Shamanic Ritual to Heal the Land

A sea of cut branches intermingles with mud churned up by colossal machines, the tracks of their tread gouging the earth in wide, deep scars.

The crowns of trees and poles deemed “too thin to be useful” spray in chaotic disorder as evidence of the careless destruction.

It is carnage.

But the part that truly makes my stomach turn are the three piles of logs left uncollected. Over 100 trees that were killed with the intent to harvest for lumber, but their bodies were simply left in a pile.

They killed more than they needed. And they left the rest to rot.

This is the scene currently in the forest near my home, after the loggers came through and “thinned” the woods in January and February. But this same disregard for Earth and right relationship with resources is playing out everywhere.

This is what happens when we live in a society with a deeply ingrained culture of scarcity consciousness, mindless consumption and instant gratification.

When we are removed from the cyclical flow of life, we forget where our resources come from.

When we engage with money as credit cards and digital bank accounts, we have no embodied relationship with true wealth.

When we can go to Home Depot and buy lumber for a home project, we forget the forest it came from.

We never walked through the woods and witnessed all the birds, deer and abundant life before the logging. We never watched the canopy shake and heard the ground shudder as a massive tree was felled. We never saw the piles of logs left over because someone cut first and calculated later.

Unnecessary destruction and loss of life.

Our relationship with abundance, fertility and embodied wealth goes beyond our personal healing: it is imperative for our collective healing and evolution of human consciousness.

The way our society (in general) lives without regard for Earth and right relationship with non-human life is completely unsustainable.

And it is deeply wounding all those who perpetuate that system, even if they don’t realize it.

Will you join me in a special healing event?

Instead of thoughtless consumption, we can celebrate life and the fertile creative power of this living temple planet.

When we offer our heartfelt prayers in devotion to life, we amplify this abundant aliveness in the world.

And through our heartfelt prayers for Earth, our own abundance is amplified.

This wisdom is rooted in very ancient principles of High Magic.

And I will be sharing some of these teachings in a special Beltane event on May 10.

Come offer healing to the land with your prayers.

Come amplify the abundant, radiant aliveness in the world, for the benefit of all beings and for the evolution of human consciousness.

Let us gather in devotion to serve life itself. Let us gather in devotion to allow these currents of abundant aliveness to flow through us and blossom in the world. Let us gather in devotion to offer, to be generous, to give freely.

Come join me.

Beltane Shamanic Abundance & Fertility Ritual

Saturday, May 10, 1-5pm

Forested Retreat Space in Corbett, OR (just outside of Portland)

Sliding scale (see below)

We will gather on private, forested land to celebrate Beltane and align with Gaia’s abundant creative power. This event includes:

• Shamanic teachings on abundance, creative power, reciprocal generosity and embodied wealth.

• Shamanic ritual experience to work with Earth magic and anchor in Gaia’s grid of creation.

• Wildcrafting elixir ritual: make a personalized medicine from the land to take home and integrate your ritual experience.

• Community connection with like-hearted seekers, in person!

• Forest bathing, meditation and reflection time with the land.

• Tea and light snacks.

There will be some outside time during this event, rain or shine. Address and preparation details provided upon registration. Choose your sliding scale option:

Support the Work Pricing: $97

This option is encouraged for those who have the financial means to support the work and ensure its continuation.

Sustain the Work Pricing: $77

This option is invited for those who are able to pay the asking amount to attend the event.

Scholarship/Equity Pricing: $57

This option is intended for those who need financial assistance to attend the event.

Come pray with me in the forest temple! The land is waiting for you.

Shamanic Abundance & Fertility Ritual in Portland, OR

Spring is here and the land is so alive!

Every day I walk outside and the air smells like honey and fertile potential. Green shoots are exploding from every inch of soil. I have been so grateful to forage the abundant herbs and mushrooms. There is so much medicine here.

And this living temple planet wants to share that radiant aliveness with you.

Can you feel creative potential moving through you, and you want to expand and express it?

Do you desire to cultivate your fertility and generative power, supported by Gaia?

Are you ready to align with the cosmic frequencies of abundance, reciprocal generosity and anchor embodied wealth into your life?

Please join me at this special event:

Shamanic Abundance & Fertility Ritual

Saturday, May 10, 1-5pm

Forested Retreat Space in Corbett, OR (just outside of Portland)

Sliding scale (see below)

We will gather on sacred forested land to celebrate Beltane and align with Gaia’s abundant creative power. This event includes:

• Shamanic teachings on abundance, creative power, reciprocal generosity and embodied wealth.

• Shamanic ritual experience to work with Earth magic and anchor in Gaia’s grid of creation.

