Inspirations: Ritual & Celebration

Creating Magic

Come to the mirror of sacred imagination, Stand close to yourself, Palms open, listen, wait First notes reflect the spirit.  You brought your anger and sorrow Now, dance upon them Allow darkness to reveal the new dream Call this to spiral, rise, and twist within Descend and root in solace Emerge from grief. Blow last kisses to the magic.    For those who have danced Shakti’s “The Magic Moment,” you’ve experienced the layers in this moving mudra that twists in and opens out, revealing secrets of self to Self.  You have felt the beauty in the music of the Ahn Trio, and moved deeply into the simplicity of the dance that roots the body in a magical space, and calls our divine nature forward.  For those of you viewing the dance for the first time, I hope you become part of this magic. Connect to mysterious forces by sitting in jnana mudra. (Touch thumb to forefinger.) Mudras lock in secrets, and awaken the unconscious to heal, seal, and support mind/body connections.  This is are also the territory of Shakti Yoga Dances.  The Jnana connects human consciousness to cosmic consciousness.  The index finger is symbolic of humanity, the thumb symbolizes the divine.  When joined, they create a lock, a particular symbolic meeting of forces which is part of a mudra’s mysteries. Please go to shaktidances.com, or You Tube, Shaktiyogadances, or Vimeo, The Magic Hour, or Face Book YogaWoman and hit ‘like’ and ‘share.’  Thank you!

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The Magic Hour

I began this year writing of Wizards and magical mastery.  Oddly, I close the year in similar fashion. This time, the magic was not intended, but random…or fated if you consider its birthing.  Perhaps the fated aspect came from having grown Wizard roots these past months in order to appreciate and connect to haphazard mysteries? This mundane moment was born unexpectedly, and became more…well, magical,    as it was unexpected, an unlikely confluence opening bodies to the numinous. During Saturday’s Yoga class, with a Full Moon guiding its structure, we began by circling the torso, inhaling through the nose and whistling out the exhale.  I played an exquisite piece of music, The Magic Hour, by the Ahn Trio, and within two to three circles we had a whistling choir.  Amazing harmonies emerged as though rehearsed.  The sound filled the room, rising and falling to the lyrical waltz. It was as if the moon’s light, its joy and expanded vision had entered bodies. What began as an exercise in Pranayama became a magical gift, an alchemical transformation of holding hands to cross the street, a memory to be savored through the cold, dark months ahead.  It reminded me of ‘Wizard-Mastery,’ so I returned to the opening salvo of 2014 Breaths to pull up the training paper, In case you have forgotten. January 2014 ~What do wizards’ in training require for alchemical transformation? Silence Time alone in the crystal cave Trust that wisdom unfolds in every moment. Awareness- everything in the Wizard’s world is a reflection of Self. Perception to see ‘what is.’ Courage to call the next adventure. To stand un-defended~ the only way we meet spirit. Truth has infinite versions. Try them all on. All time is now.  We are a web of mortality and immortality.  We are a web of… Read more »

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Preparing The Equinox Table

Preparing for the equinox, like designing a tablescape, offers an opportunity to re-set the imagination. When we set a table to celebrate, we lay out the best, designing alignments from highest vibrational desires. We hope to integrate and navigate the celebration with judicious use of memories from past experience, a creative intellect, and good gut intuition.

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Of Thee I Sing

The relevance of this ‘To thee I Sing-Day’ drowned out in honky-tonk cacophonies of slide guitar, fife and drum.

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Pagan Bones

Dance through a new door at Summer Solstice. Let this crossroads offer an unusual opportunity.

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Becoming Wizards

What do I want in this coming year?  Who shall I become?  How shall I pass through the eye of this needle?  How do I face the storms of my fear? What magic elixir is at hand to help? The Year of 2014 opens with a New Moon in Capricorn.  It is not the only Capricorn energy in the sky, Venus retrograde, and Pluto also visit this Saturn ruled sign.  Capricorn is about mastery and value.  A wizard is one who has mastery over Self, and values the many gifts of that self.  A wizard also claims mastery of time and space.  Wizard’s understands the alchemy of turning dross to gold.  Their real genius lies in understanding the alchemical components in fear, hatred, jealousy, shame, and ignorance and accepting them.  There is no turning a blind eye, or judging the darkness, rather-in the embrace and acceptance of what is, they transmute dross to gold.  Their gold is that of freedom, love, fulfillment, kindness, and joy. If we are to learn about becoming a wizard, it’s good to begin with the best.  The most famous is Merlin, of Camelot.  His home was a crystal cave.  His top student, Arthur- became king.  Their pivotal journey of transformation was called a quest, and the end of the quest was the discovery of the Holy Grail.  For their story to have meaning, view it symbolically.  Merlin embodies inner wisdom, true for women as well as men.  The crystal cave is the chrysalis home, the heart, which holds the mysteries of enlightenment.  The young Arthur is the un-tutored self, the daring fool willing to risk, hoping to find the gold of the Holy Grail.  The quest is a life journey, and the Holy Grail is the spiritual, imaginative, Soul-Self. If the planets are offering support… Read more »

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Magical Seeds

Any garden is a source of light because gardeners work soul-mulch, digging their passion into the earth. They grow unique spaces of beauty and retreat needed in dark cycles. In preparing new ground, it’s amazing what appears to fertilize the soil.  What that soil produces is often surprising, sometimes extraordinary.  The original seeds tossed out to create Shakti Yoga Dances were from my garden of linking Yoga and dance, spirit and body, creativity and emotion.  My students’ response formed its strong and pliable roots.  They are the ones who have grown and fertilized the seed, expanding this remarkable plot.  Their light has opened new seedlings, unfurled luminous leaves of translation. With fortune and muscle, the harvest is shared, nurturing many.  Shakti Yoga Dances is expanding to larger workshops, and ritual celebrations, producing plants with exotic fruit and sweet scent. The second harvest has grown the first Shakti Yoga Dance teacher training, alive with talent and full-hearted instructors.  We close out 2013  in launching the new website  http://shaktidances.com/   which shares this magical garden, acknowledging it is time for the next seeding, and a larger garden.  The radiant vegetation, expanded far beyond its first imagined seeds, now links into layers made marvelous by the Yoga Tribe. This Breath is in deep gratitude to each and every one of you who has grown this garden, especially my students.  I thank you for your guidance, for sharing your hearts and enormous talents.  You may not be among the bodies on the website, but you are part of Shaktis’ roots, having fertilized her soil in un-imagined ways.  You know what that makes you….very special.  Samantha Cameron as Chauncey.

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