We
will also send energy for the victims of earth
quackes in Salvador and India
Love and blessings Jean-Marc
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January
31, 2001
The Tucson Bear Sisters
The
Tucson Bear Sisters have drummed and journeyed
several times in hopes of sending healing energy
to the Israeli/Palistinian conflict. Our drumming
seems to have sent strong energy to the areas
of conflict. What I mean by that is during the
drumming we all sensed Sprit being there and
available and compassionate. I saw that there
was strong energy available for warriors whose
mission is peace and compromise. There is a
sense that all involved need to look at the
entire situation in a new way. Seeing it from
the same points of view is an obstacle that
cannot be overcome, as all have valid problems,
worries, and needs. If a new view point could
be established it would not only open up peace
in Israel/Palistine, but could help many others
in the world today. I saw that healing work
by those inside Israel and by those outside
the land itself is laying the fertile ground
for peace in the future.
Much
love, Lori Levine
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January
29, 2001
from Pat O'Malley, Chicago
Middle
East Healing Ceremony
The following is the Ceremony Of Light and
Healing that the Chicago Healing Circle has
been given for Israel and the Middle East. This
ceremony will take place as soon we receive
the dirt from Ziva. We will probably hold this
ceremony outdoors - perhaps at the Farm - so
dress warmly.
Our intention was "What can we do to support
the healing and Light in the Middle East?"
Our ceremony begins with a central blazing fire.
This fire represents the Great Central Sun and
its purpose is for purification and healing.
Our Circle gathers around this fire and brings
to it some dirt that has come from the Middle
East.( Patty O has contacted Ziva Garbi for
this dirt). The dirt represents the Middle East;
the grieving Earth that has been holding all
the pain of conflict and separation for millennia.
Our circle will clap our hands over this earth
(dirt) to raise its energy, and bring as much
of its beingness into our gathering, then we
will throw the dirt into the fire, as a form
of purification - a release from the pain, suffering,
derision, violence and chaos. ( Our journeys
indicated that much of that energy is present
in the land itself - and is passed on energetically
from generation to generation. It showed itself
as a black "cloud" swirling over the
land. )
We, next gather in a circle around a single
feather - that shows itself to one of us and
offers itself as sacrifice for this ceremony.
Each woman in our circle holds another feather
tied with a pink (symbolizing love) ribbon (Laura
offered to get the ribbons). We circle around
the central feather holding our ribboned feathers
and gathering Love & Peace- sweeping that
energy into the center. We continue to do this
gathering of Peace & Love until all the
energy has been gathered and absorbed into the
single center feather. Then, as a symbol of
the Phoenix - the bird which rises from the
ashes - the central feather is sacrificed and
burned in the fire.
After this purification and redefinition of
the energy - we now proceed with opening the
energy to accept a flow of peace and love. This
is done by placing a heart in the center of
our circle. Around this heart lies three symbols
of the three religions that share the land in
the Middle East. A symbol for Christianity,
a symbol for Judaism, and a symbol for Islam
( Renee will bring these symbols). This is done
as a way of allowing the flow of energy to crack
open the hard shell of "possession"
and ownership that is present and is seen as
the parting of the seas - a pathway to the Sacred
places- so that all my worship and honor their
traditions in peace and harmony with all others.
There is enough for all !
As we close our ceremony , we will write our
prayers on paper and throw them into the fire,
so that the rising smoke will carry our prayers
to the wind and finally to the Guardians of
the Land in the Middle East.
We will honor the mothers of the Middle East
by sending our words of encouragement, support
and love to Ziva Garbi so that she may share
it with her circle of women (Ziva's e-mail address
is drorg.@actcom.co.il)
And we will honor the fathers of the Middle
East by sending our Peace Prayers to Yasser
Arafat through James Twyman as he travels to
the Middle East by writing a prayer for peace
at www.emissaryoflight.com
With these things we honor and are grateful
to the spirits and beings who have helped us
and guided us toward a more peaceful existence
for all on Earth.
Our next meeting will be on February 25 - Sunday
at 10 am at Catherine Joseph's' home. She lives
at 18628 Palmer Circle in Homewood. Her phone
number is 647-0378.
with many blessings
In spirit,
Pat O'Malley
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January 25, 2001
from Ziva Garvi, Israel
January
24, 2001
Dear Sisters and Brothers !