• Wildcrafting elixir ritual: make a personalized medicine from the land to take home and integrate your ritual experience.

• Community connection with like-hearted seekers.

• Forest bathing, meditation and reflection time with the land.

• Tea and light snacks.

There will be some outside time during this event, rain or shine. Address and preparation details provided upon registration. Choose your sliding scale option:

Support the Work Pricing: $97

This option is encouraged for those who have the financial means to support the work and ensure its continuation.

Sustain the Work Pricing: $77

This option is invited for those who are able to pay the asking amount to attend the event.

Scholarship/Equity Pricing: $57

This option is intended for those who need financial assistance to attend the event.

Come pray with me in the forest temple! The land is waiting for you.

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

Shamanic Ritual to Heal the Land, Portland Oregon

When we come to the land in devotion and prayer, we offer healing to the land.

And through our devotion, we receive healing.

When we approach the Earth in all her majestic wisdom and attune to her mysteries and desires, we serve Gaia’s will.

And through that service, our own will is purified.

When we celebrate life and the fertile creative power of this living temple planet, and we offer our heartfelt prayers in devotion to life, we amplify this abundant aliveness in the world.

And through our heartfelt prayers for Earth, our own abundance is amplified.

This wisdom is rooted in very ancient principles of High Magic.

And I will be sharing some of these teachings in a special Beltane event on May 10.

Would you like to join me?

Come offer healing to the land with your prayers.

Come serve Gaia’s will and desire.

Come amplify the abundant, radiant aliveness in the world, for the benefit of all beings.

Yes, you will receive healing, purification and support from this work.

But that’s not why we gather in devotion.

We gather in devotion to serve life itself. We gather in devotion to allow these currents of abundant aliveness to flow through us and blossom in the world. We gather in devotion to offer, to be generous, to give freely.

Come join me.

Beltane Shamanic Abundance & Fertility Ritual

Saturday, May 10, 1-5pm

Forested Retreat Space in Corbett, OR (just outside of Portland)

Sliding scale (see below)

We will gather on private, forested land to celebrate Beltane and align with Gaia’s abundant creative power. This event includes:

• Shamanic teachings on abundance, creative power, reciprocal generosity and embodied wealth.

• Shamanic ritual experience to work with Earth magic and anchor in Gaia’s grid of creation.

• Wildcrafting elixir ritual: make a personalized medicine from the land to take home and integrate your ritual experience.

• Community connection with like-hearted seekers, in person!

• Forest bathing, meditation and reflection time with the land.

• Tea and light snacks.

There will be some outside time during this event, rain or shine. Address and preparation details provided upon registration. Choose your sliding scale option:

Support the Work Pricing: $97

This option is encouraged for those who have the financial means to support the work and ensure its continuation.

Sustain the Work Pricing: $77

This option is invited for those who are able to pay the asking amount to attend the event.

Scholarship/Equity Pricing: $57

This option is intended for those who need financial assistance to attend the event.

Come pray with me in the forest temple! The land is waiting for you.

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

Walking the Path

"Go big, or go home!"

"No pain, no gain!"

We're all familiar with these statements, and others that also glorify intensity, drama and suffering. I definitely used to be a member of the Harder/Better/Faster/Stronger camp. I think it was a combination of my desire for efficiency, my highly competitive nature and the need to receive instant gratification in knowing that my efforts had achieved some immediately measurable result.

It took me an embarrassingly long time (until around 2015 or so), but I finally learned that healing doesn't work that way. (Facepalm.) In many ways, I almost felt exempt from the Universal Laws of subtle energy movements—see aforementioned competitive nature. "If anyone can heal overnight, it's me! I'll just do this one big ritual and I'll be good!" Then Spirit would kick my butt in some form or another and I would be forced to slow down, work on the subtleties and not try to rush anything or create some grand Hail Mary healing gesture.

There were times when I was moving through deep healing crisis, and the only thing I could do to work on myself was some mini personal practice, but I committed to doing it every day. One of the most gratifying examples of this took place in 2015 as I experienced the trials of the Portland housing market and had no idea where I was going to live. During that time, I received a healing session, and the practitioner told me that my Root Chakra was almost entirely shut down. I remember thinking, "That can't be right. I'm very grounded." But as I considered this information, I realized that I hadn't adjusted my personal practices to accommodate the destabilization I felt from losing my home. I silently promised myself in that moment to work on my Root Chakra and my sense of safety every day, even if only for five minutes.

