SPIRIT        LODGE   LIBRARY Medicine Wheel Page 4 (part 2)

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The 24 pages in this Medicine Wheel section are linked below

A Peek At The Gifts Of The Four Pathways	Air…Exploring The Element And Its Impact On Me	Center Stones Of The Wheel Discussion	Dance Of The Elemental Forces Exercise 2 And Discussion (2 pages)	Dance Of The Elemental Properties Exercise	Dancing The Wheel And More Discussion	Dancing The Wheels Raw Elements Exercise 4	How You Approach The Study Of The Medicine Wheel Matters
Interactive Dance Of The Wheel Exercise 3 And Discussion	Introduction To Dancing The Wheel	Ojibway Medicine Wheel	Overview Of The Elemental Forces, Three Worlds And Their Attributes	Overview Of The Seven Sacred Directions	Pocket Medicine Wheel	Raven Moon	Stones Of The Medicine Wheel
Sundance Discussion	The Element Of Water	The Kvnaikati Tsulawi…Cherokee East Texas…Medicine Wheel	The Medicine Wheel And The Ruach	The Medicine Wheel Made Easy	The Star Nation Medicine Wheel Journey Discussion…Lesson	Walking Between The Worlds Discussion	Why Explore The Seven Sacred Directions

Dance of the Elemental Forces (Exercise 2) & Discussion - Part 2
By CinnamonMoon

CinnamonMoon:
Thank you for sharing this, Earthwalker...it is *exactly* what I wanted to see coming from the Dance. While your senses are just starting to function on this level, it does give you an introduction to reading the energy signatures of the elemental forces (and the cross-quarters too). It's skeletal initially and that's quite normal. The more you repeat this Dance the stronger your recognition becomes. Your senses keen and quicken and their voice rises up in you to become quite apparent. So keep doing this exercise until you feel saturated with the sensations and could tell which element were touching you with your eyes closed. It will become one of your most major tools in the pathwork that will grow with you. Bravo!

But...I've got a couple comments to make about the Dance itself for you too. (Naturally!) Let me begin by saying the heavy energy you've been getting a read on this past week is most likely the war. You have a strong emotional view on that and the weight of the war is deeply felt by your spirit. I must agree that's what was happening. You called that one well.

I would like to see you spending a longer period of saturation time with each of the elemental forces to know them better. I got the feeling you Danced this just a tad too fast. You might want to try working with them one at a time. I believe Northernwolf suggested that in a post to you and I think he's quite right. It would allow you to do a much more indepth study that way. Perhaps reducing the effort of several future Dance sessions down to just four of them that way. I know you're anxious to move past this part but it can be quite fascinating if you open even more to it.

I will say that the impressions you picked up on so far are very good and quite accurate. It's very common to have a couple senses that are strongest but in this way you hone the others too and learn to bring them into unity as if they were a single function. At the same time you can learn to work from any of the sensory perspectives if a situation deprives you of the others and still read the signatures because they are familiar to you so this is a powerful exercise in many ways and you'll use those talents later throughout just about anything you're going to do and on all levels.

As I've mentioned before, the cross-sections of the Wheel are the merging of energies, those that move the energy flow of the Wheel itself along and they are transitional points like a vortex. It seems you grasped them very well. Still I would rather see you not merging them until you have that saturated essence of each element and its purest form down clean. The subtle shifts need to be better defined and that tells you the pace of the energy flow as well so try to keep the two separate for now if you don't mind. Just a little while longer. You will know when it's time to move on to be marked by each sense functioning at full capacity with the elemental forces. Interface is a great term for the cross-quarter energies and what they do! The foundation of each element will lend even greater insight into the cross-quarter signatures too.

The hollowness that you felt moving between the worlds was the axis. It was centered within you and that's the "tube" portion you felt...we call it becoming the Hollow Bone and it's what you strive to achieve to channel Source Energy through yourself. Well done there even if you didn't understand it at the time. When you encounter it again you'll sense it for what it is. The Void is to be within Spirit.

Yes, each elemental force has the ability to cleanse and purify us. They are the purest forms next to Spirit. The sensation of being swept clean/Air, burned clean/Fire, washed clean/Water, and reborn/Earth is what you should experience.

Pushing away the images in the Lower World is good. This time anyway. In a Dance of this type the essence of the element is what we want to achieve and visions are distracting. It's good you want to go back. These same Guides showed themselves to you and thus they will wait for your return. That would be a journey in itself and I'm not surprised to hear you intend to go back either.

The aftermath of your grounding (releasing energy) and centering (calling it in) needs definition here. We center to start and ground to finish. Just FYI. The calm peace you felt and the unity of self is what you should have felt. This exercise, when mastered, becomes very fast paced and as the symbology, the energy signatures, and your mastery assimilate themselves you'll find you can do it all in 7 deep breaths. This is how I center morning and evening. I take it in and ride it all day and all night. The grounding is no longer necessary in this instance since I flow with the energy and can step in and out of it at will. You'll get to that point and my guess is you'll do it rapidly.

If your sense of smell is poor (spiritually speaking) then try working that one more. It's just slow to come around as you seem to prefer other senses more. This is normal for all of us and as I said earlier we all have some strong and some weak ones. It just takes practice. Sometimes they just don't come around at all for us and the others compensate. Whatever develops for you is right for you and you should never compare your abilities to others. Only to your own progress.

