Wake Up! by Linda Star Wolf

Dear Sacred Spiral Dancers,

I know first hand the commitment and fidelity to one’s self that it takes to walk this path fully with your eyes, mind and heart kept wide open. I also know from my own path and experience the fears, hesitations, inadequacies, doubts and crazy feelings that can arise right in the midst of some of the most important healing transformations of one’s life time. It is during these times of powerful monumental shifts and the turning of the ages on planet Earth that each of us is called to wake up and become willing to shape-shift our personal lives while simultaneously surrendering into our heart’s secret code of soul purpose.

We are all in the process of becoming “fully human” in order to be of service to our divine nature in the world. Deep inside of everyone of us, there is a longing as well as a seeking to not only surrender to the divine will of the Universe but also to bring forth the courage to really transform and fully step into our role in creation’s sacred dance here and now. No matter how hard we try we will never really be happy until we stop being distracted from who we are each meant to be and begin to accept and fulfill our destinies. Everything else prior to that is a dress rehearsal for our real life. So I say, 'Let’s not waste another moment putting off the inevitable!' (which is really what we are longing for in the first place).

This is a time of expansion not contraction. This is a time of walking through the fires of transformation! I trust that we will all continue to dance this sacred dance together on many levels. I hope to see many of you at Isis Cove in the months and years to come and I look forward to celebrating our conscious co-creations and evolution on the planet together. Keep Breathing, Keep Howling and Keep Your Hearts Open. Until we meet again on this plane, I will see you in the dreamtime. I will be the one with a bird’s nest in my hair, inviting you to come ride the wild wind with me as we howl at the full moon in a starlit night and awaken the world to love!

In Love and In Constant Loving Service to the One Source,

Star Wolf

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The God of Judgement by Anakule

THE GOD OF JUDGMENT HAS DISAPPEARED, I've been looking and

         looking but can't find him anywhere.  Not in the mountain
               stream or bright blue sky. Not in the clear face of
                   the moon or the million shimmering stars.
                        Not on the faces of my children or
                               the roses in my garden.
                                    The god of judgment has 
                                               disappeared

I disappeared him.
When I saw this poem, the letters were very big at the top and got smaller and smaller until they disappeared at the bottom in an inverted triangle.  I realized later that it was the bottom half of the star of David...the feminine half that goes into  the earth.  I thought it was perfect that the god of judgment would be "disappeared" into the earth where it can be transformed into fertilizer for the growth of the new paradigm that doesn't include judgment! 




Anakule is an ordained Minister of Earth Wisdom, Certified Shamanic Breathwork™ Facilitator, a LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker, a Psychotherapist with over 30 years experience working with individuals, couples, families and groups, and a Facilitator of Women's Spirtuality Groups for 15 years.  Check out her bio at: http://www.shamanicbreathwork.org/graduates/graduatesbio.html#Anakule

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Speaking of Anxiety

From Guest Contributer, James Mayfield Smith, Applied Mythologist and Shamanic Breathwork™ student responding to a friend struggling with anxiety:

Dear One,
Thank you for the gift of speaking your truth about your anxiety.   My life is enriched by your model of what it looks like to step into your courage enough to speak your full truth and follow your inner guides even when this shows up contrary to how your ego wants to be seen.  I continue to enjoy the many gifts that followed my willingness to become authentic and courageous.

I have seen you taking ownership for your anxiety in the past two years.  You are fully feeling this anxiety now and are not being unconsciously run by it.  I see your struggle and admire you for your willingness.  I recall the wisdom of the Dalai Lama, as he shares the gifts of the dance of anger and how it requires patience and compassion.  My prayer is that you can find the patience and compassion to be kind and gentle to yourself as you dance with your anxiety.

It seems to me that you are clearly nursing a breakthrough in this area of your life.  The discomfort of your anxiety is pushing you and demanding you to go deep, be authentic and connect with your source and to others in a genuine way.  Would you step out like this if it were easier or if you could numb it down with your many tools???  Spirit has something amazing in store for you and your life, and whatever it is requires you to practice these traits which only this dance with anxiety demands.  And you need not even worry what that thing is...you can simply do what needs to be done in the present...Trust... Breathe...Remember...Surrender...in this now moment.  Then again in the next.  And then again in the next.  Imagine the possibilities of service to others when such consciousness takes root...this is powerful, deep work that you are gifting to the world. 
I see you and I hear you.  You are not alone.

