Most spiritual practice is like cleaning your house

Most spiritual work is like cleaning your house.

It’s mundane, but very necessary, and things get really yucky when you don’t do it.

If you’ve been following my work for a while, you’ve probably heard me talk about this before. Yes, it’s time for another article about how spiritual practice is actually very unglamorous, contrary to a lot of what you might see on social media.

And friends: that doesn’t mean it’s not beautiful, meaningful, powerful, miraculous and life-affirming. It is all of those things, and more.

But on the day-to-day basis, spiritual practice is more like cleaning the toilet.

Imagine you didn’t regularly clean your house. I am pretty sure every single one of us has gone too long without vacuuming at some point in our lives, so we all know the feeling. You get used to the piles of paper, the dust bunnies in the corners and the scuzz in the sink.

And then, a guest is coming over! Time to recycle all the junk mail. Time to vacuum up the pet hair and scrub the gunk.

And wow, it feels great. The sink is so shiny. The counters are clear. Your socks are no longer covered in pet hair because the floors are clean.

Cleaning your house feels way more dramatic and miraculous if you don’t do it often.

Spiritual practice feels way more dramatic and miraculous if you don’t do it often.

If you only clean your toilet once a year, it is going to feel like a f*ing revelation when you finally do.

If you clean your toilet before it actually gets yucky, it is going to feel sort of mundane and potentially unnecessary.

If you don’t have a consistent and regular spiritual practice, the moments when you do tap in and connect are going to feel like the clouds parting, a beam of sunlight illuminating your vision as a choir of angels serenades you with your favorite song.

If you do have a regular and consistent spiritual practice, you will probably reach a point where it feels boring and potentially unnecessary, because it is working so well.

One of the most significant benefits of spiritual practice is helping you be regulated and stable in your life, no matter what. This sounds super unglamorous, but I promise it’s easy to regulate your energy when things are going well and a whole lot more difficult to do so when shit hits the fan.

When things go sideways, as they do for every single one of us, your spiritual practice will help you maintain your inner equanimity.

Your spiritual practice will help you not lash out from hurt feelings or anger.

Your spiritual practice will help you process your grief.

Your spiritual practice will help you find joy and hope in the darkest moments.

Your spiritual practice will help you be kind to yourself and others, even when it’s more convenient to be unkind.

Your spiritual practice will help ground you and keep you from dissociating when you feel overwhelmed.

Your spiritual practice will help you access your intuition and inner wisdom when you feel lost.

Your spiritual practice will help you love, even when you’re hurting.

Your spiritual practice will help you tune in to the wisdom of your body when you need healing.

And yes, your regular and consistent spiritual practice will help you connect with high-vibration divine beings, have transcendent epiphanies and receive cosmic downloads. Your spiritual practice will help you sing songs to the spirits, experience magic and synchronicity, expand in love and joy, and feel more connection and beauty than you ever thought possible.

But the most beneficial support your spiritual practice can offer you is to help you be more at home in yourself and present in your life, which will make the biggest difference when you need it most.

Archangel Michael and Dragons

Last weekend I incorporated Archangel Michael and a Dragon in immediate succession with each other. I don’t say that lightly.

My guides have directed me to share this story with you for the purpose of offering a healing and coded transmission about correcting distortions through the collective consciousness. (Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t write about it, due to privacy and respect for the beings I work with.) I invite you to allow this to flow through you and trust that you will receive whatever you need from this message.

In case you’re new to the idea of incorporation mediumship, here’s a brief teaching: mediumship is the practice of communicating with and being a psychic conduit to the spirits. Incorporation mediumship means allowing the spirits to enter and incorporate into a channel’s physical body. This is a very powerful process that allows spirits to come work directly through the channel—to speak, to dance, to offer healing work and transmissions. Depending on the skill of the channel and on the beings present, this can be very beautiful and healing, very uncomfortable and/or very dangerous. This is not a beginner practice.

I have been practicing mediumship for many years, and am very confident in my ability to safely incorporate spirits that pass the inner “checklist:” Is this a divine being who abides by the laws of sovereignty, free will, love and reverence for life? Is this being here for the purpose of guidance, illumination and healing? If yes, then we proceed.

Last weekend I co-facilitated a sacred plant medicine ceremony. (More on that and an “official” announcement coming soon—for now, if you’re interested in getting news and invitations about my sacred plant medicine practice, join that list here.)

During the first night, one of the participants started to struggle and requested support. I approached them to help, and moments later, the force of the medicine in the entire room increased exponentially. My hands flew back as if I had been shocked, and immediately, a massive light being, bigger and more powerful than I had ever experienced before, incorporated into my body. Even now as I type this, the energy of it is once again electrifying my skin and all the hair on my arms is standing up.

At the time, I only knew that this massive, divine being was there to help. I wasn’t yet aware of its identity but I knew clearly that it was aligned with divine law, and was offering support. I felt colossal waves of power rolling through my body as it facilitated a major extraction and clearing on behalf of the participant.

At some point, the energy shifted as the participant made a crucial choice towards love and healing. The first massive being left my body and was replaced by an equally enormous being who I clearly identified as a Dragon. The Dragon supported the participant in recalibrating to love and reconnecting with the womb of creation. The energy of this Dragon was pure, primal love and raw Gaia power.

Things with the participant continued to shift and ease. They later described this experience as the best moment of their life.

After ceremony closed, I reflected on the experience and wondered who the being was that had incorporated at the beginning of the extraction. “I feel like it was an angel,” I said to my co-facilitator, and immediately felt the truth of that. “I think it was Archangel Michael.” Again, immediate truth and confirmation. “Seriously, that was Archangel Michael?? No wonder it was so big.”

As I’ve reflected on and integrated this very powerful incorporation mediumship experience, my guides brought some things to my attention that they wanted me to share with you. Here you go:

There is a tremendous distortion field in our collective consciousness around the Angelic Court, Archangel Michael specifically, Dragons in general, and the relationship between Dragons and Angels.

Dragons have long been vilified through the oppressive, patriarchal systems within organized religion as standing for evil, primitive consciousness, temptation, falling from grace and the Devil. Dragons have been cast as villains, embodiments of greed and sin, violence and harm.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Dragons are beings of primal Earth power, love, creation and transformation. Dragons weave currents of magic and aliveness through Gaia. Dragons love and hold deep reverence for life, truth, compassion and right relation.

Archangel Michael has his own distortion fields in collective consciousness, although these are less obvious. He has been cast as a figurehead of divine law, soldier of God, warrior Archangel of righteousness, slayer of demons. He is depicted in many works of art and literature as slaying Dragons and conquering the Devil.

Yes, Archangel Michael is a warrior of Divine Law. But these are laws of love, truth, sovereignty, integrity and creation. These are laws of mercy, compassion and right relation.

The distortion fields created by systems of oppression are designed to cast Archangel Michael as the hero of Heaven and Dragons as agents of the Devil, and yet the reality is that they both abide by the same laws of love and truth. Archangel Michael stands in for Divine Law from the Above—the celestial realms, the One Mind, the organization and architecture of creation. Dragons embody Divine Law from the Below—the realms of Inner Earth, the One Thing, the Void, the fertile potential and prima materia (first matter) of creation.

In offering healing to this ceremony participant, both Archangel Michael and the Dragons were needed. Archangel Michael supported the extraction and clearing of shadow. The Dragons supported the restoration and rectification to love and creation. Their medicine combined was more than the sum of its parts: they offered a complete healing and helped this person find their way back to the Sacred within themself.

I invite you to take a few minutes to feel the truth of this transmission in your heart and see what arises for you. Are there distortion fields asking to be cleared? Is there new inspiration for your connection to the realms of Divine Law and Creation?

Thank you, thank you thank you so much to Archangel Michael and the Dragons. We are so grateful for the blessings.

It's actually not about you (or me)

One of the most important reasons to take the Sacred Ecology course is not about you at all.

Most marketing focuses on selling the "selfish" benefits, and there are a lot of "selfish" reasons why you might take this course. (There is absolutely nothing wrong with these reasons. I’ve been publishing a lot of articles lately about this. Take a look at those emails for some great ways this course would benefit you directly.)

But studying Sacred Ecology is inherently an act of revolutionary generosity, because it decenters you as an individual. It even decenters humans as a species.

Instead, it centers the local ecosystem. It centers relationships. It centers consent, context and collaboration. It centers Gaia and her magic.

Something beautiful comes from decentering the self. This inherently goes against all of the toxic conditioning and foundation of modern, western culture (especially in the US) which is based on individualism and this weird fetishization of selfishness. My rights. Look out for #1. Selfies. Endless navel-gazing and pathologizing and self-diagnosing and therapizing and making it all about me, me, me.

How lonely. How small. How inherently blind.

But what happens when we decenter ourselves? What happens when we devote ourselves to becoming students and stewards of life? What happens when we make offerings to the nature spirits, and to Gaia? What happens when we show up to be curious and generous, rather than to consume?