If you can work smell well in your imagination it will certainly develop spiritually. Imagination is the first door to imagery, which escorts us through the portal into the dimensional realms where the imagination becomes a constructive tool at times or is set aside to absorb the present reality of the moment. Both methods apply at their appropriate times. You'll get a feel for when that should be as you learn to sense the shift between imagination into alternate realities.

At least you're seeing which senses are strongest for you. This is good and something that's important to be aware of.

"Cinnamon et.al. On another dance after you had said I was being called to dance. I dance and got all Native American images around the wheel and at the end I got really frustrated and indicated to Spirit I needed more than just these images, I needed to know more. Actually, I was quite angry. I looked down at my hands and saw intense bluish purple energy pouring into them from a source that was somewhat darkened and far away. I am not sure what the energy or source was. Any idea? Because of the darkness or the mystery of the source I initially felt I should be scared but I wasn't. Any ideas?

" Yes, this is most likely sourced with your Guides and what I call "downloading" though it takes many forms, you were being fed the information. It will go cellular first, then rise up through you to consciousness as you grow and develop. The "knowing" will come over you and you'll recall that it was spiritually fed to you. It could also have been directly from Spirit. Just because something is dark does not mean it should create fear. Sometimes Spirit envelops us in darkness so we can get creative. I was always taught that the pitch darkness was my easel to dream with. In that dreaming we weave life or that which comes into being so we can live and become our dream. That's more than likely what you were encountering here. The color of the energy indicates a higher form and indigo is directed from the Creator. It correlates to the Crown Chakra too...where we are fed from Spirit. Going into your hands it entered and began to circulate through your system. A good thing. *Smile*

"Where do I need to go for Dance of the Element #3."
Back to Dance of the Elements #2 (your version of course!)

Earthwalker:
Cinnamon, Thanks for the input. However the timing suggests you were up very late. I hope you’re are feeling a little better.

“So keep doing this exercise until you feel saturated with the sensations and could tell which element were touching you with your eyes closed. It will become one of your most major tools in the pathwork that will grow with you. I would like to see you spending a longer period of saturation time with each of the elemental forces to know them better. I got the feeling you Danced this just a tad too fast. You might want to try working with them one at a time. I believe Northernwolf suggested that in a post to you and I think he's quite right. It would allow you to do a much more indepth study that way. Perhaps reducing the effort of several future Dance sessions down to just four of them that way. I know you're anxious to move past this part but it can be quite fascinating if you open even more to it.”

I don’t think I am anxious to move past this. I danced this just when I was waking up. I think this time is the easiest time for me to go into realms that I haven’t explored before. It is an interface between the dream world and the mundane world and a time when it is easier to cross between the worlds, at least initially for me. I just don’t usually have a lot of time. You were absolutely right I danced this very quickly, less than 5 minutes where a normal dance I spend about 30-60 minutes in. I will definitely go back into each element. I liked feeling the elements and think I could easily distinguished them from one another already. But I do need to go back into each and truly feel each more fully.

“As I've mentioned before, the cross-sections of the Wheel are the merging of energies, those that move the energy flow of the Wheel itself along and they are transitional points like a vortex. It seems you grasped them very well. Still I would rather see you not merging them until you have that saturated essence of each element and its purest form down clean.”

I know you don’t like dancing the interfaces initially but at least when done initially they help me break down the elements into their respective components. What I do best in life is to trouble shoot (to analyze). I see a problem whether it is with an analytical method, a failure occurring with a piece of equipment or a conflict between individuals. To resolve it, one needs to break apart the obvious into its respective parts and assess how each interacts with the other. In the mundane world, for the past 30 years, "the interface is my beginning".

To me after, at least, observing the interfaces, it is easier to go back into the pure element and truly understand it (as well as its interaction). However, I agree I do need to now go back to the pure element to fully appreciate it and will. I don’t disagree with you and think most people do need to get the bases down first. I just fine an analytical approach easier to start with so I can define where I need to be. I personally just learn better by pulling things apart. I believe it creates an environment where curiosity take overs (with its more intense energy). Curiosity creates a more intense learning environment for me. Once I understand the interaction I can go back to the basics and truly appreciate its component part and want to delve into each and understand each even at the molecular level. It is just me. Curiosity entices me into something and then I learn the basics. If I couldn’t see the end or the chaos, I would never be curious enough to start at the beginning. “The hollowness that you felt moving between the worlds was the axis. It was centered within you and that's the "tube" portion you felt...we call it becoming the Hollow Bone and it's what you strive to achieve to channel Source Energy through yourself. Well done there even if you didn't understand it at the time. When you encounter it again you'll sense it for what it is. The Void is to be within Spirit.”

No I didn’t understand it at the time but felt it probably was such after thinking about it. Actually the bluish-purple energy was also from a similar source since it was just dark movement but one that did not create fear. I didn’t have the feeling of the hollow bone at the time to fall back onto. It was darkness too; the two are different but somehow connected.

“Going into your hands it entered and began to circulate through your system. A good thing. *Smile*”

OK, but does it have a purpose? And I even know your answer. Ask your guides (Smiles).!

