​But the second type of familiar, the astral/spirit familiar, took me completely by surprise.

​I encountered it when I took my first shamanic drumming journey. 

The Astral Familiar

An astral/spirit familiar is one that pre-exists as a conscious entity within the elemental realm or the Otherworld, which lies beyond the world of the living. It may look like a known animal (or not), but you can’t reach out and touch it.

My first shamanic journey took place in a community campground during a large fire circle with nearly 50 people. I traveled to what the Native Americans call the “upper world,” the spirit realm, and asked to meet my spirit guide. 

The journey was absolutely breathtaking. 

Hecate’s speech above was adapted from the book The Grandmother of Time, by Z. Budapest, although I took a few liberties with the original. It reminds us of an important goal we can all set for the month of October.

October is a good time to tidy up the soul. Make a list of things that have got to go, such as resentment of friends or enemies, anger at yourself, regrets. Just think through your life to see what you no longer need. Go through your soul as if it were a long-forgotten attic, and see where cleaning up is way overdue, then write down what you find.

Note: Negative situations that are not your own doing are a different issue: If you are struggling with depression or other mental illness. If you got ripped off. If you lost your job because you’re a woman, or the wrong color skin, or too old. These oppressions are not your doing, so don’t blame yourself for them. Find groups with which to work through and channel your anger into political activism. It can give your life new meaning!
 

The National Park Service plans to thin a herd of bison in the Grand Canyon, likely beginning next month. They will round up and relocate many of the animals. But they’re also seeking volunteers who are physically fit and proficient with a gun to kill the animals that increasingly damaging park resources.

Some bison would be shipped out of the area and others legally hunted on the adjacent forest. Within the Grand Canyon, hunters will be selected through a lottery to help bring the number of bison roaming the far northern reaches of the park to no more than 200 in the next three to five years.

About 600-700 of the animals now live in the region, and biologists say the number could hit 1,500 within ten years if left uncontrolled.

There are still some details to work out in the next few weeks, but the Park Service gave final approval to the bison reduction plan this month.

The Grand Canyon bison are descendants of those introduced to northern Arizona in the early 1900s as part of a ranching operation to crossbreed them with cattle. The state of Arizona now owns them and has an annual draw for tags on the Kaibab National Forest. Nearly 1,500 people applied for one of the 122 tags this year, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department. 

The bison have been moving into the Grand Canyon Park boundary in recent years, where open hunting is prohibited. Park officials say they are trampling on vegetation and spoiling scarce water resources.

The reduction plan would allow volunteers working on a team with a Park Services employee and possibly a tribal representative, to shoot bison using non-lead ammunition to project the endangered California Condors that feed on gut piles.

Hunters cannot harvest more than one bison in their lifetime through the state hunt, making the volunteer effort intriguing, they say.

“I would go if I had a chance to keep a portion of the meat,” said Travis McClendon, a hunter in Cottonwood. “It would definitely be worth going, especially with a group.”
Grand Canyon is working with state wildlife officials and the Intertribal Buffalo Council to craft guidelines for roundups and volunteer shooters, who will search for bison in the open, said Park Service spokesman Jeff Olson.

Much of the work will be done on foot in elevations of 8,000 feel or higher between October and May, when the road to the Grand Canyon’s North Rim is closed. Snowmobiles and sleds will be used to remove the bison meat—and helicopters in rare instances, park officials said. Bison are the largest mammal in North America. Males can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and stand six feet tall.

Carl Lutch, the terrestrial wildlife manager for Game and Fish in Flagstaff, AZ, said volunteers should be capable of hiking eight miles a day, in snow, and carrying a 60-pound pack. They also must be able to hit a paper plate from 200 yards five times.

Most indigenous Native American tribes regard the bison as a sacred animal and religious symbol, based on the creation stories of where the buffalo came from.  Buffalo hides and heads were used in ceremonies, as well as to make tipi covers, utensils, weapons, shields, and sinew for sewing. Many Plains tribes used the bison skull for confessions and for blessing burial sites.
​
While the details haven’t been finalized, it appears the current plan is to give the head and the hide of the bison to tribes in the area. The meat is probably going to be split among volunteers, with each volunteer able to take the equivalent of meat from one full bison. Anything in excess would be given to tribes and charities. A full-grown bull can yield hundreds of pounds of meat.