How connected we become. How expansive. How loving.

Decentering the self goes against everything we are trained to embody. Decentering the self requires empathy and compassion. It helps us remember that life is living through us, just as it is living through all things. It helps us to be generous. It helps us to remember that we belong. You belong to life, and life loves you.

Don’t take this course because it will benefit you.

Take this course because it will benefit Gaia.

Take this course because it will benefit the animals, plants, microbes and mycelia.

Take this course as an act of revolution. Take this course to crack the toxic foundation of entitled consumption that holds up systems of oppression and treats the Earth like garbage.

Take this course because you love life. By that I don’t mean your life specifically. Take this course because you love that life exists, and you want to serve life. Take this course because you love that consciousness has manifested in the incarnate. Take this course because you love that so many different bioforms have evolved over millennia to cooperate and live in concert with each other. Take this course because you love that plants eat sunlight and trees sing to each other through the mycelial network. Take this course because you love that elephant matriarchs remember for decades where to find water and pass this knowledge down to their daughters and granddaughters. Take this course because you love the song of the red-winged blackbird.

I promise that this course will benefit you. This training will support your personal practice, your health, your relationships, your work, your home, your family. But it will support so much more than you and your immediate surroundings. By taking this course, you are serving this gorgeous living temple planet and all her children.

Are you ready to collaborate with land and nature spirit allies?

Sacred Ecology begins July 26. Register now!

Where does your shamanic lineage originate?

If you practice medicine work or any shamanic tradition that comes from a different region than where you live, you’re probably overlooking this vitally important foundation of your practice.

In the modern, western world, it is likely that people learning shamanism take courses online or travel to meet with teachers. Or, if you are working with a local teacher, it is possible that the lineage or the medicine you are studying came from a different part of the Earth.

Shamanism is relational. Shamanism is contextual. Since shamanism is rooted in connection with the natural world, every shamanic tradition is going to work with different energies according to its context. If you live and practice your shamanic healing work in the Southwest high desert, you would call on nature spirit allies like the juniper tree, coyote and vulture. If you live and practice your shamanic healing work in the Amazon, you would collaborate with nature spirits like chacruna, frog and snake.

Most online shamanic courses focus on techniques. They will teach you how to journey, how to make a rattle, how to do particular shamanic healing practices. But they skip the most important part: creating a foundational relationship with your local ecosystem, forming allyships with local nature spirits and receiving consent from the land where you live to practice your work. They skip this because it is difficult to "teach" this online. The only way to form these relationships is through direct experience and intimacy with your local ecosystem.

Similarly, when we travel to study with teachers, we are entering their context. We are stepping into their local ecosystem, where they have working relationships with the land and nature spirits. We get to "borrow" the power of these spirits because we step into the agreement that those teachers have with the land to do their work. That consent does not transfer when we go home. That context is unique to that specific ecosystem.

The same is true when we work with specific medicine lineages that have their own agreements with local land and nature spirits. The nature spirits of that lineage exist in that context. If you go study with ayahuasqueros in the Amazon and then take those teachings back home to New York, you are decontextualizing the medicine and removing that work from its original, most powerful land and nature spirit allyships. If you are initiated into a medicine lineage, it’s important to honor the context the medicine comes from and its nature spirit allies, but it’s also important to anchor that medicine work into your local land and nature spirit ecosystem.

What happens when we work with nature spirits out of context?

• Working with nature spirits out of context removes them from their zone of power. They are certainly still powerful and beneficial allies, but their medicine may not be as effective in your ecosystem as working with a local nature spirit.

• If you work with certain nature spirits because your teachers worked with those spirits, you cannot bypass forming an actual relationship with them. You must receive the specific consent and initiation from those spirits, which they may or may not give you.

• If you are inviting non-local nature spirits to work with you without anchoring into the local ecosystem energy, they may not integrate smoothly. The living temples and guardian spirits of the land where you live may disrupt your work or there might be disharmonious alignment in your practice.

Here are some ways to gracefully integrate local and non-local nature spirit allies from different lineages:

• Always start with the local nature spirits and living temples on the land where you reside or practice. If you do not have the consent and collaboration of the local ecosystem, it will disrupt your life and your work.

• If you are studying or receiving initiations from non-local lineages, make sure to form direct relationships with the nature spirits of those lineages. Make offerings, ask for their consent and permission to work with them, and don’t assume that their allyship comes bundled in with the teachings. Consent does not transfer.

• If you are integrating local and non-local nature spirits into your practice, make sure that the non-local spirits are welcome with the local ecosystem before you invite them in to collaborate. Ask all of your allies to stay within their zone of genius, and don’t invoke them for things that aren’t appropriate. For example, call upon the local guardians for safety, protection and anchoring the temple grid because they live and thrive in that environment. Call upon your local nature spirit allies to support the general experience of your work. Call upon the non-local nature spirit allies to support the specifics of the medicine work or healing practice that comes directly from the related lineage.

Do you want to gracefully integrate your local and non-local nature spirit allies?

Sacred Ecology begins July 26.

This course includes:

• 7 live online classes, each including training, hands-on exercises and integration prompts.

• Ceremonial initiation with your new nature spirit ally.

• Private online community for resources and connection.

• Upgrade option: Add three discounted 1:1 sessions with Michelle for personalized support and mentorship.

Register now!

Answers to all your questions about Sacred Ecology

What do you need to know about the Sacred Ecology course? Here are all the details:

Will I have to go outside?

Yes! Sacred Ecology is a hands-on course of experiential education. You will spend time outside in your local ecosystem, following the prompts and integration from our classes. Yay!

Where do classes take place?

Classes will take place live on Zoom.

What is the class calendar/schedule?

Classes are scheduled July 26 - September 6, every Wednesday at 11am PT.

What if I can’t attend a live class?

All classes will be recorded and uploaded within 24 hours. You will receive a link to the class recording to watch at your convenience.

How do I schedule my 1:1 sessions?

Once you're enrolled, you'll receive a private booking link to schedule your three private sessions. You are responsible for putting yourself on my calendar.

What if I can't get a time I want or I don't use all my sessions?

If there are absolutely no booking times that work for your schedule, please let me know and we can work it out. Sessions expire one month after the end of the course, so please make sure to use them! Sessions that are unused by that time expire, unless you arrange otherwise with me at least two weeks in advance.

Where do we meet for 1:1 sessions?

1:1 sessions will meet either on my private conference line, or on Zoom if you’re international.

How does payment work?

When you complete your registration, you have the option to choose if you would like to pay in full or make 2 payments, for both the course tuition and the upgrade option. If you choose to pay in full, your entire payment will process immediately. If you choose to make two payments, you will be immediately billed for the first one and the remaining payment will deduct automatically one month later. You are responsible for completing all course payments.

What’s your refund policy?

After completing your payment, you may request a refund (minus $100 admin fee) within 48 hours. After that time period, there are no refunds for any reason whatsoever. Unused funds that are not eligible for a refund may be applied to other work together within 6 months.

>>Don't see your question? Send me a message.

Through Sacred Ecology, you will:

• Receive a ceremonial initiation with a nature spirit ally and learn how to integrate its medicine into your life and spiritual practice.

• Anchor your healing, ceremonial or spiritual work into the powerful foundation of your local Earth grid and energetic ecosystem, for the purpose of grounding, protection and amplification.

• Learn how to locate and work with natural sacred sites as living temples of Gaia.

• Make offerings and prayers to connect with a nature spirit ally, and build your functional allyship with this being.

• Learn how to communicate with nature spirits so that you may receive their messages, signs and teachings.

• Master basic concepts of ecology so that your nature spirit allyship is informed by a practical, scientific understanding of that ally.

• Take steps to heal and reclaim your own indigeneity as you connect to Gaia in a new way.

Sacred Ecology begins July 26. Register now!

Do you have a dysregulated nervous system? Then you need this.

If you want to heal a dysregulated nervous system, trauma, anxiety, chronic stress or insomnia, and you’re not working with land and nature spirits, you’re missing out on essential support in your healing journey.

One of my favorite books that discusses the detrimental effects of chronic nervous system dysregulation is Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, by Robert Sapolsky. I’ll give you the quick summary: Humans experience cumulative worry, stress and rumination that come from living in a world of human ego BS and systems of oppression. When we don’t resolve conflict or fully process the stressor (like a zebra would run away from a lion, shake it off and go back to grazing), the chronic nervous system arousal and physiological stress response manifest as slow accumulation of damage in the physical and mental bodies, leading to heart disease, cancer, depression, etc.

Land and nature spirits can help teach us how to respond to stressors in a healthy way. Stressors are an inevitable part of living in the world, but we can manage them without detrimental effects if we know how to process them out of our systems. Let’s look at the stressor of a zebra encountering a lion (this model is based on The Power of the Herd, by Linda Kohanov):

1. Feel the stressor (see/sense the lion). Fully experience the stressor and allow it to move through the body, activating the physiological stress response.