After each of these experiences I am always left with one major question. How do you prioritize the dances (just based on feelings)? I can and want to go in so many directions and want to explore each more deeply but there always remains the problem of time. What is the order of priority. I do feel the elements are important right now but so are the guides, so is the purple energy, so is melding, so is going with guides into the cosmos etc. , etc., etc. How does one know which is most important to pursue in the present time? How do you know what is important enough to pursue in the Spirit world as it open up to each of us. There are so many ways to go and to explore. How do you differentiate between those that are just observations and those that are needed to be delved into more deeply. Could we possibly start another thread on this if it is a commonly asked question? Thank you for all the input. Please let me know if there are things that shouldn’t be posted. I am never sure how much to post; but since I am just learning I do hope feel this was appropriate and hopefully helpful to others. If not, please let me know.

Lady Athena:
Cinnamon! It really does make sense. I say thanks for the information/suggestion, I will do the regression - soul retrieval. Do you think I better / can do it myself or with assistance? Or a leader? Well, what do you think would be the best? THANK YOU!

CinnamonMoon:
Good Morning EarthWalker,
I'm always up late.
"You were absolutely right I danced this very quickly, less than 5 minutes where a normal dance I spend about 30-60 minutes in."

That is telling me how little weight you were placing on it. The elemental forces (not the interfacing of them) are the cornerstones of everything you will be working with on this path. First there is Spirit, the center of the Wheel and axis on which all else is balanced. From there the four elemental forces define the manifestation of Spirit through the physical reality linked to the spiritual reality. Without understanding this there is nothing. They are the primaries.

"I liked feeling the elements and think I could easily distinguished them from one another already. But I do need to go back into each and truly feel each more fully."

Definitely you need to go back. You've only tipped the iceberg. They are much more than you are taking in and that is vital information you are bypassing right now. Through these forces we have the link to everything that exists: seasons, cycles, patterns, form. Components of the whole, they bring the manifestations, changes, transformations, and enlightenment into being. Their energy signatures MUST be fully understood or you go through the Dances half blind, confused, and questioning everything. By understanding them everything else starts to make sense.

"I know you don’t like dancing the interfaces initially but at least when done initially they help me break down the elements into their respective components."

I understand it is your way of doing things, however for most people this is a high risk factor and brings huge problems into play so you will continue to hear me say no to this. When you are an exception to a "rule" that must be taken into consideration. Some people are like that. But here at Spirit Lodge, in a public forum I'm going to be a stickler for the rules per se because we have many people reading posts and not partaking in conversations that can easily be misled. So IMO it's important to address that issue each time it comes up. I do not want to be responsible for misconceptions or placing others at risk. Most people learn to swim from the shallow water rather than jumping right in.

"OK, but does it have a purpose? And I even know your answer. Ask your guides (Smiles).!"

You’re so right! Actually you were downloaded in response to the question you'd asked. Now you must seek your Guides to see how that applies to you and learn to upload it. You were "fed" answers and must learn to interface according to your nature (assimilate it). You see, just as you have defined how you learn here, Spirit is working with you on your terms. Have fun! Enjoy the process.

"After each of these experiences I am always left with one major question. How do you prioritize the dances (just based on feelings)?"

Well the basic cornerstones and method of contact is fundamental stuff. Once that's down the Wheel opens to you with other doors. You have to go through the first series to get the hang of Dancing and after that it becomes a matter of knowing where to go for the answers you need. You'll know where to go when you understand the essence of each elemental force, the lessons taught in that realm, and how to work with the entities that inhabit it. You have to find your introductions and that comes through your Guides you meet along the way. It all comes together simultaneously so taking things one element at a time keeps you from the overwhelm.

The Wheel itself is basic and simple but what it contains is very complex since it holds all knowledge...or the paths to that knowledge. The center stone/Spirit is the hub to understanding and enlightenment. From there you move to the next circle...elemental forces and the male/female, aggressive/passive energies. From there you move to the world arena, the stones that teach us the way of things, and that is encircled by the universe itself...the body of Spirit.

We're starting this exercise from the ground up. The Seven Sacred Directions are named as such for a reason. Without them nothing makes sense. Once you've saturated yourself with understanding them fully everything else falls into place. You can't get to the end without starting at the beginning. It doesn't work that way. You'll only end up backtracking and wasting time. You're creating your own roadmap in the process and it's vital to the remaining work that will come your way.

"I can and want to go in so many directions and want to explore each more deeply but there always remains the problem of time."

Time? Spirit gave you a lifetime to explore this. It's not something you pick up overnight. It is life itself and a way of life. You never stop learning. The Wheel, and the directions it can take are unlimited in scope. Each of us has a path to walk on it determined at birth and as you explore it that path unfolds. You *know* where to go, when to play with it, when to journey or Dance (there is a difference, the journey takes you to a specific location while the Dance reveals others along the way).

"What is the order of priority."

Fundamentals first. As they are explored your Guides appear and direct you to where you need to go. As you follow that direction your path unfolds and the lessons appear when the time is right for them. Everything is already in place for you and timed for your lifespan. It's woven upon your path. The challenges are the lessons. Facing fears helps you grow. Achieved you continue to the next challenge or act of service along the way. With each step you take comes enlightenment and understanding preparing you for what's ahead.

As human beings we are by nature impatient and curious. We want the answer before the question is fully formed. Learn how to do something and the why of it will explain itself. Questions are wonderful tools. They bring our attention to our most immediate needs and they tell us when we are heading off track on things too. They create curiosity and inspire us to satisfy it.

Your need to work with the interfaces and then backtrack to the foundations is a prime example of why your path is a bit longer, but you're able to compensate for that with speed. Most people can't.

