The following passage is from the Medicine Cards…

“The Porcupine has many special qualities, and a very powerful medicine: the power of faith and trust. The power of faith contains within it the power to move mountains. The power of trust in life involves trusting that the great spirit has a divine plan.  Your task is to find the pathway that is most beneficial for you and that uses you greatest talents to further the plan. Trust can open doorways to creation of space. The space thus created allows others to open their hearts to you and to share their gifts of love, joy, and companionship.

If you were to observe Porcupine, you would immediately notice its quills. These quills are only used when trust has been broken between Porcupine and another creature. Much like Otter, Porcupine is a gentle, loving creature, and nonaggressive. When fear is not present, it is possible to feed a Porcupine by hand and never be stuck by its quills.

Through understanding the basic nature of this animal, you may come to understand your own need for trust and faith, and for becoming like a child again. In today’s society, this is a needed reminder to honor the wonder of life and the appreciation of each new day as an adventure of discovery…

…In choosing the Porcupine card, you have given yourself a gentle reminder not to get caught in the chaos of the adult world where fear, greed, and suffering are commonplace. The medicine in this card is that of relief from seriousness and severity. Open your heart to those things that gave you joy as a child. Remember the preciousness of fantasy and imagination, and the making of some game or toy from nothing but scraps. Honor the playfulness of spirit that lets everyone win.”

~ Porcupine Medicine (Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams & David Carson)

This reminder is forgotten all too often by most, including myself.. It shines light on the interesting paradox of seeking a livelihood through sharing this art.  Balancing is something that can only really be mastered in relation to a sense of childlike wonder and play.  There is also a significant spiritual aspect to the practice that seems to contrast the money element. I’ve begun to notice that mixing money with my passion has a tendency to want to strip the “play” out of the equation.  I’m finding it is important to observe this relationship.

Bottom line is I NEEDED to read this this morning.  It was a swift kick in the ass to make me focus on one of the more important elements for any artist; faith and trust in doing what I love, regardless of money… not getting too caught up in the hype of media attention. It’s nice for the art form but I’m still learning to not let it contaminate my creative approach. This post is an Ode to being a kid. to being absolutely enchanted by the simplest of things. Do what you love. I wouldn’t be here writing about this topic without years of embracing my own inner child, learning to follow my heart, and experiencing fruitful results.

“Honor the past as your teacher, honor the present as your creation, and honor the future as your inspiration.”

“Medicine Cards: 24 – Crow (Contrary)”

It’s been an interesting week of learning to say the least. The media attention to my site felt both exhilarating and overwhelming. Such an amazing feeling to have so many people interested in my creations!

Since the most recent Full Moon I seem to be more easily excitable.. I’m noticing myself smiling more often, even laughing with a playful appreciation.  Could also be that I’m just noticing it more than before too..

This is one of the more difficult systems of balance I’ve created so far.  I find it slightly confounding to contemplate and explain the method of making this.  The horizontal base slab was the length of my arm (~2.5 feet) and way too heavy to lift with one arm.  Another case where the creation of this structure was only possible with the consciousness of all previous balance experience…

This arrangement (in the Black and White photo) is the 3rd of three structures I built today. Each one evolving slightly from the last.

Here is the FIRST one of the day…

here is the SECOND one..

I started the day with a desire for silence from excessive mind-chatter and anxiety.

Finished the day with a sense of stillness. :)

Following the contrary rabbit, I found myself in a funk; it was a thursday of a long workweek, and i had not been out balancing since the weekend. Several possibilities came to mind as to what stresses the rabbit might have referred to.. by the end of work on Friday, I found myself at a near breaking point.. or bursting point.  Tension was high, the creek was calling…

Unsure of my ability to balance a cherish-able moment, I arrived at my creek side spot late afternoon after work. Tension still. I sat. Eyes losing focus in meditative observation. absorbing the constant sound of water. appreciating the beauty of an early Autumn evening. I went for the roughest part in the creek to make my next balance, determined to balance against the current.  I had one HUGE rock pried up from the creek bed, tip perched six inches out of the water like an iceberg.  The balance (pictured here) was stubborn amidst the strong current. it required a mastery of patience and intuition as the waste deep current raged against my body.  Balance normally requires stillness but the creek denied such intention. Rather fitting considering my turbulent psyche. The turbulence in the water served to dampen the mental chatter more than calm. My entire body shook as I desperately realized my intended balance.  Nothing short of determined success after half an hour of burning muscles and fighting the current. Letting go through intuition defined the precise moment. Pure Bliss; water rushing, completely focused and out of focus, oneness, shimmering sunlight, zero point, and as I turned around, my eyes met those of a friend in pleasant surprise. I felt like I was glowing, along with everything else. Divine Alignment.

