Lightworkers Beware of Energetic Bookmarks

Spirit Portal

Lightworkers are here to assist with raising the light frequency of our planet and the consciousness of humanity. The challenge we face is that light manifests itself, as well as darkness. Consequently, there are two spiritual forces that we deal with on planet Earth everyday--Light (positive) and Dark (negative). Light energy is unlimited and comes from the Source. It's highly vibrational, expansive, and full of love. Dark energy is dense, negative, and goes against the flow of the universe. It's about manipulation, power, conquest, and fear.

It isn't hard to see that even though we live on a planet that surrounds us with beauty, that there is a lot of darkness manifesting within humanity. A big shift in energy is now taking place around the world. The veil between the spiritual and physical worlds is growing thinner. Things are really going down now. The dark is pushing its plan. There is a major battle going on in the spirit world and it is spilling into the material world. The darkness is materializing into the physical realm from the spirit realm. You can see it manifesting in the world around you.

I am a shamanic practitioner. I invite helping spirits into my home each day. I open a portal to the spirit world each morning through prayer, chant and drumming, and then I close that portal. It is important always to close sacred space after you have completed your spiritual work. I express my gratitude to the helping spirits for being with me and send them off, releasing their energies to the six directions. I thank the spirits for their blessings and presence, and then send them off to wherever they need to be.

I recently had an uninvited spirit pop loudly into my house before I had opened sacred space. I sense spirits coming and going--souls, spirit animals, and such, but this was different. I was in my office and my wife Elisia was in the kitchen preparing breakfast when we both heard a loud popping sound. I thought that Elisia had dropped a bowl on the floor, but she said that she had not dropped anything. She said that the sound emanated from above the floor about chest high in our tiny little kitchen.

The first thing I did was reach for a spray bottle of holy water. It's the quickest way to get rid of uninvited spirits. It was later revealed to me that this intruder had used a bookmark to get into my house. Dark entities have left "energetic bookmarks" on the homes of all lightworkers around the world. The dark ones leave these bookmarks to remind them to stop at these homes. The bookmarks themselves do not pose any threat. It's important to pray to your helping spirits and ask them to remove these bookmarks and to remove any future bookmarks left behind by the darkness. I have had to clear my home of energetic bookmarks several times in the past few months.

To keep the darkness out, you have to smudge with sage, cedar, and sweetgrass and bless your home with holy water. Holy water is the only thing that cannot be manipulated by the darkness. Spray holy water around the perimeter of your home and yard. You have to establish boundaries to keep the darkness out. To learn more read my post "The Great Shift and How to Navigate It."

The Shaman's Horse

Lakota Painted Drum, ca. 1860s

My drum can connect me to the earth or carry me like a flying horse. Sometimes I send my spirits out, but other times I must go myself, alone or with the spirits.
--Tania Kobezhikova, Khakass shaman

The shaman's horse, namely the single-headed frame drum, originated in Siberia, together with shamanism itself thousands of years ago. Shamanic drumming is considered one of the oldest methods for healing and accessing inner wisdom. Practiced cross-culturally, this technique is strikingly similar the world over. Shamanic drumming uses a single, repetitive rhythm played at a tempo of three to four beats per second. Although sounding quite simple and redundant, the unique connection between the drum and the shaman gives this drumming great power, richness, and depth.

According to Tuvan musicologist Valentina Suzukei, "shamanic drumming is not monotonous at all. Constant changes in timbre and volume keep them interesting. The healing quality lies in this variation, which tracks and directs the patient's energies. If you don't listen for timbre, but only for pitch and rhythm the music is boring, monotonous. But the player's every smallest change of mood is reflected in timbre."

Through the many frequencies and overtones of the drum, the shaman communes with the normally unseen energies of the spirit world. By changing and listening to the tones, pitches, and harmonics of the drum, the shaman is able to send messages to--and receive them from--both the spirit world and the patient.

The shamanic drum is a time-tested vehicle for healing and self-expression. A shaman may use the drum to address any number of health issues including trauma, addiction, depression, and chronic pain. Additionally, the shamanic techniques of extraction, soul retrieval, and journeying, can all be performed with the drum. According to Mariko Namba Walter and Eva Jane Neumann Fridman, authors of Shamanism: An Encyclopedia of World Beliefs, Practices, and Culture, "The drum is used in a variety of ways in shamanist rituals; it may serve as (1) a rhythm instrument, (2) a divination table, (3) a "speaker" for communicating with the spirits, (4) a spirit-catcher, (5) a spirit boat, (6) a purifying device, (7) the shaman's mount."

Owl Medicine

Great Horned Owl

Owl medicine includes prophecy, wisdom, stealth, silence, intuition, clairvoyance, clairaudience, shapeshifting, and keen vision that can pierce all illusion. Owls and hawks possess the keenest eyesight of all raptors, giving them broad vision. Call upon Owl to unmask and see what is truly beneath the surface -- what is hidden or in the shadows. Night Eagle, as Owl is called, is the bird of magic and darkness, of prophecy and wisdom. Owl is a messenger of omens who will call out to let all share in its vision.

I have felt a close kinship with owls for most of my life. Over the years, I have had many encounters with these stealthy raptors. Great Horned Owl is one of my guardian spirits and helps me see the true reality, beyond illusion and deceit. I am able to grasp the inner truth of the matter at hand. Inner truth reflects, like a mirror, the higher, universal truth that exists in every situation. With the power of truth as my guide, I can readily adapt and flow with the shifting currents of change. 