"I do feel the elements are important right now but so are the guides, so is the purple energy, so is melding, so is going with guides into the cosmos etc. , etc., etc. How does one know which is most important to pursue in the present time?"

The Guides, as I've said appear as you need them. They will introduce you to your Teachers...showing you the way. The energy is information and through your Guides and Teachers they will show you how to assimilate it. Each Dance is done with purpose if you are to be successful and focused. A haphazard Dance is done to explore possibilities and potentials or just vacation as it were...to see what's out there. There are times that it is appropriate and it depends on the need of the moment. Defined Dance is done for specific reasons, either to expand growth and hone your abilities, discover your pathwork, learn how you are to serve Spirit etc. or it is done to a ceremonial approach to honor Spirit.

Once an issue is defined, let's just say you're working on an ability with a specific Guide or Teacher. Through the Dance you learned where you were to go to meet with them...your portal or starting point. From there the Guide or Teacher appears and will take you deeper. Once that location is known to you it is "mapped" on your perspective of the Wheel. You *know* how to get there. Then instead of Dancing the Wheel to arrive you simply center and journey to that location. The remainder of the Wheel is not needed at that time.

"How do you know what is important enough to pursue in the Spirit world as it open up to each of us. There are so many ways to go and to explore. How do you differentiate between those that are just observations and those that are needed to be delved into more deeply."

This becomes evident as your understanding grows. Right now you are in the chaos of conceptions and on overwhelm -- interfacing if you like. But it's time to back up now and get those basics down. You have to have the definitions, symbolic representations, saturation of the essence to *know* what is being conveyed to you. You have to understand the language of each through your senses. So the starting point is the elemental forces and three worlds as well as your senses broken down at first and then merged into a Whole. In this way you find your path, your place in the Web of Life, and through that understanding you *know* the answer to where you need to go next. You know when to sojourn for enjoyment, when to play, when to work, and where to go for what you need.

Like I said before, you've just tipped the iceberg. We're looking at 7 stones on the Wheel. There are 36! 29 perspectives remain for you to explore and you are still at square one basically because you've been interfacing instead of taking things in from that starting point. It's a backwards approach but now that you've tasted things you can go back and gain the perspectives necessary. That's okay. It's what you needed. It just takes longer.

In this manner you can see the pattern of growth in cycles though. Through the fundamental understanding things begin to make sense and you complete a cycle. Then it comes full circle but this time you have more insight and can get more out of the next cycle you pass through. So it continues on with cycles within cycles, worlds within worlds, dimensions within dimensions, universes within universes...all a part of the whole, all a part of the Web of Life, all a part of your lifetime moving you through it to know Spirit and your connection through the axis...the Shamanic Tree...to become the Hollow Bone and channel that energy that is information.

We are a universe unto ourselves and the portal to others lies within us. We have to go within first to learn to project out. We have to understand the spiritual aspect of ourself to understand the spiritual aspect and interactions with life. So the battle is with the Self...pushing past the illusions of the physical reality to see that there are others to explore and name and know. In this understanding we come to see the parts of the whole within the macro and microcosms. We see the Web of Life for what it is and learn there is no definition to it, just the way we pluck the strings.

"Could we possibly start another thread on this if it is a commonly asked question?"

If you feel you'd like to we certainly can. I'll take it as far as you want to go with it and I'm sure that others here will enjoy adding their views.

"Please let me know if there are things that shouldn’t be posted. I am never sure how much to post; but since I am just learning I do hope feel this was appropriate and hopefully helpful to others. If not, please let me know."

This is fine. There has been nothing you've shared that is not going to be part of someone else's initial experience. Once you get into your more defined spiritual role there will be a sense of silence to issues you know you should not discuss in a public forum and by then you'll know who to seek for clarification or direction on those. I addressed this specific issue in the Welcome Center thread posted by MonSnoLeeDra. It's entitled: How Does Spirit Speak To You?

Thank you for your wonderful questions. I'm certain there are many others who have entertained them and not been able to form a question around the concept. This is very helpful to the community, Earthwalker, and as you take your walk you bring light to many issues. A very good thing. *S*

Earthwalker:
Cinnamon: "That is telling me how little weight you were placing on it. The elemental forces (not the interfacing of them) are the cornerstones of everything you will be working with on this path." Not true! when I wake up after sleep it is a time that I like to try new things especially when I haven't been able to achieve something else in a normal way.

All new things have been introduced during this time frame by Spirit as well. Unfortunately, this is the time when I have the least amount of time to dance or journey etc. The mundane world sets in rapidly. I am lucky if I have 5 minutes before tasks start to set in. At night is when I find the time to dance but it is often after being up for 15-16 hrs. and I am tired. Therefore new paths are found in the morning or after sleeping and then explored at night when I have more time.

I was just excited to share that I had actually felt something. I apologize if you felt I was wasting your time or lacked interest. That was not the case. As for the thread on prioritization it is not needed if others don't seem to have a similar problem. Personally I have to choose to dance, journey, read, or dream. I thought you might shed light on what should be the higher priority since I cannot do all that I would like to. However, I am sure the guides will show the way; they always do.

Lady Athena:
Hello Earthwalker and all! You said : I looked down at my hands and saw intense bluish purple energy pouring into them from a source that was somewhat darkened and far away. I am not sure what the energy or source was. Any idea? Because of the darkness or the mystery of the source I initially felt I should be scared but I wasn't. Any ideas?