I
want to thank all of you for the prayers for peace,
the drumming, the journeys and the shamanic healing
that you are doing for us in Israel and for the
people here in the Middle East. Yes, the strand
of the giant web that is encircling the world
is broken here in our area; there are injuries
and it needs healing. Thank you my friends over
the seas and in other lands, for your healing
work. I can feel it comes from your hearts and
it enters our hearts.
I
have just returned back home after three days
near the Sea of Galilee where I gave a workshop
to teenagers in a kibbutz. The children brought
joy to my heart on these days of tension before
the election here in Israel which will take place
on February 6. The workshop was in a big room
with wide windows through which you can see the
Sea of Galilee and the mountains which surround
it. It was painful to see that the Sea is so dry
and you can walk on ... the earth instead of "walking
on water".
On
Monday clouds covered the sky and rain began to
fall. When I finished the work, I went to the
shore and watched the upper water, joining the
lower water, of the Sea of Galilee. I could feel
the bottom of the lake and how it drank the drops
of the rain ... every drop of rain is so precious
here. When the rain began to be heavy, I came
back to my car and sat there for a while. The
drops of the rain fell on the windows with a monotonous
sound like a drum ... the beats of the drops took
me on a journey. My attention and intention in
this journey was to meet a Power Animal for the
Middle East.
I
was taken to Oracle, Arizona ... and there I found
myself walking on the Global Map that we made
last spring on the sands. My feet took me through
Africa to the Middle East and there I sat down.
After a while I saw a Snake crawling slowly all
over the place: at some point, he disappeared
under the sand and then his head came out and
slowly his whole long body appeared. He looked
at me with his wide round hypnotic eyes, opened
his mouth and said
"Psssssssssssss ... there is so much poison
here all over this place. You the people in the
Middle East need to transmute the poison into
medicine....yes it will take time, it is a long
process of healing and alchemy but only this will
bring healing and rebirthing to this area."
Then his eyes began to cloud over, and he began
to shed his skin. It took a long time and it was
not easy for him to shed his skin. Slowly his
skin came out, but not in one piece, as usually
happens, but in many pieces. Then he was with
no skin at all-it seemed for a while before a
new skin began to cover his body. He opened his
mouth and said in a low voice :
"You the people here in the Middle East have
to shed your old skin and grow a new one. It will
take time to shed the old skin which holds in
it so many painful memories but this is the process
of healing. The time between shedding the old
skin and growing a new one is very delicate stage,
you need to pay attention to this stage and take
care. Look at me, I need to hide myself for a
while in order not to be wounded."
When he finished talking he disappeared under
the sand. The pieces of his shedding skin remained
near me on the sand, it was a part of him that
he gave me... Now while writing to you it came
to me very strongly that two weeks ago one of
my patients, who is working in a Zoo, brought
me a skin of a Snake as a gift. She told me she
believes it brings good luck.
I
send to all of you many thanks and a big hug
Love
Ziva
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January 24, 2001
Sent from: Gay Mens Medicine Circle journeying
for Israel and Palestine
January 21, 2001
Lament for the Middle East
Mountain Lion sheds tears over your lands-
The Blood that binds all beings together
flows in rivers-
May you fashion a sacred pipe
from the blood drenched rock-
A white bird sheds feathers of blessing over your
lands
Spinning wheel of white fire emerges from my heart-
Soars through space and hovers over your lands
Spraying holy flames to the earth below-
Spraying holy flames to the blood drenched lands
The blood that binds all beings together flows in
rivers-
Mountain Lion is weeping.
A Prayer for the Holy Land
We call upon Wakan Tanka, the Great Mystery!
We ask that peace come to this holy place!
We ask that the people of this sacred land be protected
and assisted!
We ask that the people of spirit be heard by the
people of politics!
We ask that grandmothers and grandfathers no longer
weep
over the graves of their children and grandchildren!
We ask that meeting half way occurs!
We ask that conflict be replaced by love and compassion!
This we ask and this we pray of the great Spirit!
Keep your heart open to the love, support and guidance
that flows toward you.
You are not alone!
Please focus on the watering hole in the African
plainswhere for the temporary respite from
thirst, all memory of atrocity or horror is suspended
while life replenishes itself. The watering hole-
an international city where all enter to refresh-
as can Israel and Palestinebuild a city for
the Spirit of humanity to launch a greater consciousness
and enter a common ground for the life of the Spirit.
Journey
about peace in Israel and Palestine
Descent into the pain. No resistance. Grieve.
Ask for help. Call on the center of light for
teaching. Become the center- find compassion.