2. Receive the message behind the stressor (my life is in danger).

3. Change something in response to the message and return to a place of safety (run away).

4. Release the stressor and move on (shake it off and go back to grazing).

The time it takes to move through those four steps varies in every situation, but ideally, we move through the whole cycle and release the stressor. However, many humans get stuck at any of those four steps, which leads to chronic nervous system dysregulation. Stressors can get stuck in people as:

1. Suppressors/stuffers: People who value logic over feeling and suppress emotions before they arise, creating stagnation in the body and building toward a “rock bottom/red flag” moment, or people who are already dysregulated, avoidant or otherwise dissociative, and are numb to the stressor in the first place.

2. Expressers: People who sit in the feeling space without getting the message behind emotion, drama kings and queens, people who continually emote without learning from the experience, leading to energy burnout and nervous system fatigue.

3. Sufferers: People who never act out of fear, perceived obstacles, judgement, and never change their circumstances in response to stressor messages, living in a state of paralysis and possibly perpetual victimhood.

4. Grudge-holders: People who hold onto stressors even after the danger/threat has passed, creating chronic stress and disease in the body.

Collaborating with land and nature spirits can support healthy nervous system regulation, mental health and emotional peace, healthy sleep and organ function, and recovery from stress and trauma. Here are some of the reasons why land and nature spirit allies are essential support for nervous system healing:

• Being connected with local land spirits, living temples and ley lines helps you feel more grounded, resourced and regulated. Your nervous system can “blueprint” off of the Earth grid and currents of energy to create more flow, release stagnation and bring more healthy energy into your system.

• Grounding and connecting into Gaia through local land spirits can help you feel supported and protected, which will make it easier to safely open yourself to feeling and sensitivity. When we’re holding trauma or nervous system activation in our bodies, we often shut down sensation and body/emotional awareness as a safeguard. While this is a temporarily protective mechanism, it’s not healthy long-term. When we feel safe enough to let ourselves feel, we can process and release the feelings.

• When we open ourselves to connect with nature spirits, we often receive wisdom and messages that are helpful for our journeys. If you’re processing heavy emotions and grief, Hawthorn can support you with heart healing. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the shadow, Owl can help you see clearly in the darkness. If you’re struggling in your relationships, Beaver can help you anchor into family and community while maintaining healthy boundaries. Having strong allyships with nature spirits allows us to ask for support from their wisdom and expertise.

• Land and nature spirits help us move out of overwhelm, paralysis or frenzy, into aligned and sustainable action. If you experience dysregulation as hyperactivity, franticness, mania or you can’t sit still, land and nature spirits will help you slow down to the speed of Earth and regulate yourself to healthy, sustainable cycles of movement. If you experience dysregulation as lethargy, fatigue, paralysis or fear to take action, land and nature spirits will help you create momentum and movement of energy that feels supported and aligned. Land and nature spirits are adaptogenic allies.

• Land and nature spirits help us de-center the Self and connect to the web of life all around us. When we remember the part that we play in the grand symphony of aliveness, it can recontextualize our experience, remind us of our belonging, encourage empathy and compassion, and evoke forgiveness and gratitude.

Do you want to…

• …create a functionally purposeful allyship with Gaia to support your healing journey?

• …work with the powerful energy of local sacred sites and natural temples on the land where you live?

• …receive guidance and support from your nature spirit allies for the purpose of healing and transformation?

• …attune and regulate your nervous system to the healthy, thriving energy grid of Gaia?

Sacred Ecology begins July 26. Register now!

Are you living in chaos?

Do you or your kids have trouble sleeping? Does your home or property feel chaotic? Are your pets nervous, jumpy or reactive? If so, your home probably isn’t anchored and integrated properly with the local land and nature spirits.

Consider the sensibilities of ancient architecture and land-oriented construction (some of this is still practiced in contemporary Earth-based cultures). Structures like the Egyptian and Mesoamerican pyramids, burial mounds, Stonehenge, temples and places of energetic importance were built intentionally aligned to ley lines, solar cycles and the stars. The doors of certain structures faced East, to receive the rising sun. All of these were vitally important factors in deciding where and how to build temples, set up inípis and establish villages, in order to align most beneficially with the Earth grid.

Modern architecture has different priorities. As many homes as possible are squeezed onto tiny lots. Original trees are ripped out to make room for buildings. Mountains are flattened. Waterways are redirected or dammed. Buildings are positioned wherever it is convenient to build, not where they are gracefully aligned and integrated with the existing grid of Earth power. (I won’t even get into the concrete foundations and electrical interferences.)

When we spend so much of our time inside isolated structures that are misaligned and disconnected from the Earth grid, or live in places where the grid has been disrupted through human activity, it is a natural outcome to experience anxiety, insomnia, chaos and dysregulation.

Happily, working with the land and nature spirits to grid and anchor your home can make a big difference. After advising someone about how to connect with local land and nature spirits, she reported a huge shift in her dog’s behavior. “Since I moved to Costa Rica last year, my dog has been very nervous and anxious. When I started making offerings and connecting to the land, she became much more relaxed, and now is confident walking through the jungle with me.” In this case, her dog’s anxiety was not something we were trying to address, but it was one of many beneficial outcomes from her connecting to the Earth grid and building relationships with local nature spirits.

Here are some ways to create more peace, health and relaxation for you, your kids, your pets and your home:

• Assess the existing Earth grid and ley lines on and around the land where you live, and grid your home to these currents of energy.

• Locate and connect with/make offerings at local living temples and sacred sites.

• Connect with the local guardian nature spirits, make prayers and offerings, and ask for their support and blessings.

• Use altars, plants, crystals and other features in your home to recalibrate your space to the Earth grid and ensure harmonious alignment in your temple.

• Take your kids on neighborhood nature walks so they can meet the local nature spirits. Teach them how to make offerings and ask for blessings, protection and help so that they feel safe and relaxed.

Do you want to…

• …create functionally purposeful allyships with local nature spirits to support your spiritual practice?

• …build lifelong partnerships with powerful natural allies and receive deep initiations into their mysteries?

• …confidently invoke the nature spirits during your meditation or ceremonial practice?

Sacred Ecology begins July 26. Register now!

Who is Sacred Ecology for?

Dear human,

I get it. You love nature. You love animals and plants, you love being outside and you can feel the energy of life all around you. You know that Gaia is alive and that all beings on Earth have their own magic, teachings, life path and purpose.

But sometimes you feel disconnected from that web of life. Sometimes you feel like you’re on the outside looking in at the mysterious beauty and power of nature. And unfortunately, that is a normal byproduct of modern society. We live in a world of houses and concrete and wifi, where human intellect is placed on a pedestal above all other life forms. It is a weird and shitty world view that separates us from our true origins as children of Gaia, and removes us from our natural connection and allyship to land and nature spirits.

Working with land and nature spirits is your birthright as a child of Earth.

Maybe it never occurred to you that collaborating with the land and nature spirits could improve your physical health, bring peace of mind and enhance your psychic abilities. Maybe it slipped your mind that anchoring your healing practice into the Earth grid would make your work safer, more powerful and sustainable. Maybe you want to connect with the nature spirits, but you don’t know how or where to start.

Regardless, I see you, and I’ve got you covered.

I see that you want to create powerful allyships with land and nature spirits to support you in your healing or spiritual practice. I see that you feel drawn to a particular animal, plant, river or mountain, but you don’t know how to build a deeper connection. I see that you feel disconnected and isolated in this concrete world, and you are ready to come home to Gaia and the web of life. I see that you want to pray with the trees, make offerings to the Earth and receive messages from the birds and the wind.

I see that you are ready to work with land and nature spirits.

Who is Sacred Ecology for?

• You love nature. You feel connected to plants and animals and enjoy the outdoors, but you’re ready to go beyond enjoying nature into a deep, functional allyship with Gaia.

• You are ready to receive initiations and teachings directly from the original wisdom keepers: plants, animals, stones, elements, and Gaia herself. You are ready to collaborate with ancient and powerful allies.

• You want to go beyond the superficial, “Instagram Witch” nature-based spiritual practice to learn the underlying concepts and tools that support powerful animistic practices like shamanism, mediumship and witchcraft.

• You are a healer, ceremonial guide, retreat facilitator or spaceholder. You want to make sure that your container of healing and transformation is as safe and powerful as possible so your clients can receive the most benefit. You are ready to invoke your nature spirit allies to support your work.

• You are a homesteader, gardener or permaculturist. You want to go beyond the functional aspects of land stewardship to cultivate a spiritual partnership with the guardians and wisdom keepers of the land.

• You are on a healing journey to regulate your nervous system, support mental or physical health, or recover from trauma. You want to attune and calibrate your etheric and physical bodies to the nurturing stability of Gaia.

