Stone & Bone (Part 10) – The Family Tree

Meditation: The Family Tree

Allow yourself to fall into a relaxed state. Feel where your body touches the floor and imagine you are in a great forest. You are seated in a virgin forest in which the canopy of trees covers your head and your heartbeat blends in with the sound of birds and the scurrying of animals. Every breath is fresh and the air tastes like purity. You are in a place that has never heard the sound of car horns. It has never tasted the flavor of exhaust or felt concrete poured over its tannin-scented floor. It is ancient, complete, and absolute in of itself and with each breath you take you become more and more a part of it. This primordial forest is the home of the Mother tree. The tree from which all our lineages are born. The Mother tree whose heart-mind nourishes and feeds all other trees in this cycle, in this existence. Know that She, the Mother tree, is near, with a voice that speaks through every leaf and nourishes through every root.

Now imagine a tree that is near you. A tree that speaks to you in a language your Soul instinctively knows. This tree speaks to you by calling your own Soul’s name and says: “I know you. I love you. I am you.” Then lean into this tree. Feel yourself drawn closer, embraced in the bark of this generous, loving Creation that breathes out the most delicious flavor of oxygen you have ever imagined for you to inhale. Feel the oldness of its bark and the softness of its leaves. Feel the voice of this tree wrap you up in its soothing songs. This is your family tree. This is the tree that nourishes your roots, your waters, since its original birth from the Mother tree herself. Now feel yourself as a part of this tree. Perhaps you are a piece of bark. Perhaps you are a leaf that turns with the winds. Perhaps you are a branch holding up smaller limbs. Perhaps you are all of these things. One with the Great Tree that is your family. Perhaps you will see other family members there. Your parents, siblings, children. Perhaps you will see family members from other places, other lifetimes. Perhaps you will feel your own essence in other forms. Know that you are One with the Great Tree that is humanity. Now feel yourself inhaling the essence of the Tree and with each exhalation make an offering to your Family Tree. Make an offering of Love, of compassion, of allowingness for each and every part of this tree. Know that you ARE each and every part of this tree. And as you exhale Love, compassion, and allowingness, feel the Tree grow stronger. Feel the roots deepen and brighten with Light. Feel the song of the Tree grow more resonant, more Soul-full, more joyous. And with each inhalation accept the blessings of the Tree itself. Accept the gratitude of your Family Tree as your love, your compassion, and your blessings, make its leaves more vibrant, its soil more fertile, and its limbs stronger.  

© 2013 Heather D. Eggleston

Stone & Bone (Part 9) – Ancestral Healing

Ancestral Healing Protocol

A basic exercise for ancestral healing follows. It begins by connecting to the bones of the Earth. Feel this deeply and completely, holding a Stone in your hand. Then connect to your own bones. Feel them within you, alive and bright. Treat your family as if they were distant ancestors and treat yourself as if she were a distant ancestor. It is important you let yourself feel removed from those who are too close. You may feel deeply and profoundly wish to make changes within your family but this is hard when emotions are too close. We must learn to sift between our own voices and the ancestral voices within. So we must connect to our true ancestors and disconnect from them at the same time.

1. Connect to the bones of the Earth by feeling the Stone.
2. Connect to your own bones to feel the resonance.
3. Introduce yourself to your ancestors. Remember as you learn to hear the voices of your ancestors, you also learn your own voice. This is most important.
4. Allow the ancestors the chance to speak through journaling an “imagined” conversation, divination such as tarot or runes, or simple impressions.
5. Make an altar to your ancestors. Put what you feel appropriate on the altar and epoch your history. Photos of yourself and your family, especially with anyone with whom you need to feel healing, should be used. Include slips of papers, notes, and honest offerings.
6. Call on your ancestors to help heal your family line. Tell them you will make yourself an object of healing (and as such, a healer) as an offering. Being such a vessel is powerful and sometimes intense. It implies deep acceptance of role as healer and healed. Remember the only healing is self-healing so we cannot be responsible for the healing of anyone else, even family. Make this offering, burn a light blue candle as a dedication, and lift the veil between your ancient ones and present self.
7. Begin a forgiveness of self exercise. Many times a day say: “I forgive myself and my ancestors for all things done and undone.” This is something small but very powerful. It is important you imprint this on your very Soul. If you make this about your ancestors in the distant past who are now your allies, you will inevitably assist the healing of closer family (parents and siblings) as well. You will heal from both ends of the lineage.
8. Choose a stone with the desire to do ancestral healing. This stone becomes ally and partner. Keep the stone on the altar when not communing with it directly. Sleep with it when you can. Hold it close and know you are loved.

