A really well written article on soul loss

http://earthweareone.com/20-diagnostic-signs-that-youre-suffering-from-soul-loss/

Numerology, numeric symbolism

http://sacredscribesangelnumbers.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/angel-number-11.html?m=1

Everyday life as part of the path

Shamanism is much more than journeying ,talking with spirits ,healing , plant knowledge , honouring the ancestor's , working with the elements .. etc .when one has experienced deep profound gnosis along the path its easy to become enamoured with archaic techniques of ecstasy .But those moments help bring about a deeper more gentle understanding of life where everything  and every  moment is aknowledged as being sacred we are grounded in the present moment fluidly travelling along in that ephemeral time period known as the eternal now.when we drop our thoughts of yesterdays and projecting forward into the future ..stop ..pause..... whether its  at home with our loved ones or in the middle of the woods , local park or the middle of London take a deep breath and exhale relax with it and you can sense that palpable energy of that moment at  that time and  in that space .shamanism ! it sometimes simply helps us connect with the web of now more deeply. !

haiku

      Dragonfly performs                                                        
      Aeronautical acrobatics
      Over pond

       

 

There is much debate regarding shamanism and illuimniation /enlightenment ,some say shamans do not pursue the path of enlightenment .............my personel feeling on this matter is this ......there are no rules anywhere within shamanic cultures that says this is so .........also i had asked my shamanic teacher this question his response was imediate "in our tradition this is so ,for a shaman cannot heal unless he is illuminated ......also part of our tradition is dzogchen (a meditation practice older than tibetan buddhism perhaps older than bon* )

* my interjection not Nunklars words


part of my path is a love of haiku with its reference to a season (time) perhaps the weather (the healing and magic of the elements )and quite often the observation of the behavour of a particular animal ......all in all capturing this moment in time is aided by the parring down of   the words to a five/seven/five sylabic structure .

i also find koans interesting  and aid a deeper reflection , contemplation & understanding of nature and the nature of mind .


snow flakes descent
from the heavens
dissolves upon ponds surface



falling raindrops
repetition of concentric circles
ripple upon the ponds surface


which is better? ,is either one better than the other ........?


    
J.H.Bardwell may 2013

I havent done much shamanizing recently ........the last time was for the winter solstice 2012 ........and ive paid the price ......too say i had been  de-spirited would be an understatement ,

sometimes  a synchronicity comes along so profound it wakes me up and makes me take action .
many of these have taken place recently .................from the sighting of the heron that inspired the heron haiku......the actual image downloaded for the purpose of this blog does not do that moment justice but will have to be adequate ......it really was illuminated against dark clouds and heron has always been a symbolic bird for me .... a rather enigmatic creature .......symbolizing   stillness ,contemplation ,meditation ...penatration  
of surface matters to get down to the roots the bottom of a matter .....and patience .....but also the fact it hunts at a liminal place between water and land      the gateway too the other worlds aa place of boundaries of magical dimensions .

The other synchronicity -wake up call took place on sunday 12/5/2013  i work with autistic children and most weekends we take them for a fun day out somewhere within reasonable driving distance .
Last sunday we the support staff had taken them to a local zoo called Marwell zoo .....and due to the nature of this Zoo its out in the countryside and therefore spacious with plenty of room for the animals in captivity too roam .At this zoo there are snow leopards and i had been looking forward too seeing them ,after luch which was a fun affair .......i kept feeding the opertunistic rooks titbits ( being a member of the crow family i always hounour these brothers of crows and ravens .....perhaps another synchronistic moment i had at first over looked .)   Eventually almost at the end of the tour of the zoo we came to the snow leopard enclosure and there he was really close to the wire fence asleep flat on his back oblivious to the general public with their "ooohing and aaahhhing " and camera flashes .i watched with a couple of the kids for quite a while ,eventually the kids got bored of this beautifull and when in the wild elusive creature and we peeled away too look at other creatures asleep ..............i turned around and low an behold the snow leopard enclosure was right nest too the owls ..................too anyone else this holds no significance whatsoever ....but too me who was transfixed and dumb for a couple of seconds ...........my shamanic teacher in the other world Nungklar his animal ally is a snow leopard and my other teacher of only the last few years Owl woman .......well i think you can guess what her ally might be .

Most of the return journey my thoughts turned too the realization that i knew whad i had to do on my next time off .

                                         
                                           heron illuminated
                                           against menacing storm clouds
                                           fly's stoically

                                                                      J.H.Bardwell    may 2013