You feel the calling and remembrance of the wisdom of nature.

You feel Gaia beckoning you to collaborate with her magic.

You are eager to meet and study new, powerful allies.

You are ready to work with land and nature spirits.

If any of this calls to you, Sacred Ecology is right for you.

Sacred Ecology begins July 26.

This course includes:

• 7 live online classes, each including training, hands-on exercises and integration prompts.

• Ceremonial initiation with your new nature spirit ally.

• Private online community for resources and connection.

• Upgrade option: Add three discounted 1:1 sessions with Michelle for personalized support and mentorship.

Register now!

How to Recognize and Integrate Nature Spirit Initiations

I was attacked by an owl in September 2017.

One week later, I was catalyzed into a major healing initiation, supported by Owl medicine.

In Shamanic tradition, attacks, stings, bites or significant encounters with animals are sometimes recognized as initiations into their medicine. The same is true for plants: stings, scratches, poisoning, reaction or significant encounters are sometimes, but not always, initiations.

I had just moved into a new home, and the first thing I do whenever I move to a new place is to walk the area and get to know the land and local nature spirits. I walked through a patch of forest behind my neighborhood and had just come out the other side when something slammed into the back of my head.

I whipped around in stunned confusion, and saw an owl flying away. It landed on a nearby tree branch and regarded me with piercing eyes. We stared at each other for a moment, and it launched itself at me again, flying right towards my face. I reflexively raised my arms and yelled something, and it flew back to the branch. I walked away, looking over my shoulder. By the time I walked a shaky lap to calm down, it had gone. I had to go back through the forest to get home, but I did not see the owl again that evening.

The following day, I returned to the patch of forest and saw several snags (standing dead trees) with holes that looked ideal for owl roosts. I made an offering to Owl at one of the snags and asked for their consent to share this land with them.

The big bump on my head remained for about a week, right at the site of my back body Third Eye. During that time, I reflected on Owl energy. I was unsure if this had merely been an introduction to a local nature spirit, or if it was an initiation into their medicine to form a deep allyship. The answer soon became obvious.

The following week, I decided to invoke my spirit team for a healing session, for what I thought was a completely unrelated issue. Something regarding my ancestral lineages had been bothering me in the back of my mind for a while, and I wanted to give it some attention to see what would emerge.

As I dove in, I saw big, black eyes rushing toward me through the darkness, and I felt a jolt of energy as I recognized the owl’s eyes. I remembered thinking at the time of the attack, “I understand why some cultures are afraid of owls.” They are silent, ghostly predators who come alive in the shadow. There are some species of owls who have bright yellow irises and their eyes look more “cute” and friendly to our human perception, but the kind of owl that attacked me has eyes that look completely black. (It was a Barred Owl. Go ahead, look up a picture and imagine it flying at your face. It was intimidating.)

As the black eyes filled my inner vision, I was surrounded in soft darkness. I felt my awareness heighten, my senses sharpened and everything seemed to go still. I heard the words, “It is safe to see.” The darkness seemed to ease, but I realized it was my perception that had changed, not the light.

And then Owl showed me a puzzle piece that I had never seen in 30 years of knowing my family history, and I felt the collective grief and pain of my ancestors come crashing down.

I ended up on the floor of my healing room, sobbing as I channeled the words and the grief of my ancestors. But even though I felt their heartbreak moving through me like a river, I felt myself held in the soft embrace of Owl wings, and I saw the black eyes reminding me that it was safe to see in the darkness.

When Owl spirit sent one of its children to strike me in the back of the head, it was not merely an introduction to the local land guardians. It was an infusion of Owl medicine directly into my Third Eye. Owl was preparing me to serve the healing of some deep, multigenerational grief in my own lineage, and also to help others navigate their darkness with more peace and comfort. Owl is one of my primary spirit allies when I support my clients in deep shadow work. When I took up painting a few years ago, my first project was an Owl portrait that now hangs in the stairwell leading up to the healing room.

I have continued to study with Owl since my initiation. I regularly see owls in that same patch of forest, but have never been attacked again. I now live on different land and there are owl guardians here as well: Barred Owls, and tiny Western Screech Owls that are not shy about flitting close to me and Athena, and could fit in the palm of my hand.

Not every encounter with a nature spirit is an initiation into their medicine. Sometimes they appear as a message or an invitation, sometimes they show up just to hang out, or sometimes they are simply living their lives as sovereign beings in our vicinity.

Here are some indicators that a nature spirit is showing up not just as an encounter, but a medicine initiation:

• A nature spirit ally is more likely to appear at a threshold moment in your life. Big shifts make space for new energy, and as you enter new life chapters and phases, you will grow with new allyships.

• Nature spirit initiations are not always dramatic. They often appear as repeat encounters, both in their embodied form and in other areas. (Maybe you start seeing rabbits in your neighborhood, and then you see rabbit stickers, toys or artwork everywhere you turn. Follow the White Rabbit!) Repeat encounters gradually introduce you to the medicine of this nature spirit and open you to receive their teachings.

• Sometimes initiations are dramatic or intense encounters, but not every dramatic encounter is an initiation. During a dramatic encounter such as an attack, there is a code transmission that integrates over a longer period of time.

• If you say yes to this ally and invite them in, they will start to show up in your life, appear in your meditations, etc. You can support this relationship by making offerings, observing them in a respectful way, and communicating with them in your personal practice.

Do you want to…

• …receive teachings and initiations from the original wisdom keepers: plants, animals, stones and nature herself?

• …create functionally purposeful allyships with local nature spirits to support your spiritual practice?

• …build lifelong partnerships with powerful natural allies and receive deep initiations into their mysteries?

• …confidently invoke the nature spirits during your meditation or ceremonial practice?

• …receive guidance and support as you establish powerful partnerships with new spirit allies?

Sacred Ecology begins July 26.

Register now!

Decolonize Your Spirit Guides

Creating a strong relationship with a spirit ally takes time, devotion and care. There is a misconception that, as shamanic practitioners, we can call upon whatever spirits we want to in session and they will show up and do whatever we want them to. But if there is not an existing relationship or energetic connection, there is not a true allyship. This spirit must consent to sharing their medicine with us, and we must be initiated into their wisdom.

Shamanic practice without consent is colonization. Drawing power from the Earth and nature spirits without their consent and without an active, working relationship is extractive and consumptive. The planet is full of people who show up to take, because they think they are entitled to the abundant life and generosity of Gaia.

Animistic practices like shamanism, witchcraft and mediumship are rooted in energy exchange, respect and honoring life, and relationship. A practitioner trying to form a relationship with land and nature spirits makes offerings, asks permission to form a connection with them, and treats them as honored allies. Collaborating with the land and nature spirits is never assumed. Allyships with medicines and spirits are cultivated over many years, and that relationship is what allows a practitioner to draw upon that power.

When you establish consent with the land and nature spirits, you can study with them and form a working relationship. It is impossible to receive the medicine of a nature spirit unless it offers to share its power with you, and that only comes through asking consent and honoring the answer, yes or no.

When you have healthy relationships with the land and nature spirits, you can call upon them and collaborate with their medicine for the purpose of healing and ceremony.

Do you want to…

• …create functionally purposeful allyships with local nature spirits to support your spiritual practice?

• …build lifelong partnerships with powerful natural allies and receive deep initiations into their mysteries?

• …confidently invoke the nature spirits during your meditation or ceremonial practice?

Sacred Ecology begins July 26.

Register now!

What's in the Box?

What's included in the Sacred Ecology curriculum? Check it out:

1. Foundations of Animism

• What land and nature spirits are

• Why land and nature spirits are vitally important to animistic practice (shamanism, witchcraft, traditional medicine work)

• Context and positionality in animistic practice

• Why your Shamanic work needs to be anchored into Gaia to be most effective

• Reclaiming and healing indigeneity

2. How to Communicate with Land and Nature Spirits

• Devotion and collaboration

• 3 essential types of offerings

• How to make offerings

• Receiving messages, signs and communication from nature spirits

3. Temple Planet

• Geomancy: collaborating with Earth magic

• Ley lines and the Earth grid

• Sacred sites, living temples and power portals

• Guardians and anchor allies

4. Creating a Protectorate

• What are the Directions and how to work with them

• How to attune yourself to Gaia's frequency

• How to cast a protectorate and create temple space

5. Nature Spirit Allies

• Introduction to nature spirits

• Embodied and etheric nature spirits

• Individual, communal and planetary nature spirits

• Which nature spirits are trying to get your attention and connect with you?

6. Foundations of Ecology

• Intersection of science and shamanic practice

• Niches, roles and relationships with other species

• What is the context of a nature spirit? What role do they play in the ecosystem? What is their medicine?