Many people have a fear of owls and owl medicine. Contemplate what it means if you're not comfortable with an animal. If you dislike or are afraid of an animal, it's especially important to connect with it and learn its wisdom. The message it holds for you will be particularly meaningful. Power animals help us connect to the parts of ourselves that we've lost or denied, so it may be mirroring a trait or quality that is ready to come back to help you be in your wholeness. Click here to view my music video "Twilight Owls" from my album Shaman's Drums.

10 Effective Ways to Ground Yourself

Grounding is a technique that helps keep someone in the present moment. It is only in the present moment that we can fully live our lives. Grounding techniques can reduce anxiety, quiet the mind, and connect you to your inner voice. These simple techniques can ground you in your own truth and help you get to know your inner self. Grounding is also essential for basic health and survival. Grounding enhances your ability to function effectively on a day-to-day basis. When poorly grounded, your spatial understanding is impaired. You may stumble around physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. Here are 10 effective ways to ground yourself:

1. Start With Your Breath. Breathe deeply through your diaphragm and gently exhale any tension you might feel, clearing the energy channels of your body. Breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Let your abdomen rise and fall as you breathe. This deep breathing signals the body to relax and helps calm your mind and spirit.

2. Meditate. Meditation is probably the most popular grounding technique. Sit or lie comfortably, and then close your eyes. Simply focus your attention on your breath without controlling its pace or intensity. Feel yourself relaxing with each breath. Release all of your worldly concerns, doubts, and fears, allowing them to drift off on the air of the wind, on the breath of life. If your mind wanders, return your focus back to your breath. Maintain this meditation practice for two to three minutes to start, and then try it for longer periods.

3. Play a Drum. Drumming is perhaps the oldest form of active meditation known to humanity. One of the paradoxes of rhythmic stimulation is that it has not only the power to move your awareness out of the confines of the conceptual mind into realms beyond time and space but also the capacity to ground you firmly in the present moment. It allows you to maintain a portion of ordinary awareness while experiencing non-ordinary awareness. This permits full recall later of the visionary experience.    

4. Touch the Earth. Just take off your shoes and socks and get outside. Physically touching or sitting on the Earth has a calming and grounding effect. Nature calms, helps you connect to something larger than yourself, and provides a much-needed break from your busy life.

5. Focus on Your Root Chakra. Close your eyes and focus your attention on the chakra at the base of the spine. The vibratory center located at the base of the spine grounds spiritual forces in the body to the Earth and the physical realm of reality. Visualize this energy center as a red disc of light, about the size of a silver dollar, at the base of your spine.

6. Stand Like a Tree. Stand with your feet parallel, about six inches apart, and your toes aimed straight ahead. Your knees should be slightly bent, removing any strain on your lower back. Rest your hands at your side or place them over your navel. Close your eyes and imagine that you are a tree. Visualize your head as the crown, your body as the trunk, and your feet as the roots. Imagine roots growing out the bottom of your feet, extending deep into the ground beneath you.

7. Walk Mindfully. Mindful walking can be practiced anywhere or anytime. Simply take a walk and be mindful of every sensation you feel. Breathe naturally and fully, deeply filling your lungs with each inhalation, but being careful not to strain in any way. When your attention drifts away from the sensations of walking and breathing, take notice of those thoughts or emotions without judgment and gently direct your awareness back to the present moment, back to the walking.

8. Carry a Grounding Stone. A grounding stone is any small stone that helps make you more reality-oriented and pulls you into the current moment. Black obsidian is a good grounding stone to carry or wear in your aura each day. Black tourmaline is one of the most effective stones, as it works for both spiritual grounding and protection. These crystals are easy to obtain as tumblestones, and easy to put one or more of the grounding stones in your pocket every day.

9. Use Your Voice. Repeat a mantra, chant, or positive affirmation. Hearing your own voice actively gets you out of your own head. Repeating a soothing affirmation powerfully grounds you in reality, by reminding you what's most important to you.

10. Take a Shower. This is one of my favorite grounding methods. Heat increases blood flow, slows your heart rate, and calms you down gently. I personally find this technique to be very effective. The heat and water pressure from a cleansing, hot shower always grounds me, bringing me back to the here-and-now.

The Transformative Power of Chanting

Given our contemporary hectic lifestyles, chanting is the most conducive path of spiritual practice for the times we live in. Chanting has no limitations of time and space and can be done anytime or anywhere. Chanting as a spiritual practice helps to foster maximum spiritual growth and overall well-being. It is a simple and effortless way to still the chatter of the mind. It is one of the quickest and most powerful ways to open the heart and connect with a power greater than ourselves.

Chants move us to a level of awareness beyond form, a place where we discover our own divinity. Different chants have specific purposes for invoking or paying homage to helping spirits and deities. They create a vibratory resonance that allows these spirits to be called forth. As the chant invokes the intended spirits, the chanter comes into resonance with these spirit helpers as well.

Many chants are mantras--single words or phrases repeated over and over. Mantras, when spoken or chanted, direct the healing power of Prana (life force energy). The syllables of each spoken word reverberate specific qualities of energy. As Ute-Tiwa shaman Joseph Rael explains in his book, Being and Vibration, "the consonants propel or give form, while the vowels carry the essential meaning or fundamental truth embedded in each syllable."

According to Rael, the vowels reveal the power of the word while the consonants conduct the power of that energy into a healing current, giving it physical, mental, emotional and spiritual impulse. The vowel sounds connect us to the spirit world; the consonants connect us to the relative, to placement in physical world. Vowels are spirit and consonants are direction.

When chanting, you should hold the vowel sounds as long as you can. Consonants can be passed over very quickly while chanting. Breathe in through the nose and voice the sound as you exhale through the mouth. The in-breath is Sky energy; the out-breath is Earth energy. Sky and Earth are united.