© 2013 Heather D. Eggleston

Stone & Bone (Part 8) – Linking with the Ancestors

There are numerous ways to connect with our ancestors. The most basic, and effective, is simply talking with them. Open yourself to conversation with those who have already passed, whether you knew them or not. Opening a dialogue with our ancestors shows we are receptive to their wisdom and are willing to offer healing backwards to them. Once that space is opened, they will often speak in dreams, insights, and in the quiet reflections that feel deep as your bones.

Opening a space for the Ancestors

Choose a night that feels appropriate. Halloween is a traditional time for honoring the Dead. The moon in Scorpio or a waning to dark moon phase is also appropriate, but any time that feels needful is fine. If you knew the ancestor with whom you wish to connect, choose something he liked, a cup of coffee or a piece of chocolate, as an offering and honoring of her life. If you have a photograph, hold it near your heart for a time, and speak heartfelt words of memory. The memory may or may not be a “happy” one but allow it to come from your lips. Know the Mother supports you below and the Father breathes love into you from above. Know you are made of Light and Breath, and as such are completely safe and empowered and strong. Any emotions that come up are presenting themselves to be healed through the shared empathic nexus between you and your ancestor. Spend time opening this space, and, if you wish, tell your ancestor you wish to share for awhile, to learn from his life experiences, and to heal the things she imprinted in you that have not yet been healed. Hold onto impressions, insights, and experiences by journaling or giving them voice to another. In all things, it is important to hold the intention to heal.

We do not connect to the dead for chills and thrills but rather out of respect for the wisdom of our elders and that the continuity of our tribal memory is maintained in ourselves.

© 2013 Heather D. Eggleston

Stone & Bone (Part 7) – Ancestral Healing

Ancestral Healing

Light is crystallized Love sung on the Mist’s breath

Creation is process

It did not happen once upon a time

All time is the beginning of time

All time is the end of time

When we die we are given to Earth, most often by burial or cremation. Our dust merges with the sediment of Stone and we connect with the ancient ones. And so we think of the realms of the Dead as existing beneath the surface, deep in the womb of our Mother. When we connect to our dead it is through the shared continuity of bone calling to bone. Ancestral healing is the deep work required to clear the blocks, diseases, and fears passed down from one generation to the next.

Why is ancestral healing important?

1. Too often our relationships with parents, children, and siblings are colored by judgment, fear, and pain based in symbolic memories rather than the reality of the moment. Ancestral healing offers an opportunity to step out of such ways of being.
2. We are the product of our lineage and if we wish to be fully present and healthy, it is important we embrace where we came from, however painful it may be at points.
3. We are at the beginning of a new post-2012 cycle. The less “baggage” we have on us as the next cycle is born, the less traumatic the transition.

4. Some people are literally the alpha and omega of their family lines in this beginning of a new life cycle of the Earth. We are here to bring everything full circle. We are the snake searching for its tail. Ancestral healing allows us to embrace our entire family tree.

© 2013 Heather D. Eggleston

Stone & Bone (Part 6) – The Nature of Bone

Structurally bones are, like Stone, very much alive. They are nourished by blood, innervated by the nervous system. They grow and cooperate with the rest of the larger organism. They adapt to stress, bleed when broken, and heal from cracks and fractures. Bones, like Stone, are far from static. They each have their own function within the body and share their wisdom with the whole.
We can extrapolate the esoteric function of bones through their practical functions. The human skeletal system has many jobs:

1. The first job of the skeleton is to give structure to the human body. A house is not solid without a firm foundation, walls, and a roof. Without the skeleton the body is a pile of relatively soft tissue. Esoterically bones give context to our lives. They hold our memory and link us to the ancestors. Our family, tribe, past, and memory are the foundation for who we are and how we frame our existence.

2. The second job is to protect the soft inner organs. Without the sternum and rib cage the heart and lungs are exposed and vulnerable. Esoterically our bones, the skeletal framework, keep us from being so energetically wide-open that we are unprotected from the world around us. Our heart is a very sacred place that connects us to the greater heartbeat of Earth, Stars, and to other beings. If we leave it wide open without the protective rib cage we could not manage our links to others and would be literally bled dry.

3. The third job is to cooperate with the muscles to allow movement. Through the intricate system of bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles the body moves through space. We carry our tribal and ancestral links with us in our very bones so we do not have to stay rooted to one place. We are able to translate our experiences to different geographical locations and times because we carry them within us. We are meant to move through time and space. The skeletal system records that movement and helps facilitate it.