The sun set and home came quickly. My experience at the creek left me energized and the shift had me curious about what medicine card I could possibly choose. I shuffled and cut the deck with intuitive deliberation. The deck yielded the right-side-up Wolf card, which I found to be particularly interesting and unknowingly useful…

WOLF: Teacher

Wolf…
Teacher, Pathfinder,
Moon-dog of my soul.
Howling, Singing,
Teaching how to know.

“Wolf is the pathfinder, the forerunner of new ideas who returns to the clan to teach and share medicine. Wolf takes one mate for life and is loyal like Dog. If you were to keep company with Wolves, you would find an enormous sense of family within the pack, as well as a strong individualistic urge. These qualities make Wolf very much like the human race. As humans we also have an ability to be a part of society and yet still embody our individual dreams and ideas.

In the Great Star Nation, Wolf is represented by the Dog Star, Sirius, which legend tells us was the original home of our teachers in ancient times. Sirius was thought to be the home of the gods by the ancient Egyptians, and is still considered so by the Dogan tribe in Africa. It stands to reason that Native American peoples would formulate this same connection and adopt Wolf people as the clan of teachers.

The senses of Wolf are very keen, and the Moon is its power ally. The Moon is the symbol for psychic energy, or the unconscious that holds the secrets of knowledge and wisdom. Baying at the Moon may be an indication of Wolf’s desire to connect with new ideas which are just below the surface of consciousness. Wold medicine empowers the teacher within us all to come forth and aid the children of Earth in understanding the Great Mystery and life.

If you have drawn Wolf’s card, you may be able to share your personal medicine with others. Your intuitive side may also have an answer or teaching for your personal use at this time. As you feel Wolf coming alive within you, you may wish to share your knowledge by writing or lecturing on information that will help others better understand their uniqueness or path in life. It is in the sharing of great truths that the consciousness of humanity will attain new heights. Wolf could also be telling you to seek out lonely places that will allow you to see your teacher within. In the aloneness of a power place, devoid of other humans, you may find the true you. Look for teachings no matter where you are. Wolf would not come to you unless you requested the appearance of the tribe’s greatest teacher.”

from “Medicine Cards” by Jamie Sams & David Carson

Wolf was a necessary contemplation in the evolution of my being in these recent days. I drew the card on Friday night, 2 days before I would be conducting my balance art during a memorial service for a strong teacher in the local Yoga community. It would be a chance to balance with specific intention and offering for spirits in both realms; living and dead. The garden I created became a profoundly intimate and grounding process.  The north edge of the creek (in Lyons) was bordered by a vertical wall of red rock, which towered many many times my height. Powerful and inspiring scenery. The spacial layout of my garden was arranged to keep the eyes moving from one balance to the next and back. The elegance of my balances was intended to mirror the elegance of the present spirits. I sensed intense beauty, which flowed through me into every balance in collaboration with the local rocks.

Contemplating Wolf gave me considerable strength to perform my art for hundreds of mournful spectators. I felt my job was, in a sense, to present serenity, beauty and joy in the midst of mourning and remembrance.  Balances have a very intimate connection with the reality of death, which makes them an ideal contemplation in this context. Balancing for all of those people and participating in the rest of the memorial filled me with infinite compassion and appreciation for what I have been blessed with in this life.  Just as I may have been seeking a great teacher, the entirety of the memorial proved to go beyond what I expected to learn.  The Friday balance, followed by the Wolf contemplation, guided me toward the strength and consciousness needed to teach and to learn during the Sunday Memorial… So many people fell in love with the garden I had created.  The surrounding area was filled with happiness and wonder, as many people were deeply touched by the simple yet profound nature of the balance. As far as creating and attracting positive energy, the balanced rocks had once again succeeded. :)

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

- Marianne Williamson (A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles)

This post, or rather, this moment, begins a wide range of contemplation. Some new neighbors were over yesterday where we began summoning the “Medicine Cards”. “..The medicine referred to in this book is anything that improves one’s connection to the Great Mystery and to all life… Native American medicine is an all-encompassing ‘way of life,’ for it involves walking on the Earth Mother in perfect harmony with the Universe…” long story short, Each card in the deck has a certain ‘spirit animal’ pictured on it.  each animal corresponds to a section of the book. When chosen, a card can display right side up, or upside down (contrary).  I chose, not by choice, The contrary rabbit.  The message was to take a step back and re-evaluate. To center myself before moving forward.  It is hard to connect all these dots for you here due to complexity and space to write..ha. The balances, however,  have a way of re-centering me (as balancer) every time I attempt to balance. In order for the rocks to balance, I must be balanced AS WELL.  I drew this contrary rabbit at a moment when I had not been out balancing for almost a week. Stress levels were high from work. It made sense. Turns out, the balance session today after work proved to be something much needed. Time with the sounds of nature. fleeting sunlight. It was really a matter of seemingly unrelated everything happening exactly when it must as ONE, or what i like to call ‘divine alignment’.