Purple is Spirituality, Psychic Enhancement, Healing, Power, Enhancement, Success, Independence, Household Protection. It is considered as earth associated color used in rituals and healing purposes. It is also associated with feminine aspects of life. Female mostly wears purple clothes.

CinnamonMoon:
Earthwalker, I certainly didn't mean to upset you but 5 minutes to Dance is not enough to even really center well in the first place. It may be a time for you to initiate a sense of matters but a Dance needs much more focus than that even if you are "there" in-between at the moment. You're calling in essences and your own senses need to filter that. I wasn't trying to be insulting to you intentionally. I was trying to point out that this is vital to all that you will do with your pathwork. The elemental forces are the foundation to all that you will encounter as you grow. I apologize if you feel offended. I'm just being honest with my opinions and at the moment I'm in a lot of pain. My computer time is very limited under that so I may be rushing through things and a bit blunt where I would otherwise be a bit more tactful.

I understand that the best time to Dance for you is after a long day and you're tired. It's like that for most of us. However when it's done properly it energizes you in the process and is actually quite refreshing. Work as you see fit, and I did not imply you were wasting my time. I'm here to help you understand and work with you as best as I can. The internet is wonderful and allows for connections to be made but it's not the same as being there in person and it is limiting at times, so we have to make the best of it this way. I'm glad that you did feel something and said so.

That's what you were supposed to feel, and the more you do the Dance the more your senses are going to strengthen their perceptions to convey things to you. So you did well with what you got and just need to keep working with it. You broke through another barrier and that's exciting when it happens. I believe I told you that I thought you did well with that. It's just that a 5 minute Dance sounds to me as if there is little interest for the work. It's just not enough time. You would need a good 20-30 minutes at it at the very least.

You have to sift the essence slowly and let yourself filter that information. As you do this you learn to "read" the energy signature. It's the same process for reading people, objects, divination, rituals, you name it. So you are actually doing more than Dancing here, you're training your senses to be alert and at attention. It's an exercise that opens the senses up along with your consciousness and links that to the subconscious to create a channel that also links to your Guides and builds a strong portal or axis to work from. It's very important. Again I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. It wasn't my intention, I was simply trying to make an impression on you as to how important this work is. As for the thread on prioritization perhaps it's the analytical nature in you that likes an outline. As far as that goes, I'd say it's important to get down the Seven Sacred Directions to create your foundation, learn the essence/energy signature of the elemental forces, and get a feel for that process through Dancing be it physical or in a meditative state. That part doesn't matter. But these are the cornerstones. Once you've completely embraced those issues you can move on. It's going to take more than one or two attempts to grasp this. From there I would suggest you journey instead of Dance. You should have 7 portals (or more) and Guides that wait at each one to meet with you. Journey to them, ask what it is they have to share with you or show you and let them take things from there. They will lead you to Spirit Teachers, enlightenment, explain issues you struggle with, help you define your abilities, train you, help you learn to hone them, and polish you up just perfect. The Guides you'll be working with know you very well already and are just waiting for that initial contact to be made. Just look at the volumes of insight and information that you've been given by Guides already! It's tremendous and as you grow more and more of it will be sinking in and appear to be quite logical as you come to understand it. It takes time though and you need to keep at this. If you have to choose between the Dance, Journey, Reading, or Dreaming, I'd say Dance first, learn that process.

Journeys can follow anytime you need more details as you can go to specific locations and work with specific Guides that way. In a sense a journey is a mini-dance of its own. Read when you feel you need to do research and Dreaming comes through on its own at night. It is a matter of needs fitting that priority and you have to decide what you need next. I started this section to help people get a feel for the actual work and away from purely dealing with theory and philosophy of the subject. It's a hands-on approach and I think we've made good progress with it. It's by no means over though and there is a tremendous amount of insight to still be gained from Dancing. You've got that down pretty well where getting to the Seven Sacred Directions is concerned, but there are many different focus points you can take exploring each one yet and you have by no means mastered them. There are just as many aspects to a Dance itself, if not more, and you've been exploring just one so the Dance will always continue to teach you things throughout your pathwork and the years ahead.

Journeys are for personal insights into specific issues such as meeting your Totems, Teachers, Guides and Spirit Helpers and being introduced to their dimensional realms. The Dance serves to understand the energy forces at play, the dimensions that pertain to them, the Guides who will show you around, perspectives on issues that are complete and broken into visual and sensory understanding so you can make a good decision and much more. Dreaming is a classroom of sorts, and in there you can work with your abilities and creative talent to explore your gifts more readily. Thus when you wake you know how to repeat the process in the physical sense and manifest them in that reality. Reading is of course reading and a time for taking in the theories or methods, learning new exercises to explore, research and reference, and then finding time to practically apply them. It all depends on your level of understanding and the strength of your abilities as to what is or isn't a priority.

See the Medicine Wheel and areas of study as a university. You take many courses at the same time fitting those studies in a little at a time until the end of the semester you have a "feel" for the subject in the 101's. The following semester you enter further studies based on the information you have. It's a process. For now, with this exploration, I'd say Dancing is a priority. It's revealing many things to you, opening many doors. Later you can go back to them and explore those that call loudest setting those priorities for yourself as you see fit. You'll know if you need to go back to something and get more information on it. You'll have to decide if you have that fully accomplished or not, but from my experience I'd say it needs a lot of work on the exploration of realms end. There are still 29 other areas you haven't even touched on yet within the Wheel itself. And there are still areas of the Seven Sacred Directions you haven't taken in. Dancing is not something that you pick up in a few tries. It's something you may achieve in a few tries, but it takes a lifetime to explore fully. IMHO.