7. Initiation and Integration

• Ceremonial initiation with your nature spirit ally

• How to work with and integrate your ally

• Working with land and nature spirits in your personal and professional spiritual practice

This course includes:

• 7 live online classes, each including training, hands-on exercises and integration prompts.

• Ceremonial initiation with your new nature spirit ally.

• Private online community for resources and connection.

• Upgrade option: Add three discounted 1:1 sessions with Michelle for personalized support and mentorship.

Use this code for $100 off at checkout: EB100SE

Early Bird expires July 1! Register now to claim your discount.

Attn: Solo Practitioners and Healers

If you are a solo practitioner, you need strong connections with spirit allies to do your work properly.

All healing and ceremonial work is collaborative. Sometimes we collaborate with other practitioners, like a coven or priestess circle, or co-facilitating a shamanic ceremony. But even when we’re “alone,” we’re never alone. We collaborate with our clients, we collaborate with medicines, nature spirits and guides. We collaborate with Gaia herself. Because all healing work is collaborative, strong connections with spirit allies are vitally important to healing work and magical practice.

As individuals, our knowledge and power are finite. None of us are experts in everything. Our personal energy is inherently limited by our bodies, personal practice, resilience and nutrition. Personal energy can fluctuate and be impacted by a bad night’s sleep, hormonal cycles or existential angst.

Without our spirit allies, we burn out. We are limited by our personal resources and capacity. We are more vulnerable to predatory energies. We support our clients at the expense of our own health and well-being.

The great thing about collaborating with spirit allies is that we don’t have to rely solely on our personal knowledge and power. We get to invoke the spirits that specialize in the energy we are inviting for our clients, and share their mastery. We get to call upon and channel the abundant generosity of Gaia, to resource our healing work from the continuously flowing planetary grid.

Do you want to…

• …create a functionally purposeful allyship with Gaia to support your spiritual practice?

• …receive teachings and initiations from the original wisdom keepers: plants, animals, stones and nature herself?

• …anchor your personal or professional healing practice into the powerful, amplified grid of Gaia?

• …ensure optimal safety and protection in your home, ceremonial and temple spaces?

• …receive guidance and support as you establish powerful partnerships with new spirit allies?

Sacred Ecology begins July 26.

This course includes:

• 7 live online classes, each including training, hands-on exercises and integration prompts.

• Ceremonial initiation with your new nature spirit ally.

• Private online community for resources and connection.

• Upgrade option: Add three discounted 1:1 sessions with Michelle for personalized support and mentorship.

Early Bird pricing ends July 1. Use this code at checkout for $100 off: EB100SE

Attn: Retreat Leaders and Ceremony Facilitators

Retreat leaders and ceremonial facilitators: if you are not connecting with the land and nature spirits before your clients arrive, you are making your work more difficult and your clients’ experience less powerful than it could be.

I’m sure you’re great at leading retreats and holding ceremonies. You probably clear the space before your clients arrive, and maybe set up an altar. That’s a good start, but it’s not enough. Anchoring your retreat or ceremony with the local land and nature spirits is one of those things where you don’t think it matters until you do it, and then you realize what a huge difference it makes.

A shamanic practitioner friend of mine attended a retreat in Guatemala, and while she enjoyed the retreat activities, she felt like there was something missing. She told me, “The land never let me in while I was there. It was beautiful, but it was like looking at a pretty postcard. I couldn’t actually feel it like I’m used to.”

I am acquainted with the facilitators of the retreat she attended, and I am fairly certain that they did not anchor into the land and Earth grid before everyone arrived. (These people are great at what they do, but they are not well trained in shamanic practice.) Most people probably never would have consciously noticed, but my friend is a highly skilled and sensitive practitioner, and she felt the disconnect.

Even though most of your retreat or ceremony participants might not consciously notice the disconnect, they will feel it on the subtle level. So much of the work at retreats and ceremony takes place in the subtle realms. We cannot ignore the impact this has on the experience.

Here are some of the things that can go wrong if your retreat or ceremony isn’t connected to the land and nature spirits:

• Participants have more trouble grounding and regulating their energy. People are more likely to feel tired, triggered, and depleted. Participants may not sleep well, are more likely to develop colds or “ascension flu” symptoms and may be generally more uncomfortable or agitated.

• You (and your team/co-facilitators) will have to work harder to hold the container. Participants may need more personal attention from you and you will be depleting more of your personal energy to anchor the field. You are more likely to feel depleted during and after the event.

• There will be a higher risk of unwelcome energies and potentially harmful entities, especially if practicing medicine work, channeling and mediumship. There may be more need for energetic “heavy lifts,” such as entity extractions and psychic surgery.

• Since your clients will be working harder to ground and regulate themselves on the subtle level, less of their personal energy will be available for deep work. They will probably have some epiphanies and enjoy themselves (because you’re a great retreat facilitator), but they might be left feeling like there’s a piece missing, or like your retreat was great, but not amazing.

Here are some of the ways that connecting to the land and nature spirits can help your retreat or ceremony be even more impactful and beneficial:

• When you anchor into the land, you are resourcing your practice from the Earth grid and you have the blessing of the local nature spirits to do your work. Participants are more likely to sleep well, feel resourced, have an easier time grounding and regulating their energy and feel connected to their inner wisdom.

• You and your team will not have to work as hard to anchor the field, because the land and nature spirits will help you do that. More of your personal energy will be available to support your clients and help them have an amazing experience, and you will feel more resourced and supported as you do that.

• While there is always the potential that unwelcome energies and entities might show up, that risk is much lower when your work is anchored in with the land and nature spirits. Nature spirits are naturally immune to many harmful entities and they will support your ceremony field in staying clear and healthy.

• Since your participants will be so supported by the land and nature spirits, more of their subtle energy will be available for creativity, inspiration, intuition and deep healing work. They are more likely to gel as a group and form positive connections with each other. Their nervous systems will have more regulation support, so they will likely have more “aha!” moments and be able to bounce back more easily in the case of triggers or overwhelm. Attendees are more likely to walk away from your event feeling full, radiant, and like they had an amazing experience.

Your retreats and ceremonies can go from “great, but something is missing” to “OMG amazing and impactful.”

Do you want to learn how to connect with the local land and nature spirits, to support your retreats and ceremonies?

Sacred Ecology begins July 26.

This course includes:

• 7 live online classes, each including training, hands-on exercises and integration prompts.

• Ceremonial initiation with your new nature spirit ally.

• Private online community for resources and connection.

• Upgrade option: Add three discounted 1:1 sessions with Michelle for personalized support and mentorship.

Use this code for $100 off at checkout: EB100SE

Early Bird expires July 1! Register now to claim your discount.

Meet Your Guide

I’m Michelle Hawk: Shamanic Alchemist, Spiritual Mentor, Master Healer.

As a child, I always felt connected to animals, nature and magic. The world felt alive to me in a way I eventually realized most people didn’t understand, so I hid and didn’t tell anyone about my conversations with animals or the spirits I saw.

When I found out about Shamanism at age 15, everything changed for me. Animistic Shamanism gave me a context and vocabulary for what I already knew: the world and all beings are alive and connected through the unseen realms, and the animals, plants and stones all have powerful wisdom and to share.

I have been studying and practicing animistic Shamanism with various teachers since 2003, and under dedicated mentorship since 2009. My core Shamanic lineages come from the Shaman clan Baksa of what is now Hungary, and the Celtic people and horse tribes who traveled across Europe. I have also studied with Turtle Island indigenous teachers.

For me, the spirituality of life and the science of life have always gone hand in hand. In university, I earned my degree in biology, specializing in animal physiology and behavior. My undergraduate research was in hummingbird foraging behavior, and I dove into tropical ecology and conservation during my research.

As a Shaman, biologist and passionate naturalist, my practice is rooted in deep reverence for life and the wisdom of Gaia, scientific principles of ecology and environmentalism, and genuine appreciation and enthusiasm for nature.

Are you ready to work with land and nature spirits?

Sacred Ecology begins July 26.

This course includes:

• 7 live online classes, each including training, hands-on exercises and integration prompts.

• Ceremonial initiation with your new nature spirit ally.

• Private online community for resources and connection.

• Upgrade option: Add three discounted 1:1 sessions with Michelle for personalized support and mentorship.

Early Bird pricing ends July 1. Use this code at checkout for $100 off: EB100SE

Safety and Protection in Home and Temple Space

If you don’t have active, working relationships with local land and nature spirits, you are missing a big component of safety and protection in your home, temple, and ceremonial space.

You know that energetic safety and psychic protection are important in healing and ceremonial work. You probably have some great tools for clearing energy, invoking angels and casting a circle of light. Maybe you have some nice altars set up with salt and tourmaline.

But did you know that your biggest, most immediate allies in safety and protection are the local land and nature spirits?

