StillPoint Reiki
and Shamanic Healing
and Shamanic Healing
November Newsletter, 2010
Greetings!
What a beautiful week, weather wise, we had! Today it is back to more the norm, for the Pacific Northwest. We are
heading for the middle of Fall, a transition time for Nature, and us alike, if we allow. I want to write about how we
can use the seasons and nature, as our teachers, our guides. Below I am starting a series that will follow the seasons
as well as, nature and the Four Directions, demonstrating how we naturally follow some of the same cycles and
qualities of All Our Relations, and more.
Also included this month, is an article on the potent and powerful Valerian Plant! It has been calling me for years now
and I am finally taking the time to sit with it and listen to what it has to teach me.
I have been offered the opportunity to teach classes and hold personal sessions at Stargazers, in Bellevue! I’m really
excited about this because the owner, Tess, has not only been in business for 25 years, she is also a spiritual warrior
with a wide open heart, joy for life and spirit, and has a laugh that is infectious. I look forward to working in the
space, teaching, offering sessions and also, getting to know the people who gather there as clients, students and
teachers. I’m sure I will be on the list of each of those categories. www.stargazersbooks.com
Fall: the Direction of the West
When you look out at Fall, what do you see? Think about it, or even better, go outside! What do you see, smell,
hear, feel? When I walk around during this time of year I love seeing the bright reds, oranges and yellows of leaves
as they turn and fall from the trees; I also enjoy walking through the big piles of them after the Wind has come
through. The air is fresh, but with a hint of organic rot, as everything is dying back and returning to the Earth. It’s
colder for sure and when the sun does break out for a moment I have the urge to rush out and stand in its warmth. It
is also a time of transition for the Earth, weather, and All Our Relations (meaning, trees, plants, animals, rocks, etc.)
including Us. I always feel a little restless, still wanting to be outside working in my gardens, enjoying the long warm
days of Summer. I’m not ready to tuck in for Winter and so it is that I fuss around grabbing all the outside time I can
until I give in to the shorter, colder and darker days of the season. So, as Nature prepares for Winter, so do we; it
may look like putting all of our gardens to bed, or taking down screens, putting away lawn furniture, or swapping out
our Summer clothes for warm sweaters and jeans. Its a time of preparation for going inside; inside physically, and
also into ourselves. Fall is a good time to reflect on everything accomplished over the last year, how you have grown,
lessons learned and gifts received. It is a time of self reflection; how have you treated yourself, how do feel about
yourself? You've heard the phrase, "You can only love others as much as you love yourself." It is so true; the
relationship we have with others, with Life itself, is a reflection of our relationship with ourselves. Some of the things
you can contemplate during the going- in time is, how do I talk to myself, what do I say? I'm I loving or critical of
myself? Do I judge my appearance, the things I say or the way I behave? How do I view the world around me?
The Fall can also be a time of deciding to create a different relationship with yourself and others. Perhaps to write a
personal creed, listing the way you would like to be. This creed can be a guide to the way you want to live your life;
it can be promises you make to yourself. Then keeping your word.
We all have the power to create and recreate our lives. Life is always changing, ever creating; it’s what it is, it’s what
it does. And so it is with each of us. The gifts and lessons of the West include turning inward and recognizing our
childish desires and ways and releasing them. In the West, we go into our stillness and find what is Truth, for us, and
living that Truth while allowing others to live by theirs’. The West is the place to mature, to decide how we will be of
service during this Earth Walk; it is a place and time to make plans around making our lives purposeful and fulfilling.
And Fall offers the time to begin this work. So let those things that no longer serve us, fall away and return to the
Earth Mother! And begin the necessary cultivation that will give us clear vision what we want our lives to be and how
we will achieve that life.
An individual has not started living until he/she can rise above the narrow confines of his/her individualistic
concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. ~Martin Luther King Jr.
Reiki I Class
December 10th and 11th
Reserve your space by emailing or calling
Private Mentoring also available
Small group/individual
Beautiful Bountiful Valerian!
Valerian, Valeriana officinalis, is a beautiful plant that grows tall strong stems from luscious groups of leaves and bares
umbels of tiny white/pink flowers that smell just as lovely as the roots smell awful! The roots are dried and used in
making teas, tinctures or capsules. Many claim the smell is liken to dirty socks and was even named “phu” by early
Romans. I have to admit, however, that I don’t mind the smell and have even grown to like it! I started a small plant
several years ago; my attempt at adding medicinals to my gardens each year. The next year I started some from seed
and placed them in my back garden. Well, in the past two years Valerian has spread itself to several places, and I
love it! This year I am spending time with the plant to learn what it has to teach me. So far I’m sitting with it,
journeying with it and drinking tea from fresh root and leaf. I even painted a picture of it; I did so in Sacred Space
and felt like it was painting itself. It is the first time painting has ever felt that way to me. Valerian is known for its
calming effects. It promotes sleep, better sleep, calms hysteria, the nervous system, helps shut down brain chatter,
and relieves anxiety and tension. It is even known to help with epilepsy. I have also found, and believe it is what the
plant spirit has to teach me, that in very small doses, it puts me back into my body. Especially when using fresh plant
material. It makes me present, in the moment, to experience what it means to have a physical body. Sometimes I
live too much in my head. I will work with Valerian throughout the Winter and await its arrival next Spring. I’ll keep
you posted to any new teachings it brings my way; although just learning to be in my body will most likely take
several years! If a plant calls to you, it has something to share with you. I encourage you to plant it, nurture it, sit
with it…and see.