So taking it one step at a time and in a logical order is good. You can spread yourself so thin trying to sample everything that you miss a whole lot, setting yourself back because it means you have to backtrack to get the whole picture anyway. This is presented as a spiritual landscape (theory/philosophy) that needs to be explored elementally at first. You need to explore the ground, weather, and resources of that landscape one at a time to fully understand them. It's not the interfacing that defines them, that just paints the picture and often muddies things until you can break them down and digest them.

Again IMHO and experience. Yes, your Guides will show you the way and it is why you are meeting them upfront. That's their job. They will take you to the places you need to go. You can explore realms on your own too but it's much better for you and the comprehension of them to be Guided. My "job" is to get you introduced so that you have that connection to work from. And then to help you decipher what you experienced and clear up whatever questions I can for you. But you have to be patient with me too. I work with a lot of people and may slap a paw at them now and then for expediency in making a strong point. It's very important that there is a level of trust between you and whomever you choose to work with. You have come to me on the side for advice and help and I've been doing all I can to serve your needs there.

But you have to trust that I know what I'm talking about and that when I give direction there is a reason for it whether you understand that or not. I may not always have time to define my techniques, but I assure you that after 5 decades I know what I'm talking about and what I'm doing when I ask you to follow an exercise or accept an explanation. I love ... love ... debate and when I have time for it I'll tear things apart from every angle there is, and explore it to new levels myself. However there's a difference between debating theory and foundational information that needs to be assimilated and we need to focus on the foundations first. Then the theories and expansions of them can be explored. You're doing well, you've accomplished much, and I think you have tremendous potential. You just like to peek ahead and some people need that. I have limited time I can offer you so I'm trying to make the most of it for you that I can. A 5 minute Dance struck me as initiatory, not by any means complete.

You could spend hours with each element and still need more. Each element has many facets to it, extremes and shifts that take place. They all have currents and speeds and capabilities that need exploration. Five minutes is not enough. I am glad to hear you felt something but there's a lot of work right there for you and you could spend weeks at it. You see? If I get critical it's for your own good. Not mine.

Lady Athena, Yes, I think you can do this by yourself if you just do it thinking things through until you recognize an area that needs work. Then meditate on it and listen to what Spirit tells you. Trust your Inner Spirit as well. It knows what you need to do too. This is part of the growth we all go through from time to time and it's a slow process to unravel things but it's the best in the long run as you really do examine issues deeply this way. You can call it soul-searching too, it's basically the same thing, just a different term and the technique is a bit more work but more effective too. Okay?

Earthwalker:
Cinnamon, Thank you for all of your help. I truly do appreciate it and will focus on the fundamentals. I understand your commitment to teaching and sharing and that is wonderful. But note, Spirit has pushed me along this path. I give as much to this path as I can and get frustrated with lack of time. The bottom line is however that I haven't had a full day to myself in 40 years and don't see it happening for the next ten years. I can only give what I have to give and if that is not enough then it is not enough. It is still all I have to give. Spirit will either need to work within the times I have or wait for another time. That is simply the reality of the situation. I hope and pray you heal quickly and are out of pain. You never have to apologize for your frustrations. We are all human and are doing the best we can. I do thank you again for all of your help.

Lady Athena, Thank you for your help with the purple color/energy. I appreciate it!!

CinnamonMoon:
Good Afternoon Earthwalker, You're more than welcome for the help I can provide you. In this sharing I'm learning tolerance too as we both come from opposite ends of this spectrum. There are areas that we've agreed to disagree on and that's fine. We'll do it again too I'm sure but sometimes I have to stand ground as well. Spirit has us working together for several reasons and I'm seeing that more and more. I am pleased to hear that you'll focus on the fundamentals though. Just for now, like learning the elements of chemistry, you don't go messing with lab chemicals without their foundations being down. It's the same thing here. Then you can mix and match all you want as you know the reactions you'll get doing so. That's all this is.

I realize too that Spirit is pushing you along this path, my concern lays in the things you may miss that will be needed too. By going slowly in this arena we're focused on, the rest will be expedited though and that's why I keep harping on basics. It's the way I was taught by those who had gone down the path before me...many teachers, and some things given by Spirit thrown in, but I had to trust them and follow their lead until I could take my own and I had to do so without question. Now I know why. I know you are in a rush, but don't be so rushed you blind yourself to essentials. That's all.

In the time you have to give Spirit will work with you, as will your Guides and other mentors such as myself. Spirit can impact you with volumes of information (like the dark purple energy episode) in an instant. It can happen that way.

However, if you can give 20-30 minutes to a Dance for exploring realms and cross-quarters, or revisiting dimensional locations or receiving visions, why not for coming to know the most basic and fundamental forces involved in everything you will do in the future? You see my point?

I get frustrated with lack of time daily. There just aren't enough hours in the day and the older I get the less stamina my body produces. But I work with it and try and that's the best I can do. Like you, I don't get a full day to myself either and my life has been one devoted to serving others so I actually feel guilty taking time for me other than an hour or two here and there during the week. I haven't had a day off in over a year nor a vacation in over 3 years and that was only 2 days. That's what Spirit is asking of me at the moment or life is demanding. But I keep plugging at it. *Soft smile* Impeccability at our efforts to achieve anything is giving it the best we can give. No more. No less. The best. That's all I ask.