There are plenty of yucky entities and energies that can be drawn to your home or temple space, particularly if you’re doing deep healing or shadow work, hosting medicine ceremonies or practicing channeling and mediumship. Mocking spirits, parasitic entities, vicious spirits, walk-ins, hungry ghosts, soul fragments, vampiric energies, distortion fields, egregores, unprocessed trauma, or even psychic attacks from another person: we know these entities exist in the world and practicing energy work carries the inherent risk of inviting more of them into our lives. But if your protection practices aren’t 100% solid, these entities will hang out in your space and your energy field. Best case scenario, they feel sludgy and make you tired. Worst case scenario, they will f* you up, and f* up your life.

Why are land and nature spirits the best allies for protection?

• Most of the energies I listed above originate from or feed on warped human ego projections. Land and nature spirits don’t have human ego projections, so they are simply immune to these entities. Their immunity comes from innocence. Nature spirits connect us with our own, primal nature and innocence. They help us become immune.

• Even though land and nature spirits are immune, they still don’t like the harmful distortions the entities cause, so land and natures spirits may intervene to either get rid of the entities or compost them. Gaia is great at composting old, decaying or discarded energy and turning it into something fertile and healthy.

• Land and nature spirits can be more effective than angels or etheric guides for safety and protection because they are actually embodied on the physical plane. Angels and etheric guides are great, but they have no material correspondence on Earth. Land and nature spirits are anchored into bioforms, and on Earth, matter matters.

• Having active, working relationships with land and nature spirits and anchoring your home or temple space into the Earth grid means that you are less likely to attract harmful entities in the first place. Gaia is a living temple planet, and when your sacred space is integrated with hers, you are under her protection.

But here’s the thing: in order to receive the safety and protection of the land and nature spirits, you have to ask for help. They won’t just automatically protect you. You must have an active, working relationship with the land and nature spirits, and you must invoke them as allies.

Do you want to collaborate with the living temple of Gaia to create sacred space in your home and ceremonial circles?

Do you want to communicate with powerful allies so you can learn from their wisdom and receive their support and protection?

Do you want to learn how to work with land and nature spirits?

Sacred Ecology begins July 26.

This course includes:

• 7 live online classes, each including training, hands-on exercises and integration prompts.

• Ceremonial initiation with your new nature spirit ally.

• Private online community for resources and connection.

• Upgrade option: Add three discounted 1:1 sessions with Michelle for personalized support and mentorship.

Early Bird pricing ends July 1. Use this code at checkout for $100 off: EB100SE

Are you sabotaging your energy work?

If you don’t have an active, working relationship with local land and nature spirits, you might be sabotaging your healing and ceremonial work.

Imagine for a moment that you are setting up a healing studio or ceremonial circle in an existing temple space. This temple already has its own altars, temple keepers and guardians who protect and regulate the energy of the space. There are plenty of people who already live and work and pray at the temple. The temple was humming along just fine, doing its own thing before you got there.

When you arrived at the temple, you didn’t ask anyone’s permission if you could be there and do your work. You didn’t introduce yourself to anyone, or take the time to get to know the existing temple structure. You simply waltzed in and set up your healing studio right in the middle of the temple. You built your own altars on top of the ones that were already there. You never considered whether you, your clients and your type of energy work were welcome and compatible with the existing structure of the temple. You wanted to move into that space to do your work, so you did.

The temple is a sacred space and the guardians there are generally kind, so they may or may not ask you to leave directly. But they’re probably not going to go out of their way to help you or accommodate you, especially if you never bothered to introduce yourself, learn their names, or ask them if you could set up your healing work. The temple and temple keepers are going to keep doing what they were already doing, regardless of how it may disrupt your healing work. They are going to maintain their altars and the currents of energy already in the temple, even if it disturbs the ceremony current. Best case scenario, they will ignore you. Worst case scenario, they will interfere with your healing work to make you leave.

Now imagine that this temple space is the land herself, and the guardians and temple keepers are the nature spirits that already exist on the land. The altars are the sacred spaces on the land where energy converges and regulates the ecosystem. The currents of prayer in the temple are the ley lines and Earth grid of aliveness on Gaia.

You would never move into a human-built temple space without asking permission. You would never assume you were invited. In order to do delicate and powerful work for healing and ceremony, you would have a conversation to make sure your work is welcome and aligned. To move in with entitlement would be rude and the temple keepers would be totally justified in kicking you out.

Active, working relationships with land and nature spirits are not just nice to have for healing and ceremonial work. They are functionally purposeful, and necessary.

Here’s what becomes possible when you have active, working relationships with local land and nature spirits:

• Instead of imposing your presence and work on the land without asking permission, you will be a welcome collaborator with a powerful, existing temple. Your healing and ceremonial work will be allowed to utilize the temple resources and harmonize with existing currents of energy.

• Instead of being sustained and generated by you and your spirit council, your healing and ceremonial work will be grounded and anchored into the energy grid of Gaia. Your work will be more powerful, sustainable and resourced.

• Instead of being an uninvited guest, you will form close relationships with the guardians and temple keepers (local nature spirits) and may call upon them to support you in your healing and ceremonial work. The more you nurture these allyships, the more they will collaborate with you.

• Instead of having to work really hard to ground your energy and make sure there are no interferences, you will be clear and supported by the local nature spirits and they won’t interfere with you and your clients. Moreover, they will intercede against unwelcome influences on your behalf for the purpose of protection and regulation in ceremony.

As one student recently shared: “I’ve always felt confident and stable in energy work, but when I started making offerings and actively working with the land and nature spirits, it completely upleveled my healing work. I felt more resourced, grounded and supported. I was able to invoke the energy grid of the land where I live, and my clients since then are blown away by the power of the work. They say, ‘Your work was great already but something is different!’ So it’s not just me, they notice it, too.”

Do you want to learn how to work with land and nature spirits?

Sacred Ecology begins July 26.

This course includes:

• 7 live online classes, each including training, hands-on exercises and integration prompts.

• Ceremonial initiation with your new nature spirit ally.

• Private online community for resources and connection.

• Upgrade option: Add three discounted 1:1 sessions with Michelle for personalized support and mentorship.

Early Bird pricing ends July 1. Use this code at checkout for $100 off: EB100SE

Healing Through the Timeline: Trauma, Ancestors and a New Earth

You may have heard me mention a “shitty breakup” that took place last fall. In fact, the nightmare of those four days took place exactly six months ago this past weekend.

To give you a little bit of context, my ex and I were together for two years. There was a lot about our relationship that was really good and loving, but we simply weren’t right for each other. We “officially” broke up last summer, but continued for all intents and purposes to be in each other’s lives as partners because we loved each other so much. So of course, I was fully invested in supporting her with her big annual event: a four-day in-residence retreat in September.

The specifics of what happened at that event are not important for this story. All you need to know is that my partner of two years broke my trust more hurtfully than I ever thought possible, in a way that was completely out of integrity at every turn. Even worse, this betrayal took place during a time when I put everything else aside to help her and support her vision. Even worse still, I was stuck at this event for four days in a leadership role. I couldn’t leave, as I was responsible for her event attendees. My only option for external support was two other staffers who knew what was going on and helped me hold it together in front of 60+ people. During that time, I called deeply upon my own reserves of resilience and self-love. All you need to know is that those were four of the most challenging days of my life, and I’ve been healing and processing the resulting lessons and trauma in waves for the last six months.

Please understand, I’m in a good place now. In fact, I’m super impressed with myself and the amazing healing work I’ve done. (Self-hug. Good job, Michelle!) Overall, I have grown into a much healthier, more vibrant and alive place than I’ve been in a long time. And even though that challenging experience gave rise to so much growth and goodness, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard as f***. Even six months later, I still have the occasional wave of trauma echoes rolling through, and I get to roll up my sleeves and practice grace and compassion.

One such wave came through in a big way last week, and it's directly related to that powerful Full Moon. (Did you see it coming up huge and orange the other night???)

I felt “off” all day Thursday and Friday. I felt tender, reactive, volatile and like my energy was blocked. I did my practices, canceled everything that wasn’t important and took care of myself because I could tell something big was ready to shift.

On Friday night, I woke up promptly a few minutes before 3am. (The time period of 3-5am is when a lot of energy healing and psychic activity takes place. Usually I’ll wake up at that time if there’s deep healing work to be done, or Spirit really wants my attention.) Instead of feeling exasperated or resentful as I sometimes do when nudged awake at this hour, I asked with calm curiosity, “What do you want me to know?”

Immediately, I knew that I was being haunted. I rarely use that term, but the word “haunted” popped unmistakably into my mind, and I felt a lingering energy present with me. I asked if I was being haunted by my ex. “Not exactly.” I felt some of her energy but it didn’t feel like her, specifically. I asked if I was being haunted by anyone or anything else. “No.”

