The Red Stone

First Published Friday, November 12th, 2006

Someone from another site has asked me why I use the Red Stone for my logo? The short answer is that it symbolizes a value that is fundamental to my worldview.

I had taken a workshop at Elk Island National Park (near Edmonton, Alberta). A local Shamanic practitioner, (I don't think she calls herself a Shaman) holds an annual retreat to teach people how to get in touch with the natural world and the non-ordinary reality, (some people refer to this as the Spirit Realm).

The weekend was full of rituals and celebrations and we did half a dozen exercises that were geared to increasing awareness, trusting intuition, and opening-up to a broader definition of spirituality.

For me, the most significant activity was this:

We were asked to wander away from the camp and dowsing with a pendulum, find 7 stones - 4 to represent the directions and 3 for any intentions that came to mind while we were undertaking this task. We spent the next hour or two gathering stones, thinking about the presence of Spirit in all things and anticipating what would happen next, (the Red Stone was not one of the stones I found that day).

When we returned, we were asked to prepare the stones by washing them and decorating them with paint and then blessing them with rattles and incense, (I chose not to paint mine).

Next we were given a demonstration on how to do "Intuitive Readings" by listening for the symbolic messages that the stones would reveal to us. Then finally, after the demonstration we were asked to pair-off and start doing readings for one another. This step, of course, made many people uncomfortable or at least brought-up doubt, but I was moved to embrace it.

The Red Stone was the first stone I added to my original set of seven. I found this lovely red stone when out walking with my children, but had some strange feelings about arbitrarily adding it to my "Spirit Stones." So, I carried it around with me as I tried to discern what to do. I also had questions about how I would discover the meaning of the stone, because I had had an intention in mind when I found each of the others.

Within a week or so, I realized that I should include it with the others and I decided that because of the redness, it would stand for "passion." But when I started doing readings with it I discovered that it really represents something more like "motivation" and that it actually has 3 subtly different meanings, the most powerful of which is "the best outcome for all concerned."

I feel completely at ease doing these readings and I now understand that I have a gift. In the intervening two years have done more than a hundred readings and people are continually impressed with the information that is revealed to me by the stones and through intuition. The original set now consists of 12 stones, two bones, and a little metal wedge, (and I use another set of six stones for energy work).

Interesting to note is that one of my closest friends and a man who is quite clairvoyant recently said to me that "I sense there is a Shaman archetype emerging through you" (me). It's a weird thing for me to comprehend, but I'm trusting that by following this path, I am indeed moving towards that intention - "the best outcome for all concerned."

Source Of the Power of Ritual

What many neophytes don't realize is that the right attitude amplifies the power of your ritual practice. Ritual is a sort-of language that transmits information through gestures and metaphors.

Whether you are a serious amateur or a dabbler, your practice will be more intense and more profound, when you adopt a reverent attitude, take all the time you need, and have extremely clear intentions. This will increase the "amplitude and frequency" of the signal you're sending out into the Universe. The power of ritual is in being present; clear; intentional.

Shamanism, Healing and Divination

But please note that divination is not solely to be left to the Shamans. All humans have psychic experiences. Follow this link to learn how to do psychic readings using the Shaman Stones.

Read the whole article on HarmoniousLiving.co.za here.

Social Programming Rant

Somehow, the "Western/North American" culture has programmed an entire generation of Earthlings to seek personal gratification in many forms. We all want a pay raise; we all want to reduce our taxes; we all want a beautiful boy friend/girl friend/spouse... we want consumer goods (TVs, I-Pods, cell phones, cars, clothes)... we want privileges (move to the head of the line, graduate from the best college/university, and have someone else school our children and clean our toilets).

But with each of these choices comes a thief that sneaks-into our minds: The TV brings mass marketing and a blatant censorship, they tell only part of the story and program us to buy more/do more/have more fun; to believe "War is Noble," that "major-league sports" are truly important; that Muslims/Christians/Jews and everybody else are a threat; that pharmaceutical medicines are good but natural medicines are bad.

Schools propagate social problems and learning problems, they encourage psychoactive drug therapies and are "Socially Engineering" each next generation to be passive, obedient, selfish workers who will populate our world and who will: Buy the car - and ignore the pollution. Buy the imported clothes - and ignore the sweatshop. Use the cell phone (or the pharmaceutical medicines) - and ignore the VERY REAL health hazards...

We are also being programmed to date the pretty girl or the handsome boy, have the big wedding - and live happily ever after while getting deeper and deeper into credit card debt, obesity and clinical depression.

Wow, that all seems like I'm pretty pessimistic.

I'm not, (or at least NOT THAT pessimistic).