When I saw this healer again a month later, she noted that my Root Chakra was not only fully back online, but huge! Also, all of my other Chakras were more balanced and aligned because of the work I had been doing on my Root Chakra alone. Aside from the measurable difference in my energy field, I felt emotionally safer and I was more secure and confident, despite the upheaval in my living situation. I had worked every day for a few minutes on internalizing my sense of safety, rather than having my safety be dependent on external circumstances, and it had profound effects on my energy body and personal well-being.

I realized, after grasping the enormous value of subtlety and consistency (especially in personal practice), that I was not the only person who believed that healing needed to be a dramatic, grand-gesture experience. In a later conversation with a friend of mine, we got around to talking about energy clearing. I perceived that his field was a bit "dusty" and asked him what he did for a clearing practice. "You mean like a sweat lodge?" He asked. I answered that a sweat lodge was a good way to do some bigger clearing, but asked again what he did every day for himself. "Oh. Nothing," he answered. At this point Spirit started poking me with a very direct message, so I asked him, "Do you believe that subtle daily practices actually work?" He looked a bit taken aback as he thought for a moment, then, almost sheepishly, answered, "I guess not."

We all like magic fixes. We like thinking that there's one golden gem of a ritual or practice that we can bring in to clean up our energies and erase all the wounds. That's why there are so many "Intensives" out there in the healing and coaching world. There are plenty of retreats, ceremonies and other ways to experience a supercharged dose of healing. There is absolutely incredible value in dropping into your process and doing nothing else for one day, three days, five days, a week, or longer, but unless your awareness of the subtleties and your established personal practice is there to back it up, it is not sustainable and the energies won't stick around. While much less sexy, the subtle consistency of your daily personal practice is going to be the thing that saves your butt and creates the solid foundation for all other healing work to take place.

I guarantee you that the subtle work that you do every single day will be one of your greatest tools. This is what will allow you to become intimately acquainted with your energies, your process, your intuition and help you cultivate a strong energetic foundation. It is this foundation that will provide a clear container for whatever intensive healing, magic, coaching or ceremonial work you do, and give you a place to channel that infusion of new energy. One of the things I tell my clients (have you and I had this conversation?) is, "Doing a subtle practice two minutes every day for 30 days is more powerful than doing one hour of practice once a month."

How can you harness your own power of subtlety? Check this out:
 

A Personal Practice Primer
for Lightworkers

Congratulations! You're ready to develop or enhance your subtle personal practice. Here are some things to consider:

• Support: it's a good idea to receive some support in the form of healing work or mentorship to help you determine the best direction for your personal practice. (Want support? Let's talk!)

• Time: how much time can you commit every day to this practice? I tell my clients to choose something in the range of 2 minutes to 1 hour. Choose the amount of time that you confidently feel you can commit to every single day. If there are some days where you do more than that, that's great! But at very least, you are setting aside that minimum amount of time.

• Intention: what is the goal of your practice? What would you like your practice to help you do? If your goal is to use your practice to establish strong boundaries, you will likely need a different practice than if you wanted to cultivate your intuition.

• The practice itself: what are you actually doing during that timeframe? In addition to your intention, part of what dictates your practice is the amount of time you allot. For example, if you give yourself an hour, that's enough time for some journaling, breathing meditation, embodiment practices and affirmations. If you give yourself 10 minutes, maybe a brief visualization and affirmation practice would be more appropriate. If you give yourself two minutes, you can create a brief, but rich practice of silence, gratitude and simply being present in your body.

Here are some suggestions of a few things that you might want to consider weaving into your personal practice:

• Self-healing work (energy healing, Reiki, chakra balance)

• Breathwork

• Meditation (visualization, mindfulness, Shamanic journey)

• Gratitude

• Affirmations

• Journaling

• Embodiment practice (exercise, walking, gentle movement, stretching, yoga)

• Silence

• Gardening

• Artwork or creative process

It's also important to change up your personal practice every now and then so it doesn't become stagnant. But for now, just pick something and stick with it!

Applications for I AM Alchemy are now open. Calling all Lightworkers! Whether you are an existing or aspiring practitioner, healer or coach, or whether you want to spend 12 months walking the Alchemist path as part of your personal journey of Self Mastery... if you want to bring practical application of real-time magic and alignment with Universal forces of creation to your life, I AM Alchemy is for you.

Journal/Meditation Prompts:
 

What is my Personal Practice? How do I feel about it? What does it do for me? What do I want my Personal Practice to do for me? What changes can I make to achieve this?

Spring Equinox

Yesterday was the Spring Equinox! (Cue Michelle's happy dance and sigh of relief.)

As we step through this Seasonal portal, it's an opportunity for us to bring closure to the most recent chapter and plant the seeds for new growth (see suggested meditation below).

