Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Song Circle

Song Circle, Friday Dec. 30th 7-8pm
Studio 78 @ Bell Arts
432 Ventura Ave, Ventura Ca

Intention:
The Intention of each Song Circle is to create a Sacred Space where it's safe to express one's voice. We utilise Song as a medium to release what no longer serves us and to open channels for healing and creative expression. The indigenous songs themselves (some that are sung in Ceremonies) call on ancestral wisdom and ancient healing. Sitting in Circle and a way of Counsel links us back to a time when tribes would sit around fires and share their stories. There is no hierarchy.
Musical instruments, especially the Drum, represents not only one's heart beat but Mother Earth and the Community. We sit around a drum, unifying with each drum beat as our voices collectively gather in every song.
We gather to Sing, to Share, to Connect and to Heal in a Sacred Ceremonial Space.
All are welcome especially children.  Please bring a drum/musical instrument and an open heart.  This event is free but donations are welcome to cover Studio costs.  Please PM if you have any questions.<3 p="">

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Tears In Alchemy

I am unraveling. Things that were buried are now being unearthed. The shadows and deep hurts are revealing themselves more & more. Doors left ajar with repeated wounded stories are being closed. Mirrors in the form of old lovers are illuminating parts of me that I can forgive so things can heal and shift. It's not easy. Sometimes I just isolate and sit with it.
I mourn the buried treasure that now needs to be excavated and released.
Now in this very moment I turn towards the Grace and the Stars. Even hidden in the tears are sparkles of Light. Tucked away in the Darkness awaits the birth of a whole new world...

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Where Grace Lives



It’s like this calling or longing...a great desire within me to travel the world in search of the missing pieces of myself.  A Global Pilgrimage if you will.  But, I’m not entirely sure I’m searching for the missing parts or if I’m just hoping to find my ‘Heart Home’ where Grace lives.
Sometimes I feel like many things are happening simultaneously.  I feel this restlessness to wander, explore and travel while sitting in stillness enjoying the present moment.  

A dichotomy that feels like an internal struggle where there is no victory, only more inquiry.

And sometimes, I feel as though I am a visitor in my own home.

There’s more.  It’s like a craving or gnawing hunger that food cannot simply satiate.  It is the Unseen thing flickering in your peripheral but gone when you turn to look at it head on.
It is Mystery incarnate.  It is beyond words and linear understanding.  

It is the ecstatic Love that was once tasted and then suddenly gone with no warning.  The unspoken and unanswered question of wondering if it will ever show up again.  The wanting of being Loved but holding All at arms length because that’s all you’ve known since and Fear has kept you company.

The unknowing of Who You Are at times and what you were meant to do on this Earthly plane of existence.

I know what I must do.  I need to Integrate.  Weave all my experiences, lessons, loss, love, tears, giggles...ALL of it into a Cosmic Blanket of Stars that turn into Wings when I need them so I can Soar and Flyyyyyyyyyy.... and when it has run its course, they turn into dirt and dust allowing me to feel the First Connection: Mother Earth.  Where we ALL belong and come from.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Full Moon Reflection

As I stared into the glow of La Luna, I envisioned her bathing my entire body with Her moonlight.
I'm sure it may have seem odd to some. A lone woman, standing in the middle of the street and gazing up into the night sky. Her eyes and face mirroring love and awe.
In many myths, the Moon is female and the Sun is male. In one of my stories, it is the reverse. A Love Story for another time.

My thoughts stray to my Family. Not the one I was born into but the one I chose. My True Kapwa.
I reflected on our Ceremonies, how much I love it and how much the Community means to me. In words I simply cannot convey. It is the most precious time where we collectively gather and open our hearts to the mysteries of this Earth, and where our Spirits dance in and out of our dreams. It is a time where our hearts beat as one and our voices carry each other right alongside the Wind. It's where we share our secrets and stories by the fire. It is in this Sacred Safe Space where Love does not need a Voice, it is felt instantaneously like how one draws in breath or how a Mother wraps her arms around her children in comfort.

It is when we step out of Ceremony and rejoin the 'outside' world, where I try to reach with invisible hands ways to remind me of this 'ceremonious connection'. I dial numbers, I use my fingertips to spell out words... I reach out to those that were there so I can re-remember that it was real and that it DID happen... And how can I feebly attempt to feel that way again?
Connected. Loved. Seen. Heard. Validated. Embraced. Acknowledged.

Wholeheartedly.

That's my process of how I try to integrate the experience while still feeling Connected. The challenging dance of needing solitude for decompression and still feeling a part of the Circle created by the Ceremony.

I've also come to realize the magic of my Ancestors. Understanding how, who and what WE are. Connecting, networking, revealers of Love and Grace.
This magic runs in our blood. It is seen in tiny glimpses when our eyes twinkle.
And when I close my eyes tonight, it is always my wish to dream and adventure within all the realms hoping to meet some familiar Spirits along the Way.

Monday, April 25, 2016

Mirror Mirror



I see and feel YOU.
The You that swims in the depths of these knowing waters.
Unreachable.  Unfathomable.
I try to speak but words are convenient and not apropos for this....one fleeting moment...
From Sky to Sea, there is nothing but our Reflections and our Story.
Jump! Dive even in uncertainty.
Trust.  Have faith.
Let Love be your guide.


Wednesday, March 30, 2016

The Women of Hummingbird Circle with The Drum


On Saturday the Community of the Hummingbird Circle hosted a fundraiser for Muhutasen at the Bell Arts Factory in Ventura, Ca.

                                           
We opened for some really talented artists (chronological order of performances): Goodshield Aguilar and 7th Generation Rise, Bad Dog (Mark Shark, JT, Rick Eckstein & Quiltman), Street Poets, and Richard Cabral.  My palms are up.  Mass respect.

And...For the very first time, some of the Women from the Hummingbird Circle came together around a beautiful Drum.  We sang.  We drummed.  We laughed.  We cried.  Our voices intertwined with one another creating a joyous sound as we honored so many women who came before us, who were warriors that died in battle and whom we will never forget.


Our set consisted of five songs: 
The Chumash Welcome Song introduced by our Women's Sweatlodge Leader, Ana
The Women of the 507 introduced by our Drum Leader, Lola
The Willow Song introduced by our Chumash Sister, Judi
The Women Warrior Song introduced by our Drum Leader, Lola
The Grandmothers Song introduced by our Drum Elder, Uncle Debbie

There are no words that can truly describe the feelings I have when I sit with that drum amongst all my amazing sisters.  An overwhelming sense of pride mixed with sadness for those that have passed on and we remember through our songs.   A deep ocean of gratitude and joy for the honor of being a part of Hummingbird Circle.  And Love so infinite that it is my desire that each song we sing reaches all those around the world so they too know love, community and healing.

We are Women.  We are Warriors.  We are Teachers.  We are Dreamers.  We are Sisters.  We are Singers.  We are Wisdomkeepers.  We are Healers.  We are Grandmothers.  We are Drummers.
We are The Women of Hummingbird Circle.
We are Honored and Blessed.

Front row (from L to R): Bella, Sara, Ines and Elena
Back row (from L to R): Lola, Jeanette, Uncle Debbie, Joy, Ana, Me, Andi and Judi

Saturday, January 30, 2016

The Compass

Now, look to your Right

You and I will take different paths. 
Sometimes we'll meet up. 
Sometimes we'll walk the path alone. 
It's the same destination. 
And our paths will cross and intersect with one another. 
Walk with me awhile. 
Laugh with me awhile. 
Sing and hop and dance with me awhile. 

Don't worry. 

There's a place inside my heart where you'll always stay.