Become the Earth. Become the Mothernot the
mothers of the sons who are destroyed but the
Mother Earth. She sees the eons pass. She is all
compassion. She is all love. She remains centered
in peace and love. We are all one with her, somewhere,
some time. She knows that if the Earth is destroyed,
she will remain, centered in love and compassion.
This is her essence. From this place there can
be no more destruction. Each of us is on this
journey to this place.
The Shamans and circles there need to tone together
using the note B&Mac226; to stimulate the
7th chakra-spiritual energy. While doing this
hold the image of a 3 sided pyramid- which starts
out cracked and then is mended and made whole
by the vibrations of the tone.
Your angels are dancing
Your spirit guides are dancing
Your power animals are dancing
Invite them in
Watch them
Listen to them
Dance!
Dance with your Family
Dance with your Friends
Dance with your Lovers
Dance with your strangers
Dance with your enemies
Dance!
(email
sent by James Tryheart)
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January 18, 2001
Ziva Garbi. Israel
Since
my last email the violence here has continued,
every day was a shooting and/or bomb explosions.
Last Thursday the bomb in the bus was exploded
very near to our house. Carol do you remember
the high buildings near our house? The explosion
was there.
On
the day after, on Friday evening, when the conflict
.... seemed to be with no end and the politicians
did not speak with each other, the TV showed a
program called "A Dialogue Between Israelis
and Arabic". The dialogue was with not many
words, instead the drums were speaking... the
beats of the drums connected the beats of the
hearts of the people. On these days of violence
here, the TV made a program about my drumming
teacher who is working with Arabic in the Galilee.
My teacher had asked me to join him with my Native
American drums. So in this program you can see
Laurie's drum with the Whale and dolphins and
the drums you brought me, Carol, with the Horse,
the Snakes and the Turtle. You were in my heart
and soul while I spoke about the Shaman's drum,
and the Spirit was with us while we drummed and
sang. The director and the photographer are very
sensitive people and they made this scene with
much respect .
The
process of making this program was very special,
with no ego and with special atmosphere of working
together as a team. The result was a wonderful
program especially on these days of conflict...
yes the drum can be a mediator ...when people
are drumming together they "take their heads
off" and for a while they let their hearts
speak...the drum beats join the hearts' beats
and we are becoming one ...
With
beats of my heart I want to thank you and TSC
for helping me to walk this path of Shamanism,
it has changed my life ...
And
Carol, again we are tune ...I was shivered when
I read what you had written about the Circle in
Jerusalem ...on the same days that we have prepared
the program of the drums here in Israel you wrote
to us:
"What
does one call such unfazed joy and faith?
Call it our craziness even,
call it anything .
It is the life force in us
That will not let us die.
Even in war's hand
we fold the fingers up
and call them greens and
grow on them.
We hum our fingers upward
make them beaters and play our drums."
Love Ziva
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January
18, 2001
Ann Waterhouse/EagleHeart
our
shamanic-healing circle sent some healing energy
to the Middle East last night during our gathering.
We drummed to create the circle/container then
we called in the six directions, acknowledging
the help from each of these corners. The circle
felt very powerful. We sang some songs of connection
and then we called friends/relatives into the
circle with us who needed healing and support
and remembrance. We then did some healing work
for the sister of one of our members, we sent
energy to El Salvador and then we did healing
work for the Middle East.
We
circle around our altar drumming energy (5 of
us last night); we hold our intentions for peace
in the Mid-East strongly in our hearts and minds.
We feel the energy rising as we walk and drum.
When we stopped we sang some songs of healing
and then closed our circle.
Ann
Waterhouse/EagleHeart
for Circle Tuesday
Madison, Wisconsin
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January 17, 2001
Susan Fredricks
I
did journey for support for those in Israel, as
well as the land torn and divided, and received
this from the Spirit worlds:
"As
one sees the heat vents from an erupting volcano,
so too are the earth's hot spots, where the crust
is thin and archetypal energies are active for
centuries. This is one of these hot spots."
"When
the doors open, one is to enter; it is a sign
that the doors are closing at this time."
I waited and saw a white heat in the center of
the hot spot,and watched and it became a white
stone.and I heard:
"Tell
her (Ziva Garbi): Out of the process, comes the
white stone, the fruit of the process". "There
will be 3 white stones coming out of the heat
and eruption."