Then I saw a vision of myself from six months ago, and I realized that I was being haunted by this past version of myself. I looked awful. The energy around me was sharp, hot and fragmented, like shattered glass. I also felt a lot of wetness (grief is a very “wet” emotional energy). This version of me from the past looked enraged, on the verge of tears, and ready to explode. In other words, I saw myself as I felt during those four days.

I maintained the feeling of calm curiosity as I surrounded this vision of myself with love and compassion. As I soothed this Self, I was transported back to the event. I saw my Current Self standing next to my Past Self. I saw my Current Self at times literally with my hands on my shoulders from behind, offering love and support to my Past Self. I literally had my own back. I watched myself walk by my own side through every trauma of those four days. My Current Self held my Past Self as I sobbed in rage and grief. I got to relive one of the most hurtful experiences of my life from the perspective of six months down the road, knowing that I am whole and illuminated on the other side of this challenge. I got to support my Past Self from a place of empowerment, grace and feeling secure in my own health, well-being and aliveness. Instead of simply remembering the event as my Past Self, I got to re-experience it with my Past Self, with all the perspective and grace of my current reality. And it felt completely different.

Take a moment and let this sink in: I got to retroactively go back and offer myself healing through the timeline (Energetic Principle #1, above). Read on.

When I think about my lived experience of the event, I remember how supported I felt, even in the midst of four of the worst days of my life. Despite the devastating feeling of betrayal and horrible disillusionment, despite feeling bitter, trapped and alone, I remember feeling almost surprised at how much loving energy I felt around me. I remember several moments when I looked around and almost laughed at the astonishing juxtaposition: on one hand, a key area of my life was actively falling apart in irreparable damage. On the other, I felt more connected, supported and loved than I had any logical reason to feel.

I know now that, during the event, the support I felt was coming not only from my Guides and Teachers (as I thought at the time), but also from my Current Self offering healing that positively impacted my past experience (Energetic Principle #2, above). Read on.

Two of these moments in particular stand out:

On Saturday night after the main event of the evening, I made my way back to the staff house I shared with my partner. I didn’t even know if she would come back that night, or if she would find somewhere else to stay. Regardless, I felt sickened, physically nauseated and shaking from head to toe. Then the weirdest sensation came over me, and I watched as my hands started packing up all my things. Literally, that’s what it felt like. I didn’t consciously make the decision, but somehow my body was moving as if someone else had taken control and was telling it what to do. I watched my body move calmly around the space and was fascinated at the precise care and assuredness my hands exhibited, while my heart and mind felt anything but calm. At the time, I simply marveled at the feeling and let it happen.

The other night as I lay in bed and watched this vision, I saw my Current Self packing up my things at the event. I watched myself calmly and firmly guide my Past Self to take the necessary steps to remove myself from further harm, just as I would guide a friend or client in the middle of a traumatic situation. What I experienced in the moment at the event was my Current Self directing my movements, during a time when I was incapable of making grounded decisions and taking empowered action. Just like my friend describing the car accident, I experienced the visceral feeling of receiving my own, retroactive healing during the traumatic moment itself.

The other big moment of healing I experienced directly while at the event took place that night as I lay awake in a fiery rage. After wandering around and finding absolutely no available beds (short of dragging a mattress into the van), I had decided to sleep on a narrow cot in the next room, rather than stay one more second in a bed I had shared with my partner. I lay seething, wracked with grief and rage in equal measure, and used my breath to open my channels and allow the energy to flow. Suddenly, I was overcome with bliss. I didn’t consciously understand it, but I knew somehow that I had shifted out of the raw pain and into the pure life force at its core. I didn’t question it, I simply let myself dissolve in that bliss and be revitalized by it.

The other night as I watched this vision, I saw my Current Self kneeling beside the cot, placing my hands on my Past Self and offering all the healing love and compassion in my heart. And I saw the practices and intention I had at the time combine with and respond to this healing through the timeline. In the past, I experienced it as an inexplicable gratitude and euphoria. But now I know that I was able to retroactively heal and alter my lived experience of an incredibly traumatic circumstance. I felt healing take place the other night as I offered love to myself in the past, and I felt healing even while at the event, as I received love and blessings from myself in the future.

When I eventually did go back to sleep the other night, I knew that some profound healing work had taken place. Indeed, the next several days have felt much lighter and clearer.
 

TAKEAWAYS:

(If you decided to skip ahead, resume reading here.)

• I was guided by Spirit to offer healing energy to a past situation, and it worked.

• I experienced a profound and immediate relief by offering healing energy through the timeline. I feel the effects of this healing not only in my current reality, but I also experienced the benefits during the traumatic incident itself.

• As citizens of Earth and Lightworkers on this planet, we all received a powerful Priest/ess activation from the Virgo Full Moon. We are all being prompted and activated to offer healing energy throughout the timeline for the benefit of All Beings.

• As we are empowered Creators building a New Earth, we have the opportunity to offer healing to our ancestors, to our own past lives, to our descendants and to the future of Earth.

• It is vitally important that we use this Sacred Work to offer healing through the timeline, not only to clear and heal trauma from the past, but also to set the course for our future, personally and collectively.

• At a time of tremendous uncertainty and fear, a lot of people are asking, “What’s going to happen?” Friends, we answer that question every day with our choices, our prayers, our words and our actions. Instead of asking what the future holds, part of the Priest/ess path is the Sacred Work of anchoring in the frequency of harmonious alignment, joy, peace and right relation that spans throughout the timeline. The Sacred Work is to lovingly guide our planet and all beings to live in alignment with frequency, and create a New Earth in that vision.

  Get Support:

  Are you ready to step fully into your Embodied, Wild Self and offer powerful healing throughout the timeline, for the benefit of All Beings?
  
  Apply now for Embody Wild™ 1:1! Check out the details and submit your application here.

Practice Prompts For You:

(This is a new style so I'm open to feedback on this variation of Practice Prompt--let me know how you like it! One prompt each for ceremony, journaling, movement, discussion and inspired action.)

Ceremony: Hold a Full Moon ritual for yourself (if you haven’t already)

Journal: What is my Sacred Work?

Move: Ask your body how it wants to feel, move and express your Sacred Work. Dance, roll, stretch, walk it out.

Discuss: With a friend/family/community member, talk about the concept of healing through the timeline. What past challenges and traumas would you like to heal for yourself and for the planet? What future healing would you like to see for yourself and for everyone?

Act: What ONE inspired action step can you take TODAY to move in this direction?

Get Support: Are you ready to step fully into your Embodied, Wild Self and offer powerful healing throughout the timeline, for the benefit of All Beings?

Apply now for Embody Wild™ 1:1!

What energy and emotion is stuck in your body?

We all know that being in our bodies is a good thing, and physical practice is important. But have you ever wondered exactly WHY embodiment and movement practice is absolutely essential to our energetic and emotional health and well-being?

Today, let's look at one really important reason that has to do with hidden, trapped emotion and energy.

Any physical structure is encoded with the energetic frequency of its creation. Think about examples in your life or things we see in the world: if you're trying to work on a creative project but you're in a bad mood, your art will show it. Many women who are pregnant will go out of their way to surround themselves with positive music, art, jokes and loving messages so that their babies will grow with these energies. In Like Water for Chocolate (one of my favorite Latin American magical realism novels), the main character fills whatever food she's making with the essence of her emotion in the moment, and people experience that emotion when they eat the food. In other words, we can experience the energy that was involved in the creation process of a physical structure, even after the structure is "finished." Energy sticks around.

The same goes for the physical structures within our bodies: we are constantly forming and breaking down our cellular structure. In fact, the average adult human body creates over 200 billion new cells per day!

And each of those 200+ billion cells is encoded with your unique energetic and emotional frequency at the time.

"Wait, Michelle, that means if I'm feeling anger, grief, bitterness, depression, or anything else, that this emotional frequency is literally built into the physical structure of my body?"

Yes, it does! But don't worry, there are lots of ways to work with this. You're all good. Keep reading.

Instead of shaming ourselves or launching into a worry spiral (which will only create more of these stress-cells), let's gather some more information:

1. Humans are infinitely complex beings composed of myriad energies. Having some cells in your body that are encoded to "negative" emotions or energies does not mean that you as a holistic being are stuck in that energy.

2. In addition to building cells every day, our bodies also break down cells every day.

3. Our bodies are a holistic community of frequencies that resonate together, and it is possible to change the vibration of a physical structure by surrounding it with a higher-vibration frequency.

What does this mean? Let's apply our points to an example:

Imagine that you went through some really hard stuff last year. (I know I did--2019 was rough for a lot of people!) Maybe you lost a loved one, maybe you separated from your partner, maybe there were just a lot of smaller crappy things that felt like they really wore you down. You did your best at the time, but it was really hard. You felt angry, you grieved, you felt bitter, you felt all sorts of uncomfortable things. But you did it! You made it through and you can start to see the light again. Maybe the circumstances haven't changed, but you've come to a slightly better place about it, and now you're looking ahead at your healing and rebirth.