Well, that and your understanding that I learned things a certain way and have developed a style of teaching over the years that works for me. It's how I learned to share the most information in the most efficient amount of time effectively. So in that I ask you to bear with me while I lay the foundations so you can step up to the path you're to walk in your own way and walk a path of your own making in a style that befits you. I need to get those legs under you first though and if we are seeing things in the same light it's more efficient. Another situational reality.

Thank you for your well-wishes and understanding my frustrations. I can get stubborn but that's grown out of experience and I have reasons for sticking on issues and not backing down that are well-founded even if I don't have time to explain them. Hopefully I've managed to do so here a little bit anyway. I'm learning many things working with you and I knew the challenge was here the day you arrived. I accepted that when I agreed to work with you, and I guess I'm just asking you to work with me a little too. We'll both get more out of it if we can agree to that. I will say that yesterday was a rough one and I had been wearing blinders to my own need to shed some really negative energy. You seem to have triggered it and trust me, I needed that badly. Thank the Stars you saw the light end of it. LOL There were others who saw much more.

For my lack of tact I apologize. For the issues I raised I cannot. They needed addressing. I think I got more out of that with the help of a very dear friend than I had anticipated coming my way though. Thanks to her I got back on track very quickly and feel like me again. I look forward to sharing much more with you and I know you will be making good headway all along your journey. You're set on a fast-track, but we need to pace it all the same, just for now. It won't be too much longer and you'll have your wings to fly and be off and running in whatever directions Spirit has in mind for you. Thank you for understanding.

Earthwalker:
Cinnamon,

You can take out as much frustration as you need any time. You aren't the first or the last person to get mad at me and I have always remained friends as I know we will. I am interested in the fundamentals and don't have a problem there and will re dance the dance of the elements when I have time probably this weekend. I did have to laugh though at your statement that follows, thinking if you only knew?

“Just for now, like learning the elements of chemistry, you don't go messing with lab chemicals without their foundations being down. It's the same thing here. Then you can mix and match all you want as you know the reactions you'll get doing so. That's all this is.” I remember my beginning chemistry lab when I was at the university and I was sitting on a lab bench talking to a bunch of other students about problems I was having with an experiment. My lab instructor came over and politely requested that if I took a lab from him next semester he would prefer it if I took it at the beginning of the week. This would ensure that he would know everything that could possibly go wrong. He also suggested that I was probably sitting in acid and should not consider chemistry as a career. I would drive everyone nuts with endless questions and explorations. He punctuated his comments with the request to please just do the work as instructed without additions or modifications. To make a long story short, jeans with holes were in and I became and worked as an analytical chemist for about 30 years. (Smile) Please note I am not trying to make light of what you are saying and I do listen and appreciate your sharing your knowledge and your real concern for me. I respect your knowledge completely as I do a Doctor, Lawyer etc.. Additionally, you need to understand that I am not questioning your abilities. It is simply my nature to explore. Taking backroads from point A to point B is not the fastest way but it certainly beats driving on the highway. Anyway, onto the fundamentals. Have a nice evening!

Cinnamon, I tried the Dance of the Elements again for a considerable amount of time, 30 minutes then again for 30 minutes. But I still can’t really get anyplace; most of my energy seems to be spent on blocking out the sense of sight. In my imagination, it is easy to see feel, taste, hear, and smell the elements but I cannot cross over into the spirit world and sense while blocking the visions. I think trying to focus on the element while trying to eliminate visions and also focusing on each sense negates one another or something (?). I therefore tried something else. I focused on the sense and danced the wheel.

This was much easier to do. I could feel the parallel waves of energy in air, the vertical and spontaneity of the fire fumes, the circular and curving of water waves and the solidity and heaviness of earth while focusing on feeling.

While focusing on smell I could smell the smells of earth in air, balsam of the mountain sand the salt of the sea, the smell of wood in fire, the smell of salt and the musky earth in water, and the smell of decaying matter giving life back to earth in earth.

Hearing in air was listening as the wind went from the rustling of leaves to the roar of wind as it rips through trees, in fire I heard the hissing and the sputtering of fire and it power as it consumes all in its path. In water I could hear the sounds of a gentle rain as well, as the waterfall, and the waves as they pound the shore. On earth I could hear the subtle mumblings and rumblings of earth as it settles and shifts its mighty forms; the moans and groans of the house and mountains as plates shift and all resettles.

Taste was more limited in air, it felt drying and also had a cooling effect, in fire one could taste charred residue (carbon), in water the taste of salt and herbs in waste (like rosemary) could be tasted. Earth tasted gritty and thick but also tasted of minerals and life.

I went around the wheel again trying to saturate myself with each element but it is so hard to block visions and work through each sense I could not get anywhere but imagination. As I pulled all into myself and moved upwards and downward I felt the same feeling of the hollow bone. I then saw a black raven or crow come at me and try to enter that space. It startled me and didn't feel quite right so I blocked its entrance, pulled out of the semi trance and grounded.

While I know that focusing on the sense and then determining the effect of air, fire, water and earth on that particular sense is not the same as fusing with the element and sensing with all senses, this seems the only way I can block out sight. I will just need to keep trying with each element. It may be easier when I can be outside dancing.

