Heart-Sight :: Reopening the Eye of the Heart

There are numerous ways to connect to your own internal guidance system. The method that has worked most efficiently for me, is journeywork. My wire art provides me a similar connection, however my drumming & journeywork prepares me to enter the space that I need to be in, in order to create my art from the right place. The wire art is the result of this connection & clarity.

Although I did so at the beginning of my Journeywork practice, I no longer refer to myself as a Shamanic Journeyworker, because I feel the term Shaman is one I do not have the right to use at this time. However, I do utilize techniques used by Shamans across the globe from many different traditions. Much of what I have learned and integrated has come from one of my favorite teachers, Sandra Ingerman. I highly recommend her books if you are interested in also utilizing journeywork for your personal practice, I will include links to her writings below.

The journey is a means by which one can connect to a world that is not of this one - although all realities are always operating simultaneously. It is another space - or spaceless place - beyond any constructs or descriptions the material world can offer it, yet it operates within this one. By the sound of a drum beat, I am led to travel inward - seeking my own guidance. The beat of the drum mimics the beat of the heart. While in this world, this sacred space, I connect with my helping spirits and the universal helping spirits, having a dialogue with them, giving them gifts, and seeking insight. Sometimes we just dance in the ethers, and that is healing in itself. It is the purest form of insight one can receive, as it is of the heart; my only job is to get out of my own way & trust the messages received.

It is said, Shamans see with the heart, not with their eyes. They heal with love. Therefore, it is important that we do the necessary and painful work to remove everything that has blinded us from having this sort of heart-sight. As I type, I imagine the purity of an infant upon birth – knowing nothing of this world, just having crossed the threshold into a new reality, a new soul awaiting imprints, lessons & pain. It is that state of being I hope to return to - the state by which we take our first breath.

To see through the heart, we have to navigate the walls we’ve built around it, barriers constructed through painful experiences, trauma, wounding, resulting in a sense that we are disconnected and separate from everything around us. A much needed unwinding and falling apart is required of us. It is a divine crumbling, though. God/Goddess/Universe/Source/Creator/The All/The Beloved is in the crumbling apart and in the crumbles too. It is the process of Love. Love is in the yuck and in the yay. Think of your parents, when you screw up & then face consequences. That is also love, they punish you because they love you so much they do not want you to fail. So pain can also be an experience of love (although it may not feel that way).

We all go through this in different ways, this shadow work, and it’s our choice whether we walk through the shadow to integrate it into a state of wholeness, or whether we run from the shadow and remain in a state of duality and separateness. By integrating these "lost selves" we can & will naturally return to a place of wholeness.

The Beater of my Heart

After returning to Instagram this spring to share my art, I happened to stumble upon Steve Woodford’s Instagram account (@woodybear57). I suddenly found myself lost in an endless stream of photos showcasing stunning multicolored drum-beaters. Many with shapes, flowers, spirits, and animals felted onto wooden sticks. I instantly felt my drum calling to me again through these beaters. I knew I had to have one, to set the intention to work with my drum & to once again tap into my internal guidance system. It was as if I was reminded just how much that practice meant to me, and how important it was for my total wellbeing.

The magic of these beaters re-awakened my most basic need, heart connection. So I quickly requested a beater to be created. I was surprised to find that Steve's partner, Maxine, was the creatress behind these objects. Steve asked that I provide any suggestions for symbolism that Maxine should work with so that the beater is in alignment with exactly what I need.

I knew instantly that I wanted a representation of me back when I was in the wilderness. When I was 16, my parents sent me to a wilderness program for troubled teens. The program was (and I think still is) located in the mountains of Utah. Originally called Walkabout, the intention was to immerse youth into indigenous practices, traditions, and insight - along with therapy. We played stick ball, worked with leather & beads, crafted spoons & packs from aspen trees, sang and danced, learned how to create a fire by ourselves from objects found in nature, washed up in creeks, and ate only what would sustain us on the trail. I have never been filthier in all my life, nor have I ever been more empowered as a woman. For 8.5 weeks we camped, hiked, slept in the woods, and worked through our inner demons. For my beater, I wanted something that represented me in this space, in the mountains within the sanctuary of nature. So I asked that Maxine create a beater showing me there, under the stars with a brightly burning fire before me.

Upon seeing my work, Steve immediately commissioned a talisman for Maxine! My heart exploded! When an artist you admire seeks your artwork, that is one of the best feelings in the world. He asked that I create a Talisman for her to use in connection with their new venture in Sound Healing. Both Steve and Maxine have been working & training to hold Sound Healing workshops together through gongs, singing bowls, and more. I was so honored to have this project come to me, and quickly got to work on Maxine's surprise copper piece. I worked to create a dual purpose talisman, that can be set upright on it's base, and can also worn around the neck. Maxine's piece containes bloodstone, chalcedony, and an amethyst geode at the base. I worked to connect with her in another place, and what came through is a glorious little piece that I feel represents her.

So there we were, two women across the ocean making soul art for each other at the same time! As my beater traveled to me from the UK, Maxine's talisman traveled to her from right here in Memphis. They both arrived to our houses the same week, even though Maxine's beater was mailed out a little before her talisman left my home. Divine timing!

Reconnection

What I received in the mail was beyond my expectations. This item is one of the most loving gifts I could have ever given myself, and since it's arrival I have been playing my drum every day - sometimes multiple times a day. If I feel off, I play my drum. If I need to center myself, I play my drum. If I want to go totally crazy, I play my drum, holler and dance all over my house. This precious beater has transformed the sound of my drum, and I have really begun to explore how to manipulate sound through drum beat & drum movement. I look at that long haired girl, infused with loving energy, with a fire burning before her under a huge sky, and I really see ME.

We are often so hesitant to care for ourselves in this way, by treating ourselves when our soul needs it or reaching out to others when we are struggling. What we fail to realize, is that it is often the other person who can reawaken and reignite something that was dimming in our lives. I'm sure this lovely creative creature in the UK had no clue her felted beaters would mean that much to a girl across the ocean. Steve's request for this talisman completely validated my work as an artist, and Maxine's creation for me helped me reconnect with my most basic need - heart-sight! This is the power of connection through art and friendship.

I cannot thank both Steve and Maxine enough for their work together, I see their photos on Facebook sitting in front of their Gongs and it just makes my heart sing to know they are working together to bring this sort of healing and magic into the world. I am so grateful to have made such a loving connection with these two individuals! I encourage you to visit their shop, Facebook page, and website using the links below. Also check out Sandra Ingerman's webpage that I have also included if you are interested in taking on the practice of journeywork.

I also invite you to create space & open yourself to what connects YOU with your internal guidance system. Is that dance? Art? Meditation? Journeywork? Singing? Painting? Humming? Find this out, and take inspiration from everywhere!