Here are some interesting facts not related to the Grand Canyon bison thinning:

1. On May 9, 2016, President Obama signed the National Bison Legacy Act into law, officially making the American bison the national mammal of the United States. This majestic animal joins the ranks of the bald eagle as the official symbol of our country.
2. In prehistoric times, millions of bisons roamed North America, from Alaska to Mexico, to the eastern Appalachian Mountains. But in the late 1800s, the breed had been hunted nearly to extinction. Had it not been for a few private individuals working with the tribes, states and the Interior Department, the bison would be extinct today.
3. Currently, 17 herds in 12 states--more than 10,000 bison--live on public lands managed by the Department of Interior.
4. Yellowstone National Park is the only place in the U.S. where bison have continuously lived since prehistoric times. The herd there is estimated at 4,900, the largest group on public lands.
5. Bison calves are called ‘red dogs’ because of their orange-red color.
6. You can judge a bison’s mood by its tail. Hanging down is calm; if the tail is standing straight up, watch out! It may be ready to charge.
7. Bison are not only big, they’re fast. They can run up to 35 miles per hour.
8. The animals can live up to 20 years.
9. Bison’s ancestors are from Asia. They made their way to America by crossing the ancient land bridge that once connected Asia with North America during the Pliocene Epoch, some 400,000 years ago.
10. Bison are near-sighted. While bison have poor eyesight, they have excellent senses of smell and hearing. Cows and calves communicate using pig-like grunts, and bulls bellow during mating season.

 

.Happy Mabon! Welcome to the Autumnal Equinox, when Nature once again comes into balance. My hope is that the globe does finally come again into balance, and we can be free of catastrophic occurrences for the rest of the year. (In the meantime, please refer back to my last two blogs for spells to dispel our current hurricane, and give support to the victims of recent devastation.)
 
In Arizona, Mabon is the start of a whirlwind of activities. The rest of the world is slowing down, turning over crops, and preparing to nest through the cold winter months. But we’re the Northern Hemisphere misfits. After hibernating in our air-conditioned home caves through the 115-degree summer, around Mabon, everyone goes outside to catch up on yardwork and have outdoor BBQ's with neighbors. There is a long list of community activities: concerts, hay rides, farmers markets, sports activities, pumpkin fests and corn mazes. Everyone wants to play
outside after being cooped up indoors for so long.
 
In this frenzy of activity, Mabon always seems to catch me off-guard. So soon? Really?

​I’ve done better this year. Because I’ve spent a lot of this fall at our forest cabin, I’ve been able to witness the seasonal changes from summer to fall. Our forest bed  has become a sea of yellow flowers. (Say "hi" to my Australian Shepherd pal Teak).

​It’s cooler, of course. The hummingbirds have migrated from our feeders down to Mexico. And the light is different. When the dogs and I take our daily walk in the forest, the trail is more dappled, and the sun slants through the trees at an acute angle.

It’s cooler, of course. The hummingbirds have migrated from our feeders down to Mexico. And the light is different. When the dogs and I take our daily walk in the forest, the trail is more dappled, and the sun slants through the trees at an acute angle. 
We always stop at this favorite natural watering hole. On a 2-mile hike, these guys will drink as many water bottles as I'm willing to carry.

Best of all, the elk are back. We hear them bugling at bedtime almost every night now.  

This is in case you've never seen elk droppings!

Nature is aware of the equinoxes, even if we sometimes are not. The September astrological sign is Libra, the scales, signifying balance. Mother Nature establishes, once again equality between the forces of light and darkness. From now on, the days will shorten and the nights get longer. The Goddess descends into the Underworld, the world of darkness, where she tends to her dead souls. This act of going down into the underworld and defeating death is celebrated by the many rituals and processions of the Eleusian mysteries.