Today, I took a moment to sit with some Winter energies that I am ready to release. One of the primary themes of this past season for me has been inactivity, immobility and some stagnation. Due to my shoulder injury, my movement practice (and thus, my personal practice) took a serious detour and I spent far more time than I would like inside, and not able to pursue my usual level of activity.

As I considered the lessons of Winter and the other energies at play, I honored the stillness that I enjoyed as a result of this slowing-down phase. Last Winter was very active for me, and even though this Winter felt a bit stagnant, there was also a greater opportunity for going within and experiencing quiet.  I invited the gifts of Stillness to stay with me as I move into this Spring phase, and gently honor and release the energies of immobility, inactivity and stagnation.

The seed of intention I planted for myself is around comfortable movement, activity, and grace. I planted the seed of healing, easy motion, physical strength and flexibility in my shoulder to let it grow and blossom within me.

What chapter are you ready to close? What seeds are you planting?

In case you missed it or want to add something to your Equinox practice, here is a suggestion for meditation:

If it feels comfortable to you, go outside barefoot and put your feet on the Earth. Tune in with your breath and arrive fully in your body.

Bring to mind the energies, events and themes of the past three months... what was happening for you over the winter? What are you ready to honor and release from this time? With your breath, invite these energies to leave your field. You may also offer this prayer:

Thank you, Winter, for offering me the lessons of ______________________. I fully honor the gift of these lessons, and I am grateful for how these energies served me. I now release the energies of _____________________. I fully close this Winter chapter as I step through the portal into Spring. Thank you for the blessings.

Once you have fully honored and released the energies from Winter, consider what seeds you would like to plant for the Springtime. Call these energies to mind, and you may visualize them as seeds in the palm of your hand. The seeds glow bright with the light of your intention. You may offer a prayer:

I fully activate these seeds now. Let the energies of ______________________ sprout, grow and flourish in me during this growing season of Spring. I fully align myself and my process to the Spring energies of abundance, fertility, new life and blossoming. Thank you for supporting me in bringing life to the energies of ___________________________. May these seeds grow within me for the benefit of myself, for all those around me, for all beings on Earth and for the Earth herself. Thank you for the blessings.

Place your hands on your body in the place where you would like to plant the seeds of your intentions. Feel them in your body and your field, and make sure to "water" them with further love and attention!

Walking Through Fire: Full Moon in Sagittarius

Full Moon in Sagittarius: Friday, June 9 at 6:10am PST.

"Elegant, curving lines, like the arching holes on the face of a cello, twist through the darkness. A reddish glow emerges from the depths, and the outline of pulsing embers becomes clear beneath my feet. The air crackles with heat and intensity, but I am calm and steadfast. I softly close my eyes and step onto the coals in front of me. The sound of shifting embers fades, and I can hear only my own breath as I continue to calmly walk forward into the unknown."

Fire.

Trust.

Surrender.

These were the themes that presented themselves when I received this vision about the energies of the upcoming Full Moon.

Sagittarius works in service to Spirit through the intuitive pursuit of Truth. This particular Full Moon creates a beautiful, luminous container for us to explore just how far we are willing to trust ourselves (and Spirit) along the way. Are we ready to surrender to the power of our intuition? Do we believe that we are held and supported in answering the call of our Soul's Mission? What is needed in order for us to fully trust ourselves?

These are questions to keep in mind as we enjoy the powerful energies of this Full Moon!

Lunar Ritual

If you would like to hold some ceremony for yourself (either alone or with community) to capitalize on the energies of the Sagittarius Full Moon, here is a ritual suggestion:

Light a candle and make yourself comfortable in front of it. Maintain a soft gaze at the base of the flame, imagining the burning ember.

Take a few moments to drop into your body and your breath.

Allow your attention to drift toward the questions posed above (you may journal about these if you like, or not):
-Do I fully trust myself?
-Am I ready to surrender to the power of my intuition?
-Do I believe that I am held and supported in answering the call of my Soul's Mission?
-What is needed in order for me to fully trust myself?

When you feel as though you are complete in your consideration of these questions, offer whatever you would like to release (blockages/beliefs/fears/etc) into the candle flame and commit your intentions to the Moon with the following affirmation:

"Moon, Luna, I release to you all that which does not serve me. Please assist me in dissolving away any blockages, beliefs, patterns, karma or anything preventing me from fully trusting myself and my intuition. I am ready to surrender to my own magic and live the fullest expression of my purpose. Thank you for the blessings."

When you feel complete, blow out the candle and trust that the work is taking place!