James Mayfield Smith

Harnessing the Power of Story for Educational Sales - Part 1: The Strategic Use of Story to Sell  http://www.educationbusinessblog.com/2009/07/harnessing_the_power_of_story.html

Harnessing the Power of Story for Educational Sales - Part 2: The Tactical Use of Story to Sell  http://www.educationbusinessblog.com/2009/08/harnessing_the_power_of_story_1.html

Story-Oriented Selling http://davesteinsblog.esresearch.com/2008/10/16/story-oriented-selling/

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Star Wolf at Malaprops, Feb 26, 7 pm

Star Wolf will be at Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe in Asheville on Friday, Feb 26, 7 pm to talk about her new book, Shamanic Breathwork:  Journeying Beyond the Limits of the Self.  She will lead a short Shamanic Breathwork™ journey to open your heart and connect to your own Inner Divine guidance.  Don't miss this opportunity to experience Star Wolf's message of hope and inspiration during these very intense times on the planet!
http://www.malaprops.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp?s=storeevents&eventId=432225

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Recovery from Food Addictions

An excerpt from the Preamble to the Shamanic Recovery and Discovery Process Conscious Eating and Body Image Meeting, lovingly offered from the participants and staff of Venus Rising to give hope and strength to anyone looking for soulful sobriety:

Recovery from addictions means a willingness to open to the great mystery that we have experienced as a void.  Those of us suffering from food addictions have tried to fill the void with either compulsive eating, obsessive withholding or unhealthy eating habits.  Many of us come from families where the nurturing we received was in some way dysfunctional.  As a result, we have not learned how to nurture ourselves in a healthy way.  We use food as a system of reward and punishment – masking our anger at ourselves and others through abusive behavior with food.

Central to our recovery is the establishment of a relationship with the divine.  Knowing we are not alone, we find that what we thought was a frightening plunge into the void is really a surrender to the dance with the mystery.  Obsession alchemically transforms into passion and the dance with our inner higher power becomes a union with the divine.  By facing and embracing the darkness we sought to avoid, we come home to ourselves.

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Easing Off of Sugar, Caffeine and Other Mind-Altering Substances

by Guest Contributer, Laura Wolf

Someone asked me recently why we recommend easing off of sugar, caffeine, alcohol and other mind-altering substances.  As a general rule, we ask people not to ingest substances that alter our minds and brain chemistry just before, during and after Shamanic Breathwork™.  Just using the breath and the music creates powerful altered states.  Using other substances along with breathwork can interfere with your connection to yourself and muddle your messages from your Inner Divine Source.  Basically, the reason we generally ingest things like sugar, caffeine, alcohol and other substances is because we are feeling something we don't want to feel - sadness, depression, anxiety, anger, lethargy, boredom, dis-ease, apathy, lack of purpose, lack of connection, etc.  Shamanic Breathwork™ helps us to feel whatever it is that we've been avoiding inside of ourselves - and in this way we can release and heal those wounds and blockages that steal our life-force-energy and prevent us from living our passion and purpose.  Getting off of sugar, caffeine, alcohol and other substances is a path of getting our power back.  It's a one day at a time journey for most of us and having support from other people on a similar path is essential. 

I personally came to understand about two years ago that I have been using food all my life to mange my feelings of stress, depression and anxiety.  Thinking that I had hypo-glycemia, whenever I would feel "panicky inside," I would eat until I felt better.  Food stopped working as an anti-anxiety control method for me about two years ago and I have been learning to face and embrace my anxiety, and my healing around that, ever since.  For me, it is related to a very young part of myself.  I learned very early to soothe myself with food when things in my family felt chaotic, scary, and out of control.  I was not taught to nurture myself in any healthy kind of way.  I was taught to eat fast, eat a lot and to compare my body to others constantly.   Looking at the messages I received as a child around food, nurturing and body image have been an important part of helping me to shift my relationship with food and with my own body. 

Learning to sit with whatever feelings come up that I may want to medicate away with sugar, carbs and chocolate  has been extremely challenging.  I dialog regularly with the Inner Child aspect of me who feels so panicky.  She and I are learning together, one day at a time, how to help her feel safe, loved and connected to my Divine Source.   I have learned that the key to healing any addictive pattern in my life is strengthening my relationship my Inner Divine  Source.   When I am eating or ingesting anything as a way of avoiding myself and my feelings, I am not trusting my Source.  I choose to go to a weekly Conscious Eating and Body Image meeting.  Having that source of love, support, understanding and accountability helps me to remember who I really am, what I really want for my life, and the importance of nurturing my relationship with the Divine in a daily way.

Laura Wolf is a Shamanic Minister, Shamanic Breathwork Facilitator, Shamanic Theatre Artist and the Shamanic Yoga Teacher at Venus Rising
Contact Laura Wolf:  laurawolf@shamanicbreathwork.org

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What Does "Aquarian Shaman" Mean? by Linda Star Wolf

People ask me all the time what I mean by "Aquarian Shaman."   I am referring to the current death of an old way of life that is happening on our planet, and the birth of a new one - something which I think we can all relate to.  It takes many years of of strict discipline, commitment and practice to become a traditional shaman.  We are not claiming that we have done that and do not call ourselves traditional shamans, although myself, my husband, Brad Collins, and many others of our team have done our fair share of learning at the feet of elders, some shamanic as well as other paths.