​The Eleusian rites were the most famous goddess festival in all of Europe. People came from all over the continent to participate, because they believed those who went through the mysteries gained good luck and insights, and they became sanctified by the goddesses. 

From the Autumn Equinox until the end of September, a different ritual, a different theme, was observed each day. The festival started with processions from Athens to Eleusis. Participants deposited sacred objects at the feel of the Goddess Demeter, then went to bathe in the sea. Then people gathered for Torch Day, going through the temples and the town in search for Persephone, or Kore.

The following day was a grand purification ritual, and initiates washed away ignorance and assumed new grace. Then on September 27, people marched day and night, carrying lit torches. This marked the true start of the mysteries. It began with Holy Night on September 28, when people thronged to a great bonfire. The hierophant invoked Kore, and her true presence was felt. Painted in dark colors, she was enthroned as the Queen of Hell.
 
Holy Night was the most important time because people confronted the idea of death as they watched Kore, the Divine Maiden, turn into the Crone and then turn back into the Young Queen of the Underworld. The presence of the Goddess gave people a chance to see their own death as part of their lives, and to remove fears about the afterlife.
 
I’ve always thought that this is a teaching that should have been continued. In our modern times, because of our denial of death and the aging of the body, we have rejected the wisdom of the aged, and in doing so have robbed old age of its meaning and youth of its direction.
 
It’s time for our cultural bias against age to end. The number of people reaching the mythic retirement age of 65 has zoomed from about seven and a half million in the 1930s (when Social Security legislation decreed 65 as the age of obsolescence) to 34 million today. By the turn of the century, that figure will be 61.4 million.
 
The Autumn Equinox reminds us that life has a beginning, a middle, ad also an ending. It’s us to us to convert our society to more “conscious aging” and a new way of looking at and experiencing aging that moves beyond our cultural obsession with youth, and toward a respect and need for the wisdom of age. 

Happy Mabon!

​For the millions of people who have suffered through a national disaster in the last month, their sorrow, anger and despair is not over.
Recovery takes time. Money. Rebuilding. Re-assessing. Stamina and determination. 

“There are so few things you can actually say, and of course the person who is traumatized knows that,” says Nora Baladerian, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist who headed three trauma teams in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. 
But providing emotional support during this time can be incredibly valuable.
​

Above: Naples, Florida (Getty Images/Spencer Platt)
NOTE: Contact BestFriends.org to report lost pets, look for your pets lost in Irma, or get information about volunteer and animal fostering opportunities.

If you’re not sure how to do that, here are a few suggestions from Dr. Baladerian.

1. Listen and reflect. Say you’re so sorry, and you want to do everything you can to stick with them. As a supportive friend, just listen to them and validate their feelings.
2. Let them mourn their loss. Your first instinct may be to jump in and say, “You can rebuild houses, but you can’t rebuild lives.” But there’s a good chance things will be different no matter how much rebuilding is done. Some of the islands and towns in Florida, some of the neighborhoods in Houston, some of the communities in the West ravaged by forest fires—they will not be the same, at least not in our lifetimes. A mourning time is needed in these early stages. Instead, it can be reassuring to say to a loved one, “I’m going to be with you until you have your house back,” or, “we’ll find our way together.”
3. Help them focus on gratitude. Find a few facts to be grateful for, Dr. Baladerian says. Do a little list of appreciation and acknowledge what’s good. For many people, they’re simply happy to be alive, in which case you should focus on that. “You want to balance listening, being present, and noticing what’s good,” he says.
4. Don’t underestimate long-distance support. After a disaster, people often don’t feel comfortable reaching out to their local friends and family for assistance, because they know they’re going through the same loss. Even if you aren’t anywhere near Florida or Texas or California, it’s worth it to post on Facebook to see if you can help anyone from afar. You might be surprised who responds, and your support and long-distance assistance can be instrumental.
5. Understand that their feelings will fluctuate. After a disaster, it’s not uncommon for people to go through the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance), Dr. Baladerian says. “They may experience a different stage on a daily basis at this point, so be prepared for whatever it is they’re feeling. And keep in mind that disaster recovery is a long-term process. Your loved ones may not “get over” their loss right away, and it can be a long time before their lives are back to a stable normal. Be patient and willing to listen or help throughout the recovery process.