Your body built a lot of cellular structure during that time, on the order of trillions of cells. That's a lot of physical structure holding the energy of anger, grief, bitterness and other stuff. But remember:

1. You are an infinitely complex being. Even though your body might hold trillions of these cells encoded to anger and grief, your body also holds lots of cells encoded to other frequencies like joy, love and empowerment. There are people who dwell in that anger, grief and bitterness, and the proportion of their cellular structure is skewed accordingly. It doesn't mean they can't make a change, it'll just take more time and conscientious effort.

2. In addition to building all those trillions of "sad cells," your body also broke some of them down.

3. Your body is a collaborative community of cells that communicate with each other and adjust their frequencies for a harmonious collective reality. This means that some of your "sad cells" are interacting with "happy cells," and their vibration is shifting to align with these healthier frequencies.

"But what about those hidden, trapped emotions you mentioned earlier? I still feel those energies in my physical body."

Right. That's a thing for sure. Even though the body has lots of mechanisms to heal itself, it needs some directed support and practice in order to make bigger changes.

Your body needs intentional, proactive, embodied practice to break down hidden, trapped emotions and unhealthy cellular structure, and rebuild new cells that hold the frequencies of health, joy and vitality.

Sitting on the meditation cushion and doing forgiveness practices is not enough. Yes, it's important to work in the realm of consciousness, but until it actually lands in the body, it's not a full transformation.

Doing a "workout" is not enough. Going for a run or going to the gym to mentally check out and listen to a podcast or think about all your stressors isn't helping to cleanse those frequencies from the body.

What is the solution to releasing hidden, trapped emotion and "negative" energetic frequencies from our physical structures?

The best way to release hidden, trapped emotion and "negative" energies from the body is to cultivate your embodied awareness and practice, in order to bring all the magic and love of your pure Soul essence into your physical structures.

This will allow you to:

• Ensure that your body is built with more intentional, healthy and vibrant cells than "sad" ones

• Express your pure energetic Soul essence on the physical plane

• Live with more connection, freedom and personal power than ever before

• Intentionally send your awareness into your body to cultivate health and vitality

• Feel strong, empowered, confident and fully alive

• Go from feeling stuck, ungrounded and disconnected, to fully present, aligned and resourced

• Experience more pleasure, connection, vitality, peace and safety than ever before

When you do this, it means that your holistic physical structures will hold a higher vibration that will affect every other area of your life. It will improve your overall sense of well-being, your relationships, your career, your energetic practice, your community involvement--EVERY area of your life. No joke.

Are you ready to fully release hidden, trapped emotion and energy from your cells in order to live a fully Embodied, empowered life?

Apply now for Embody Wild!

What would be possible for you if you released all the hidden, trapped emotion and energy in your body?

Scroll down for a practice prompt from me!

Many blessings,

Questions to meditate/journal on:

What hidden, trapped emotions and energies are stuck in my body? Where do I notice them? What do they feel like?

What does this area of my body want to feel instead? What would embodying that new energy make available to me?

Eagle Creek and the Waters of Renewal

Eagle Creek was one of my favorite hikes before the Gorge fire in 2017.

I know other people loved it, too. Of all the beautiful hikes in the Columbia River Gorge, Eagle Creek was one of the most popular, with good reason. Not only was it a comfortable hike through gorgeous forest, but it took you along the creek to a spectacular waterfall and swimming hole. I traversed that trail many times and have enjoyed several epic picnics at the waterfall.

When the Gorge burned for months in 2017, I was devastated. Everyone was devastated.

In an interesting twist of timing, I had hiked that very trail not long before the fire, and had collected some water for ceremony from the creek. I had no idea that would be the last time I visited that sacred place for years to come (the trail is still closed), and that this rejuvenating spring of life and flow would soon be engulfed in flames and choked with ash.

When the fire began, I used some of my collection right away as part of a water blessing ceremony. But after that, the jar of Eagle Creek water stayed closed for over a year. It felt as though the water itself was in shock, and needed to rest and be still.

Sometime last year, the Eagle Creek water started calling to me. It was ready to work again, slowly and gently. I started using it on my altar, and noticed the energy it brought to the container held a profound mastery of Death and Rebirth. The Eagle Creek water held the burning fires of transformation.

At the end of last year, as I was going through my own major Death process, the Eagle Creek water made its presence known even more powerfully, and brought to my healing work a deep sense of surrender, trust and allowing. The Eagle Creek water held the wisdom of letting go, of releasing the unnecessary, of purification.

This morning as I redid my altar and was replacing the water, Eagle Creek water shouted at me with its strength and power. I felt it bursting with life, renewal and creative potential. Eagle Creek is alive and thriving. The burn scars are still there, but aliveness is exploding forth from the purified Earth. This morning, the Eagle Creek water showed me that it held the sacred rage and grief of all those who loved this place. It held the death and sacred destruction of the fires. It held the burning, the release, the purification. But the Eagle Creek water also holds life, renewal, vitality, and resurrection. It holds the aliveness of growing things, of new form, of building new structures. Eagle Creek water offered to support me in cultivating these energies, in my life and in the world.

This was the last of the water that I collected 2 1/2 years ago at one of my favorite places on Earth. As I meditated this morning with my revitalized altar, the powerful energies of Eagle Creek and its rebirth were undeniable.

I am so grateful to this sacred place and to the elements of this place for holding space not only for my own healing and transformation, but for so many people. This place was beloved by many. So many people walked the trail, swam in the pool, enjoyed its magic. So many people grieved as Eagle Creek burned.

I can only hope that as many people are receiving the powerful aliveness and renewal that is emanating from Eagle Creek now. As I embody the wild, untamed, pure life-ness of Eagle Creek and let this rejuvenating force express through me, may it benefit all beings.

If you've been to Eagle Creek, I invite you to tune in to your embodied, wild awareness of that sacred space. What energy do you notice there?

If you've never been to Eagle Creek, I still invite you to tune in to this sacred space. What do you notice in your embodied awareness of this powerful place?

What would be possible for you if you had full, uninhibited access to expressing the most wild, free, untamed, powerful parts of yourself? What would be different in your life, in the lives of your loved ones, and in the world if you were to embody your own, wild nature?

Are you ready to join me in the Embody Wild™ movement? Apply here

Many blessings,

Eagle Creek before the fire (image from Oregon Wild)

You did not come here to be a spiritual being.

You did not come here to be a spiritual being.

You already have access to all the mysteries and all knowledge. You are already connected to the infinite, the Divine, the whole perfection of Source.

Your soul is already perfect.

But you did not come here for that. You came to Earth for something else.

You came to Earth not to live as a spiritual being, but as an Embodied one.

You made the choice, long before you were born, to actualize your consciousness into a body on this beautiful, unique planet. You chose to gift yourself the experience of a lifetime on Earth, in this beautiful, unique body. You chose to embody a new form, born as a soft and tender animal, and explore this physical plane through your beautiful, unique life.

So why aren’t you living fully in your body?

I promise, you’re not alone. Most other humans aren’t fully embodied, either.

Most people are living their lives checked out of their bodies. Maybe they’re up in their head all the time, maybe they’re using spiritual practice as an escape from Earthly life, maybe they use crutches like Netflix, food, alcohol, sex, drugs, shopping, social media, being busy, their careers, the news, drama—anything to avoid being fully present within their own bodies. Anything to dilute and distract themselves.

I get it. I didn’t fully land in my Earth body until my early 20s. But I’ll tell you that story another time.

You might be wondering, “So? What’s the problem? Earth is hard. My life is busy. Why should I care about being Embodied?”

Oh, my dear human friend, you can’t afford NOT to care. None of us can.

You see, common understanding (and societal conditioning) tells us that human bodies are machines to be exercised and fed according to numbers and formulas. It tells us that bodies are prone to sickness and need medications to be normal. It tells us that we need to cover them up with fashionable items and that some bodies are more attractive and worthy than others. It tells us that our bodies are primitive—merely houses for the true power of the mind, heart and soul. Common understanding would have us believe that the body is the least important, least powerful aspect of our existence.

All of this could not be farther from the truth.

Friend, your body is a miracle. Your body is a perfect child of Earth. Your body is a powerful, magical animal that holds all the power and wisdom of Gaia within each cell.

Living fully in your body is the key to your own liberation.

Fully inhabiting your body will give you more power, life force, vitality, trust, creativity and pleasure than you ever imagined.

What would be possible for you if you had full, uninhibited access to expressing the most wild, free, untamed, powerful parts of yourself? What would be different in your life, in the lives of your loved ones, and in the world if you were to embody your own, wild nature?

Are you ready to join me in the Embody Wild™ movement? Apply here

Many blessings,

“The Church says: the body is a sin.
Science says: the body is a machine.
Advertising says: the body is a business.
The Body says: I am a fiesta.”

― Eduardo Galeano, Walking Words