Well my friends, I truly hope for you a beautiful Fall! Play in the leaves, breathe the air,
taste the late harvest and connect with All Your Relations! Many Blessings and Much
Love to you ALL. Peggy
What a beautiful week, weather wise, we had! Today it is back to more the norm, for the Pacific Northwest. We are
heading for the middle of Fall, a transition time for Nature, and us alike, if we allow. I want to write about how we
can use the seasons and nature, as our teachers, our guides. Below I am starting a series that will follow the seasons
as well as, nature and the Four Directions, demonstrating how we naturally follow some of the same cycles and
qualities of All Our Relations, and more.
Also included this month, is an article on the potent and powerful Valerian Plant! It has been calling me for years now
and I am finally taking the time to sit with it and listen to what it has to teach me.
I have been offered the opportunity to teach classes and hold personal sessions at Stargazers, in Bellevue! I’m really
excited about this because the owner, Tess, has not only been in business for 25 years, she is also a spiritual warrior
with a wide open heart, joy for life and spirit, and has a laugh that is infectious. I look forward to working in the
space, teaching, offering sessions and also, getting to know the people who gather there as clients, students and
teachers. I’m sure I will be on the list of each of those categories. www.stargazersbooks.com
Fall: the Direction of the West
When you look out at Fall, what do you see? Think about it, or even better, go outside! What do you see, smell,
hear, feel? When I walk around during this time of year I love seeing the bright reds, oranges and yellows of leaves
as they turn and fall from the trees; I also enjoy walking through the big piles of them after the Wind has come
through. The air is fresh, but with a hint of organic rot, as everything is dying back and returning to the Earth. It’s
colder for sure and when the sun does break out for a moment I have the urge to rush out and stand in its warmth. It
is also a time of transition for the Earth, weather, and All Our Relations (meaning, trees, plants, animals, rocks, etc.)
including Us. I always feel a little restless, still wanting to be outside working in my gardens, enjoying the long warm
days of Summer. I’m not ready to tuck in for Winter and so it is that I fuss around grabbing all the outside time I can
until I give in to the shorter, colder and darker days of the season. So, as Nature prepares for Winter, so do we; it
may look like putting all of our gardens to bed, or taking down screens, putting away lawn furniture, or swapping out
our Summer clothes for warm sweaters and jeans. Its a time of preparation for going inside; inside physically, and
also into ourselves. Fall is a good time to reflect on everything accomplished over the last year, how you have grown,
lessons learned and gifts received. It is a time of self reflection; how have you treated yourself, how do feel about
yourself? You've heard the phrase, "You can only love others as much as you love yourself." It is so true; the
relationship we have with others, with Life itself, is a reflection of our relationship with ourselves. Some of the things
you can contemplate during the going- in time is, how do I talk to myself, what do I say? I'm I loving or critical of
myself? Do I judge my appearance, the things I say or the way I behave? How do I view the world around me?
The Fall can also be a time of deciding to create a different relationship with yourself and others. Perhaps to write a
personal creed, listing the way you would like to be. This creed can be a guide to the way you want to live your life;
it can be promises you make to yourself. Then keeping your word.
We all have the power to create and recreate our lives. Life is always changing, ever creating; it’s what it is, it’s what
it does. And so it is with each of us. The gifts and lessons of the West include turning inward and recognizing our
childish desires and ways and releasing them. In the West, we go into our stillness and find what is Truth, for us, and
living that Truth while allowing others to live by theirs’. The West is the place to mature, to decide how we will be of
service during this Earth Walk; it is a place and time to make plans around making our lives purposeful and fulfilling.
And Fall offers the time to begin this work. So let those things that no longer serve us, fall away and return to the
Earth Mother! And begin the necessary cultivation that will give us clear vision what we want our lives to be and how
we will achieve that life.
An individual has not started living until he/she can rise above the narrow confines of his/her individualistic
concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. ~Martin Luther King Jr.
Reiki I Class
December 10th and 11th
Reserve your space by emailing or calling
Private Mentoring also available
Small group/individual
Beautiful Bountiful Valerian!
Valerian, Valeriana officinalis, is a beautiful plant that grows tall strong stems from luscious groups of leaves and bares
umbels of tiny white/pink flowers that smell just as lovely as the roots smell awful! The roots are dried and used in
making teas, tinctures or capsules. Many claim the smell is liken to dirty socks and was even named “phu” by early
Romans. I have to admit, however, that I don’t mind the smell and have even grown to like it! I started a small plant
several years ago; my attempt at adding medicinals to my gardens each year. The next year I started some from seed
and placed them in my back garden. Well, in the past two years Valerian has spread itself to several places, and I
love it! This year I am spending time with the plant to learn what it has to teach me. So far I’m sitting with it,
journeying with it and drinking tea from fresh root and leaf. I even painted a picture of it; I did so in Sacred Space
and felt like it was painting itself. It is the first time painting has ever felt that way to me. Valerian is known for its
calming effects. It promotes sleep, better sleep, calms hysteria, the nervous system, helps shut down brain chatter,
and relieves anxiety and tension. It is even known to help with epilepsy. I have also found, and believe it is what the
plant spirit has to teach me, that in very small doses, it puts me back into my body. Especially when using fresh plant
material. It makes me present, in the moment, to experience what it means to have a physical body. Sometimes I
live too much in my head. I will work with Valerian throughout the Winter and await its arrival next Spring. I’ll keep
you posted to any new teachings it brings my way; although just learning to be in my body will most likely take
several years! If a plant calls to you, it has something to share with you. I encourage you to plant it, nurture it, sit
with it…and see.
Well my friends, I truly hope for you a beautiful Fall! Play in the leaves, breathe the air,
taste the late harvest and connect with All Your Relations! Many Blessings and Much
Love to you ALL. Peggy