 

​Place all the candles in a spiral circle on your altar space, starting with the protection candle in the cauldron. Light the protection candle and chant:

“By the powers that be and see,
I call protection unto me.
And unto all those I love
To cover them like wings of a dove. “

Then, starting with the candle furthest from the center of your spiral, light the candles one by one moving inward toward the protection candle and say:

“I call upon the powers that be,
I seek protections unto thee.”

As you light the candles, see a great blue and purple bubble of protection growing from the center of your area and flowing upward into the sky. Visualize this bubble of protection being joined by hundreds of thousands of others, each joining into the other ones and growing larger and larger until one immense bubble covers every finch within the danger zone.

Once you have finished leave the candles to burn completely out or until the storm has ended.

P.S. If you don’t have room on your altar or table for all full-size candles, use tapers or mini tapers for all but your protection candle. It’s your intention that is most important in any ritual working.

Next week I’ll post a spell for the people coping with the aftermath of our natural disasters.
Be safe friends. Let us know that you are all right!

While I was researching Clive Cussler last week, I got side-tracked reading about one of his co-writers, Russell Blake. This man is a phenomenon. He writes 6-10 books a year, and they’re 300-plus page thrillers. Plus, he’s a NYT, WSJ and USA Today best-seller.

​I just bought a book he co-wrote with Cussler, The Eye of Heaven, so I’ll let you know how I like his style).

Since my writing pace is more turtle than rocket, I decided to test some of his craft tips on how to write more, faster.

1. Do your research before you write the frigging book. Then turn off the internet. Your productivity will increase 30-40%. If you must, make notes of items that need research and do them after you’ve hit your daily word count.

    2. Insert place holder for shit you don’t know. Don’t agonize over             the perfect character name. Use XXX or ZZZ and come back to it           after you’ve hit your word count.  

These simple adjustments have made such a difference in my production! For the last week, I quit going back to research every detail I ran into. Instead, I made a footnote on the manuscript in red, to return to later.
 
YES! I’m making my daily word goal every day now! And note the emphasis on daily. I’ve written every day for the last 12 straight days. I can’t tell you what a relief it is to be writing every day, and with much less effort. On the writing every day, Russel says…

      3. Hit your daily word goal no matter what. Having too much to                  do life happens, all of those reasons are not reasons. They’re                  excuses. You either want to make this happen or you don’t. If                you can’t quit making excuses, take up some other hobby                        that’s less demanding, because this ain’t for you.  

      4. Ditto on revising. If you feel you must edit as you go, set aside               time AFTER you’ve written your day’s word goal, then go back               and edit. Note: I just quit editing. And still gave my pages to my             critique partners. We’ll see if they hate me.  

       5. Looking at the larger picture, Russell says to sit down at the top            of the year and pencil out a production schedule, and stick to it.            “When I say stick to it, I mean stick to it like someone will blow             your head off if you miss it. Like you’ll be fired from your job as            a writer if you miss it. If you want to do this as a career, develop            discipline.”

Harsh words, but Russell lives them. He starts on “content creation” around 8 or 9 in the morning, and works until 10-11 at night. Too much?  
   
        6. I’ve set a goal that’s realistic for me (also a Russell suggestion).           I’m going to generate 700-1000 decent words a day, every single           day, no exceptions. Guess what? That will allow me to generate             300+K per year! That’s three, maybe four novels a year. Would I           be happy with that? Hell yes.  

 One last interesting tip. Since the man spends so many hours                writing, he bought a treadmill desk. Russell says he now walks              about six miles a day, and has actually lost weight writing.          Hmm.  

At this writing pace, I’ll have Crescent Moon Crossing finished in November, right on time. Maybe then I’ll ask for a treadmill desk for Yule.
 
Good writing!
 