 

© 2013 Heather D. Eggleston

Stone & Bone (part 5) – The Nature of Bone

The Nature of Bone

As Stone is to Earth, so bone is to the human. The physical form is “deep consciousness.” It records the imprint of absolutely everything that happens to us. The body does not forget. Indeed, the body cannot forget. Each component of the physical form, the Temple¹, records a particular aspect of experience.

The bones are calcified memory. The connective tissue and muscles wrap themselves around and through bone to connect, protect, and bring mobility. Together the bones and muscles are collective memory moving through space in a process of constant creation.

The skeletal system is the deepest layer of the human body. It is the framework and fundamental structure of the human architecture. The adult human has 206 bones, which are perfectly connected and balanced through the body. The smallest bone is in the ear and the largest bone is the thigh. Hundreds more are distributed in myriad shapes and sizes throughout the skeleton.²
The body is divided into two specific sections: the axial and appendicular skeletons. The axial skeleton consists of the central cord of the body from the skull through the vertebral column. The axial skeleton is extremely important as it contains all the chakra-pulses from the root at the base of the spine up through the crown at the top of the head. These seven centers serve as energy transmitters and translation units for Creation. The appendicular skeleton consists of the limbs (upper and lower), the shoulders, and the pelvis.

The vertebral column is the inner snake of the body. It is the holder of wisdom, transmitter of energy, and host to the seven sacred pulses. Light courses through the column and conducts via the nerves – those elegantly linked transmitters – to all parts of the sacred anatomy. The coccyx is the tailbone, which energetically translates the language of the deep earth and our primal, ancestral selves. It roots us to the past of the Earth as participants in the whole of all existence. The sacrum, which means sacred, is the skeletal balance point on which we pivot. When our sacrum is out of alignment then the rest of the body inevitably follows its mistunement and our entire vertebral snake is kinked and uncomfortable. We do not know how to position ourselves in this space and time.

1The body as Temple is an ancient truth. It is the embodied Soul.

2Moore, Keith L. and Agur, Anne M. Essential Clinical Anatomy: Third edition. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Baltimore. 2007. pp. 9-15 is a great source for the anatomy of bones.

© 2013 Heather D. Eggleston

Stone & Bone (part 4) – Stone meditation

Stone Meditation

This meditation creates the empathic nexus between human and stone. It should be done each day for a week. The actual daily meditation session does not need to be long, five to ten minutes is a good start, but can last as long as you wish and you may easily fall into much longer trance states. It may be nice to fall asleep with the stone (provided it isn’t a boulder!) directly on your body as we tend to open far more in our sleep when the ego is quiet. The most important thing is that the effort is taken to engage with the stone as a person. Consider this series of meditations as your first date.

 

3 days on solar plexus – Allow the stone to rest for five to ten minutes, or longer, on your solar plexus. This introduces your essence to the stone. It is proper and respectful to let the stone get to know us first just as it is proper to introduce an elder first.
3 days on third eye – Allow the stone to tell us its stories and soak into our consciousness. This allows us to take in the essence of the stone. It is how we get to know it and show we are open to its wisdom and insight.
1 day on heart – During this time we blend Light with the stone, create an empathic connection, and become allies with the stone.

Feel the voice of the stone first through pulsing/vibration. Then allow that vibration to echo in your bones, creating a memory/emotion. Settle into the emotion-memory and allow photographic images, voice, or physical sensations such as heat or tingling to unfold. This is the Stone speaking. Be respectful, as you are listening/speaking with an Elder. Do not rush or push or feel frustrated. This may take time. You are learning a new language. Allow your imagination to run, as imagination is the doorway to Truth.

Following any communication it is beneficial to journal notes so you don’t forget. The meditative state can be sometimes nebulous and dreamy and so the impressions may not be immediately understandable. However, writing down exactly what you observe, even if it is absolutely nothing, reinforces your commitment to the relationship. Observations can be colors that come to mind, forgotten memories, the face of a loved one, chills against the skin, or any other millions of possibilities. Diligently catalog these observations and the emotional recall associated and the stone will recognize your willingness to commune and your ability to understand will unfold more and more.

Journal questions:

1. What did you experience? This may be very subtle, such as a slight cooling or warming or a shift of mood and attention.

2. Did you retrieve a memory or an emotion? While you may not originally attribute this to the communication with the stone, pay attention to patterns. Different stones will evoke different emotions.

3. What essence did you take from this meeting? What flavor, texture, or mood stays with you?

4. How does the stone feel to you? Does it feel like a friend? A healer? A teacher? A confidant?

5. Are you compatible? Do you feel comfortable with this stone? Does it challenge or evoke strong reactions?

It is important to thank the stone following your communications. Remember, you are bending your mind to think of each member of Creation as a person and so, even if it seems silly at first, act as respectful as you would to another human being. Humility charms.