This is the age of the Aquarian Shaman, meaning that we are awakening to an inner wisdom, an inner light, the inner Buddha, or Christ Consciousness.  What ever you wish to call it, this is an  age of sudden expansion into conscious awareness where we begin to look within for the answers to our being instead of to an outer authority dictating to us who we are.  We are multidimensional, shape-shifting beings who are becoming aware that we are the grown up sons and daughters of the universe and it is time to claim our birthright and become the wise and capable beings that we truly are. We can only do this by healing our past, surrendering to the great life force energy that we have all been gifted with, accept our true heritage and step into the light of our true being, our future selves. Shamanic Breathwork™ helps us navigate between all these worlds, to heal the past and to bring the future into the present - once we can let go of our old story lines!

We use the powerful metaphor of the Inner Shaman as an activating archetypal force that can be awakened and who will accelerate our learning and opening to a deep inner truth through the transformative, healing power of the sacred breath.  Our medicine tool is the “breath,” along with chakra-attuned music, art, and sacred community - people who have dedicated themselves to a spiritual path and who practice sacred ceremonies from many traditions, including the ones that are being born from deep with in each of us spontaneously.  Although we honor all life affirming  traditions, Venus Rising’s tradition is non-denominational and is based on what Carl Jung referred to as “the path of direct experience, a path of heart and wisdom.”

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LIVE Breathwork Music Teleports People to Other Dimensions

Star Wolf is absolutely on fire about the Shamanic Breathwork™ Journeys she's been doing in Marin with LIVE music by Matt Venuti of the Venusians:
"Matt Venuti's music with a magical instrument called the "hang" is incredible and really teleports people into another dimension. Using it with Shamanic Breathwork™ is amazing!  It's a whole new energy.   People are blown away by what they feel when they breathe and listen to his music.  The Hang is about JOY and LIGHT and ENERGY.  The Hang helps raise the vibrational field and we are able to release the past without so much struggle.  It's about letting go of the darkness and learning how to open to and receive the teachings from the future. We have been learning about the past ad nauseam and we will continue to do that as needed on the great spiral wheel of transformation .... and NOW.... we must now turn our faces to the LIGHT and to FREEDOM as the great wheel turns and we begin to open and learn from the future!"

Thursday, February 11, 7:30 pm, East West Bookstore in Mt. View:  Come get a taste of powerful transformation with a FREE introductory Shamanic Breathwork™ Journey and book signing for Star Wolf's new book, "Shamanic Breathwork:  Journeying Beyond the Limits of the Self."   Matt Venuti will play the amazing "Hang"  instrument that creates magical, otherworldly sounds and rhythms that will transport you beyond the limits of the self.  Bring a friend and come experience the magic!  East West Bookstore, 324 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA.  FREE, but please call(650) 988-9800 to RSVP.  http://www.eastwest.com/

Saturday, February 13, 1 - 5 pm, Open Secret Bookstore:  Star Wolf and Matt will offer a four hour Shamanic Breathwork™ workshop with more LIVE music for journeying!  The cost for this workshop is only $30, a huge discount from Star Wolf's usual rates.  She wants to make this transformative work available to as many people as possible!  Open Secret Bookstore, 923 C Street  San Rafael, California  94901.  Please call Open Secret to register:  415- 457- 4191. 

"Breathe with your Beloved on Valentine's Day" with Star Wolf and her partner, Brad Collins, for a full day of deepening into your own inner beloved and opening to your outer one.  For singles and couples.  Bring your journal, a water bottle, a light lunch, and a snack to ground at the end.   Stress Management Center of Marin, 1165 Magnolia Ave, Larkspur, CA 94939.  Call the Venus Rising office to reserve your spot:  828-631-2305. 
Workshop hours:  11:30 am - 6:30 pm.  Cost:  $40.

Linda Star Wolf is the Founder of Venus Rising Institute for Shamanic Healing Arts and the Shamanic Breathwork™ Process and the author/co-author of four other books.  Shamanic Breathwork is a safe, yet powerful tool using the breath and evocative, trance music to induce altered states, connect deeply to our inner Divine Source, clear out energetic blocks, and get clarity about our sacred purpose and next right actions in the world.  To learn more please visit:  www.shamanicbreathwork.org.

Check out Matt Venuti's website to learn more about the Hang and see YouTube videos of him playing:  www.venusians.com.

Blessings from Venus Rising!

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Star Wolf at the Crystal Chalice in Fairfax, CA, Feb 7, 3 pm

Catch Linda Star Wolf for an afternoon author talk and guided journey at the Crystal Chalice Gratitude Power Store on Sunday, Feb 7, 3 pm.
To RSVP contact the Crystal Chalice
1930 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Fairfax, CA, 94930
415-785-7119
http://www.gratitudepower.net/calendar.htm

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Star Wolf at Open Secret, Feb 5, 7:30 pm

Star Wolf's CA events kick off tonight with a FREE event at Open Secret in San Rafael, CA, 7:30 pm.  Absoulutely amazing LIVE trance music provided by Matt Venuti of the Venusians (www.venusians.com).  Matt uses a new instrument from Europe called the Hang, being studied for it's unique sound-healing properties.  For details click on this link: Linda Star Wolf at Open Secret

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