Much
love to all thru this time,
Susan Fredricks
Box 272
Skagway,Alaska
99840
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January 17, 2001
Donna Henes, Urban Shaman
STREAMS
OF CONSCIENCE:
CHANTS FOR PEACE*
CHANCE FOR PEACE
CHANT FOR PEACE THERE'S A CHANCE FOR PEACE FOR
PEACE ON EARTH FOR PEACE ON EARTH FOR PEACE OF
MIND THERE'S A CHANCE FOR PEACE THERE'SS A CHANCE
FOR EARTH FOR PEACE ON EARTH FOR PEACE OF MIND
FOR PEACE FOR A CHANCE FOR A CHANCE FOR PEACE
FOR EARTH FOR PEACE FOR EARTH FOR US THERE'S A
CHANCE STILL A CHANCE STILL A VERY GOOD CHANCE
FOR PEACE FOR A CHANGE FOR A CHANCE FOR A CHANGE
CHANT FOR CHANGE FOR PEACE FOR EARTH FOR PEACE
ON EARTH FOR A CHANGE FOR A CHANCE FOR A PEACE
OF MIND A PEACE ON EARTH A CHANCE FOR EARTH A
CHANGE FOR A CHANCE A CHANT FOR A CHANGE FOR PEACE
FOR PEACE ON EARTH STILL A CHANCE FOR PEACE STILL
A CHANCE FOR EARTH STILL A CHANCE FOR PEACE STILL
A CHANCE STILL A CHANCE FOR CHANGE
I have conducted this Chant for Peace with thousands
and thousands of people in over 100 cities in
9 countries since 1980. At each gathering, I collect
the prayers, hopes, and wishes of the participants
which they inscribe on orange ribbons. In 1984
I delivered some of these peace messages to Jerusalem
and placed them in the crevices of the Wailing
Wall. May these dear and fervent Chants for Peace
continue to radiate out and spread an energy of
hope and possibility of a Chance for Peace to
all peoples of the Middle East.
Donna
Henes,
Urban Shaman
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January 16, 2001
Lenore Steinhardt
Reflections
on healing - from a sister in Israel
As I think about the nature of healing the psyche,
and its reverberations in the body, as I know
it, the change to health is so so slow, and so
subtle in its progress that one doesn't see it
at all sometimes until suddenly it manifests in
new form, as if it was always there but couldn't
be available. Now, in a terrible time in the land
I and my family and friends live in, healing seems
so unattainable, that the only possible way I
can think of it as an option for the future is
in these slow, slow unnoticeable steps, that will
add up and influence the healing that must happen.
**If
we are all to regain health, mentally and physically
and be able to get back to the love of this land
in a way that all who live here can enjoy, and
all those who visit can enjoy, it will be in a
multitude of small small efforts, and so we will
welcome all prayers and journeys and thoughts
that contribute to this.
A
large healing will come one day, suddenly, as
if it was always there.
Love,
Lenore Steinhardt
Israel
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January 16, 2001
from Ilmara
Strengthening
The Circle
I am working with morphogenetic fields to create
sustainable balance in relationships. Recently,
i set up a symbolic model of the Earth Family
including the planet as mother, and all the creatures
- animals of the land, creatures of the waters,
trees and all that grows to sustain the system,
and humans. All are to form a circle around the
mother. the only group that started out not in
alignment with the circle is the symbolic representation
of humans - only a small portion were in the circle.
The work is ongoing and the circle is getting
stronger.
As corrections in the morphic fields are made,
the corresponding corrections in the manifest
world follow. I know this work is supportive of
the call for help. And as each of us visualizes
this circle, it adds to the solidification of
the field.
May this day be a day of empowerment flowing to
you and from you...,
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January 16, 2001
sent by Sherry Narens
The
world is made of stories, and the stories we choose
to tell are the stories we live.
This story was given to be shared for healing.
It is a story which will be told by our grandchildren
to our great grandchildren. It is a story about
the Middle East. --
Many years long past, before all was as it was
even yesterday and the day before, the Creator
(already known by many names before the birth
of humankind) called the beginnings of many great
peoples into being, and these peoples came to
be, each in their own turn, and in the place appointed.
And three of the greatest of these peoples found
that the Creator had called them to the same land
for their beginnings, and each cherished the land
and lived upon it and with it and called it holy.
But over time these peoples became covetous of
the land, each in their own way, and as time passed,
covetousness became anger, and anger became rage
and rage became destruction, and the peoples began
more and more to look always back at their deep
hurts, and less and less to look ahead to the
possibility of joy. And as is the case in all
of the worst of ancient fueds, none of the peoples
was without blame, and none was without innocence,
and in their innocence they nursed old wounds
endlessly, and to their blame they plotted revenge,
and new wounds made the memory of old wounds sharper,
and the peoples continued to look back, and to
dwell in the past.
