On June 15, 2018, Mary Jane died around 5 in the morning I was sure she would open her eyes I cry I am so grateful for her regal presence in my life For the enormous gifts: LAUNCHING MANO into the world By writing the Council of Gnomes Blog LAUNCHING me into the world By beautifully compiling and editing my book Living with the Spirits of the Land Mary Jane left around 5:00 in the morning My Books arrived from the printer around 5:00 in the afternoon…
Reminder from Mano: Speak to the trees as you walk; touch them and tell them they are beautiful. Your speaking and expecting an answer is of enormous assistance in helping the nature spirits relate with a conscious human being. From Mary Jane In the February 2017 blog, Moving Beyond Mind, I wrote about an experience with Clare Dubois, founder of TreeSisters, in which she led a film festival “coffee talk” group to a high energy space of heart. I have held that guided meditation as an example; “This…
Reminder from Mano: We have all come to be on the planet in this time. Human beings, though they have a physical body, have souls sourced in the stars. They have a contribution to make toward healing the planet, and this means remembering to live from original divine source. Recently I received a bright early morning email from Barbara telling me that as she was reading through her intentions for the week, she received a nudge from Mano suggesting that she send this one on to me: “Break…
Reminder from Mano: We are not sprightly little men and women. We are wizards who can shape-shift as needed to work in any dimension we are called to serve. We are a light substance, a consciousness within the earth herself. Week before last Barbara and I had a plan to do the final author/editor read-through of her book. I would read a chapter in Nevada City while she read the same one in Ben Lomand, and then on the phone we would make our changes. On the second…
Reminder from Mano: The only way to “hear” spirit is through your heart. I want to urge you to center your awareness in your heart. As you deepen this habit, you will find yourself feeling more nourished in nature and more attuned to the plants and people around you. One of the last tasks in the preparation of Barbara’s book is to edit a timeline, roughly chronological, showing the divine plan that led to her work with the Council of Gnomes. I am amazed at the number of…
Reminder from Mano: Take time to rejoice in the beauty the color angels create to herald dawn and dusk with sunrise and sunset. A major attraction of the man who became my husband was that he had a magnificent dedication to art. It was not just the outer details of painting, sculpture, poetry, opera, or film that he could explain, but he could, with passion, trace worthy artistic creations back to essence and link them to enduring human aspirations and needs. I knew I would be able to…
I have a little pocketful of “big dreams” (night-time dreams, “big” in the Jungian sense) that I pull from occasionally to savor as unwavering symbols of my life purpose. Much less often I add a new one, as I did the other night. In the dream I was working with a group in which each of us contributed in a way central to our beings, with great energy and joy. I had no sense of “too much” or “too little”, of doubt or hesitation, competition or bluster or…
Reminder from Mano: When you see a face in the bark or leaves of a tree, open your heart and say “hello”. Ask if it wants to speak to you. Ask what you can do for it. The book Barbara is just completing is autobiographical, but specifically it’s a spiritual autobiography. She has a view, now, from her year-90 perch, that unveils for her the adventures and serendipity of how family, friends, teachers, books, travel, moving—all the small and large pieces of her life—fit together like puzzle pieces…
Reminder from Mano: Be aware of the seasons and live vibrantly with gratitude for Mother Nature’s bounty, the generosity and beauty of each season. Savor the flavor of cherries in spring, watermelon in summer, apples in autumn. Enjoy the first bulbs of spring, the leaves that turn in the fall, the winter storm, and summer vacation. For all of your conscious relating with us, we give you the gift of a grateful heart. For several years Steven Odell lived on Barbara’s land, and one of his fine contributions…
Reminder from Mano: Live life abundantly in relationship with nature, recognizing the elemental beings and angels when you feel the freshness of ocean, lake, stream, rain, or snow. If, as Charles Eisenstein proposes, revitalized ritual is “alive, evolving out of the moment, expanding your awareness even to dimensions you may think you don’t know, calling to it those who will hold the space”, then Barbara’s early August 90th birthday celebration in the amphitheater was a beautiful illustration. The sun filtered through the redwoods and madrones, bubbles floated, feet…