  

photo by fotomanisch.deviantart.com 

The island became a place of pilgrimage and royal burial as its fame as a center of learning spread.

When the Vikings invaded Iona in the eighth century, the Book of Kells was secreted off the Iona and to Ireland. It’s now housed at Trinity College Library in Dublin.

Known graves on Iona include 48 Scottish kings including Macbeth, 8 Norwegian, 1 French and 4 Irish, as well as numerous clan chiefs. Templar knight gravestones reveal their presence on the island.

Megalithic remains suggest it was a prehistoric burial site too. But why? Why did so many royal people come here, to this tiny island, to prepare for their final journey?

Some say it’s because Iona is a borderland between life and death.

There is no denying that Iona is mysterious. The light is more translucent, more heavenly and less earthly, often filled with swirling mist. The water is blue, unlike the black waters in most of Scotland. 

And the beaches are littered with beautiful green stones, Iona green marble. 

The island is famous for it, and the crystals have been collected as talismans for centuries.

Legend tells of a lonely monk who fell in love with a mermaid. When she was banished, she shed tears that can be found today, the small green tear-shaped crystals strewn along Iona’s beaches.
There are also legends about magical “green eggs,” called Druid’s Eggs or Serpent’s Eggs. Which brings me around to that other tantalizing legend – the Druid’s library.

Could it be that Columba’s monks copied not only old Christian manuscripts, but also the Druid writings they found on Iona? What happened to all that work?

It’s never been found, although modern historian Ashley Cowie, host of the TV series Legend Quest, swears he’s found the entrance to the lost library in a secret chamber under Iona Abbey.

Yes, Iona is chock-full of intriguing questions and mystery. And you can be sure I’ll be following Cowie’s investigation with interest. Wouldn’t an ancient Druid Chamber of Secrets would be an exciting way to conclude my Ancient Magic series?

Thanks to each of you for following my Sacred Scotland blogs. The Scotland series is complete, but come back next weekend for another topic.

​This is a lunar observatory created as an ancient power center to witness the major lunar standstill that occurs only once every 18.9 years. (The next lunar standstill will be stages by the moon in 2025.)

​The stones are gneiss rock, black metamorphic rock banded with quartz and mica, and nearly three million years old.

The Pixar film Brave features several scenes set in and around the stones. And The Starz TV series, Outlander, based on a series of books by Diana Gabaldon, has used the stones as a model for a fictional circle near Culloden called Craigh na Dun.

Maybe the site has become too popular. Or, maybe the stones have absorbed the negative emotions of the people who now trek out to this secluded site to visit. Maybe they even resent the renewed attention?  After all, its own people abandoned the site around 800 BC and let the peat reclaim it until farmers re-cleared the area in 1857.

Whatever the reason, this site ignited an overpowering feeling of anger and resentment in me, a feeling that lingered long after we left the stones. Part of the issue was a pre-teen boy who stood in the middle of this sacred sit, acting stupid and making gang signs while his mom tried to take his picture.

​The rejected card, as it turned out, was the Devil.

Linda’s interpretation was that the Moon card reminds me that the sacred and true is always there, no matter what else is going on. Meanwhile, the Devil is trying to get my attention, saying, “Hey, look at these distractions, pay attention to them, let me ruin your day!”

She also pointed out that I’d been dragging my red scarf on the ground much of the day, and its color was a perfect match to the red cape on the Death card. She gave me a lot to think about.
​
The next morning we visited the Calanais III site, and it was completely different. This double-ring site includes a grouping of three stones named “Mother, Maiden and Crone,” and it had a remarkable atmosphere, as quiet as the wind. It also has less visitors than its better-well-known sister site.  Our group went early, winding into the rocks holding hands. We held a short ritual circle, undisturbed by any other visitors.

It was the perfect way to end our time on Lewis, before driving across the isthmus to catch our ferry to the Isle of Skye. I’ll tell you about Skye and our last island, magical Iona, when I conclude my Scotland tour blog next weekend.

Until then, Blessed Be. And pay attention to the signs you are presented in your daily life!