© 2013 Heather D. Eggleston

Stone & Bone (part 3) – Connecting with Stone

When a stone links to a particular human’s bones that connection unlocks a unique emotional resonance that allows the human to go into the state needed for deep healing.

How does this work? When we sense, touch, and commune with a stone it sets out a specific resonance, a language, that is very deep, low, and to our sensations, slow. Our bones, which are the microcosmic reflection of our Mother’s stone skeleton, resonate with this and, when we are in an allowing place for communication, a translation process begins to unfold. The stone holds memory, just as our bones do. By relaxing into a feeling of affinity a memory presents itself. It may be a memory that is familiar (in our bones) or not (perhaps in the stone’s memory) but that memory will then trigger some sort of emotion. That emotion takes us deeper into ourselves to present a shared space, an empathic nexus, with the Stone. From that space the work we need to do together as allies and friends clarifies and begins.
This process will be different for all stones (and humans) as it is colored by their specific personalities, memories, and the needs of the moment. Often what begins as a subtle interaction becomes increasingly strong as trust and love are built between human and stone. Some stones resonate strong and hard, like an old friend you just met, and others may take gentle fostering. If there is a stone that does not resonate well or feels somehow abhorrent do not force the relationship any more than you would with a human being you find unlikable. There is no judgment but also no need to push. Stones are very powerful but they are not going to do all the work for us. Just having stones laying around strengthens a space. Their vibration and resonance makes subtle changes like a soft song in the background of a noisy room. However, when we begin to consciously work with them and listen, truly amazing shifts occur. Imagine a wise old woman who sits in a rocking chair all day; her presence may bring comfort and solace but what if we asked her to tell us a story? What if we asked her for advice? For her favorite healing salve or charm? Then she will be more engaged in our lives and in our spaces. This is what stones are like. They all have a wisdom that will unlock the depths of our own bones and activate our lives.  

© 2013 Heather D. Eggleston

Stone & Bone (part 2) – The Nature of Stone

The deepest of the seven elements is Stone. It is the skeleton of Earth Herself and, like our bones, offers a foundation on which we develop and grow. We connect to the language of Stone through our rooting pulse, the root chakra, at the base of our spine.

Breathe deep into your abdomen and turn your focus downward into the base of your spine. This is your Rooting Heart, the part of you synchronized to the language of the people of Stone. Keep your attention focused there and really feel. Everything slows down. Your breathing slows, your attention deepens, and your focus become still and heavy. Simply slow. Deep. Feel. Then allow the depth to infuse your entire body with the stillness and peace of the deep places. The places of Stone. Experience.

Stone is the most solid of the seven elements and, in the quirky way of quantum reality, the fastest moving. Stone moves so quickly as to seem absolutely slow, still, and inert. And yet that is terribly inaccurate. Stone just holds its secrets close and the human seeker must slow her breath and hold the stone close to understand the deep language of emotional memory and resonance.

Stone is extremely ancient. Although it goes through its own cycles of time with its own states of matter (solid, liquid, and gas) it takes much longer than the other elements to transform and so naturally adopts the role of memory-keeper for our Mother’s children. Locked within the structure of each individual stone is a connection to all the cycles of human (and otherwise) time. Our past is locked in their fossil record.  

© 2013 Heather D. Eggleston

Stone & Bone (part 1) – Nature of Stone

Memory is stored in the bones of the body and the stones of the Earth

The Nature of Stone

Stone and the wisdom of the bones. Ancient knowledge. True wealth. Connection to the tribe. This elemental process speaks the language of the old ones and the skeletal structure of the earth. We connect to the realm of Stone through our bones. It is shared memory, tribal continuity, the nearness of our ancestors in daily life, and the divination of Earth. Stone is fiercely practical and relates strongly to survival but also the continuation of life after death. The original wealth was the ore and gems brought up from the deep places such as caves and mines. These were mined from the domain of the dead, which is ruled by Pluto, the Greek god of wealth and death and by Hel, the Norse goddess, mistress of death and keeper of crystal caves. These great beings remind us that all wealth is temporarily loaned to the living and returns to the dead with the mortal’s passing. The wealth of gems and jewels from the deep places of Earth is related to the true wealth that is ancestral memory, continuity, and wisdom. And so the art of geomancy, divination through communication with stone and bone, connects the realm of Stone and Bone to the human consciousness. Stone shows us the path of Wisdom.

© 2013 Heather D. Eggleston