And so it was for a great long age.
And there came a time at the Splitting of the
Ages, when the wounds of the past had built to
a roaring rage, and the peoples, even those who
harbored the deepest rage, began to feel fear.
And all the peoples of the world began to pray,
each praying as their people prayed, and all praying
to the Creator for help.
And so it happened that one night a dream came
to all the peoples of the world, all dreaming
together. And in this dream a wall had been built
between the people and their memories, so that
it was only possible to look forward. And each
person looked, and they saw only this day, with
its joys and its hopes and its possibilities and,
yes, its wounds, but this day's wounds only. And
in each dream, each person traveled to the holy
places, and without the memory of pain they were
able to see only the beauty of their shared roots,
and they stood in awe, and looked at one another
for the first time.
When they awoke, all the peoples trembled with
the power of the dream. Each person remembered
the dream vividly, and even though memory of the
past had returned, the beauty of the present with
its possibilities remained, like a filter through
which the people looked at each element of their
world. And as the people met one another in the
street, or met their eyes across the barriers,
it was clear that all had shared the dream of
a time without the burdens of the past. At first
a few and then many people began to feel their
rage gradually transformed to sorrow, and the
people, seeing for the first time what a life
without rage might hold, became quiet and thoughtful.
And on that day people traveled to the holy places,
and when they arrived they were still, in awe
of the beauty of Spirit in their lives. And each
person looked across at another person, and all
knew that the roots of Spirit are deep, and where
the roots grow as one, each branch is also part
of the same One. And even though the people could
now see the great sorrow each had caused in the
other, they could also see the great beauty of
their shared beginnings.
And the crowds of people began to smile and nod
as their awareness grew, and their smiles grew
until they laughed, and when all the people were
laughing in joy at the power of the present, and
laughing with regret at the folly of of the past,
then they knew that a beginning had come.
And on that day of celebration, The Day The People
Looked Away From The Past, on that day the healing
began.
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January 11, 2001
Lanz's journey - sent in a letter to Ziva
Dear,
Dear Ziva,
I've been meaning to write for so long, but wanted
to journey and focus on Israel before doing so.
I'm sorry its taken so long, but maybe I needed
to wait.
I got your latest email and last night Blake and
I watched your video of the beautiful land in
which you live. This morning I sat in front of
the large Balinese gong and began singing my prayers.
I gonged and rattled and sang my prayers for you
and your family and the people of Israel and Palestine.
The praying got deeper and turtle came and I changed
rattles so I could work with the sea (I used a
sea turtle rattle and a rattle from Hawaii that
brings sea snake energy). As I rattled and sang
the prayers just came flowing.
Oh
great ocean
Wondrous sea
Wash over the land
Of Galilee
Let their wounds be healed
Let their pain subside
Let their sorrow seep
Into the Holy Ground
Let the waves wash over them
Let the rains fall down and take their pain
Let their hearts be cleansed
So they begin again
Into mosques
Into synagogue
Into steepled temples
As they pray to God
Let their eyes be open
Let their hearts see
One people held by the Earth
Bathed by the Sea
Let peace emerge
In each our hearts
Let its light flood out
And lift us all
Oh Ziva, People of Israel
Oh Ziva, People of Palestine
Let love wash over you
Let peace breathe in this Holy Land
The prayers just kept washing over me and then
a brightness appeared and the rattling became
softer, but just as intense. I saw you and your
circle in Israel and saw people in places all
over the world sending love and prayers and the
light grew brighter as we all breathed our love
and blew the light toward the sacred land in which
you live. And I had a knowing that the Middle
East needs to be held and loved by many peoples
all over the world; that there is tremendous power
in peoples being in their own homeland and sending
their love and light to Israel and Palestine;
that there is learning needed by all of us how
we can hold a land/people/prayer in our hearts
and let our prayers encourage healing.
And then it was abruptly over, I was back in my
body and thinking, "It's not safe to travel
to Israel, but in March we must be with you as
you work. That there are many of us that could
set aside a day, that might come together in circles,
that might create a web of love and light around
the world to hold you in your work, to help you
re-sow peace in this place we all hold in our
hearts. That this would be supportive of you and
your circle and your people, but also a great
teacher for all of us in how we can be at each
others' back as we sit in different places all
over the world.
So I send this with love and blessings and for
you to know that if your circle chooses to continue
to plan your gathering that you might consider
ways others from other lands could help hold you
in your work.
Much love to you, your family, and all those you
are working with. Lanz
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