Thanks again for your help. I hope the pain is starting to subside and your foot is beginning to heal. I know how frustrating it is when you cannot get around easily.

CinnamonMoon:
Earthwalker, I've been doing a lot of thinking the past few days, issues have been coming at me left and right to be dealt with and I did get frustrated. I wasn't mad at you, Earthwalker, it was the 5 minute Dance that triggered my need to look at things and do something about them though. For that I deeply thank you. It was a blessing to say the least and a lesson driven home too.

To the Community: I apologize for my behavior, it was a lesson in being humble I needed to see in myself. So in that sense a mirror was held up for me and I have found the answer through Spirit. I can fix things and I'm working on it here and in other areas of my pathwork. From that I've cleared the space I was needing for other matters to manifest too. It worked out just fine. So, hopefully I won't be showing my naughty side much more in public anyway! LOL. The point is I'm not mad, and I wasn't mad. Just frustrated at not being able to get things communicated properly and recognizing I was on a huge overload and it was up to me to resolve that since I'd brought it on myself. That said, let me move on.

We're at square one with the Dance of the Elements, down to fundamentals. It's exactly where we should be so we'll take it from here in order and I think it will create a very smooth path to follow for everyone needing to find their way.

Spirit Lodge was born to help others, to unite traditions and ways so we can all grow and develop our abilities and understanding. Time is a factor for me and I have to be efficient so I'm going to be presenting concise material for those who are interested. Participants can follow along, be active or inactive, and the choice is as it should be...individually decided by all of you. I do not have the time to take the scenic route, I've done that and vacations should be set independently of the exercises at the leisure of each individual. You're all welcome to share them as we go and we can grow from that sharing as well. Please do that in separate threads.

The Dance exercises are an experiment to see if we can create experiential exercises that would lead to growth and that has been accomplished quite well so far. With so much interest in finding Guides and meeting with Totem Spirits, we took that route initially. It proved highly successful for most of the participants. Things just blossomed from there giving everyone an overview of what the Dance can bring into being for us.

We got a "feel" for the Medicine Wheel. Now that we have that exploration in hand and have come full circle back to the basics, it's time to take them in order and restore the balance of this cyber Medicine Wheel of ours. What remains is getting through the elemental forces fully and we'll stay with that until the full scope is a feeling of saturation and understanding of them. We're making great headway. Through sharing our experiences the illustration of how deep this goes is demonstrated. We can see what to look for, what results we need to yet achieve, and we have a format to find those results.

From there each person can work independently on it if they need to. Individual difficulties that arise are welcome for discussion and should be included in your posts. We will continue to expand and everyone can work at their own pace in ways they find effective. I have to go from point A to point B to accomplish what I can as efficiently as possible. With that in mind it's up to each individual to follow or do as they please. I'm not here to be the leader, I'm here to share and share I will.

This month the foundations of elemental exploration will continue. Everyone is welcome to Dance and share as much as they want to and can. Discussions should be in the forum, and open at this point with no need to take matters off the board with me. We're looking at the senses, the essences, and understanding those without visions to distract us. This should be more about accomplishing the specific goal and overcoming difficulties doing that. It should be about discussing results and clarifying understandings. With that in mind, this month's exercise will be focused on those specific issues.

If you have other concerns or issues to discuss regarding Dancing then I ask that a new thread be posted for them so we can keep the exercises uncontaminated. Many people like to save posts as notes to help them in their journal work or use them as referencing processes. I don't want to see them getting clouded with side issues so please make new posts for those. Staying focused is an important discipline in spiritual pathwork and it takes conscious effort to establish. We'll be doing that too.

Under this new format for the Dance, we'll find that it expands to encapsulate many areas of spiritual work, Guides, Totems, Visions, Interpretations, Dream Lodge, it's endless because we are working within the Medicine Wheel. Expect experiences with melding and shapeshifting to be included in this and we'll start new threads if we have to cover those subjects in-depth. We are in a vehicle that is also a library of wisdom and knowledge. We need to establish an understanding of it to utilize it properly and to honor the sacred ways as they are presented.

Each participant will find their own methods along the way, a niche here and there, strengths and weaknesses, and ways to adapt that work for them. Sharing that will give others insight into answers to their own problems and in this way lives will be touched as they need to be. Happenstance will occur and we can explore it when it does...nothing is by accident so I take those incidents as added lessons. I feel this will bring harmony to our efforts and understanding as the whole community is brought together to work together and serve many different needs at the same time. How people choose to work on their own is up to them and should be. But in the forum we need a semblance of order and unified participation. This is the best way I can see to resolve that issue. I thank you for your attention to this issue and for your understanding. I love you guys!

You don't necessarily have to block sight from your Dance. It's not about not seeing the element itself, it's the issue of allowing visions to interrupt you. The focus has to be brought back into place. So you may find that not fighting sight and shifting that visual focus just a bit...a jiggle, no more...can help. Try to see the element...like a flame and step into it that way. Look at it and see what it has to show you about itself as a flame. Some people like candle flames, others like bonfires. The choice there would be your own. If working with each sense to take in the essence of each element and doing several Dances that way works for you that's fine. We all have to find our own niche through this. Just try to stay to the main focus as you do this without side-tracking and you'll make expedient progress.

Either your stated method or the one I just suggested should help. Others may be able to add to this too. These are the kind of problems we need to openly discuss. You're not the first this has happened to and you won't be the last; the need is there. It sounds like you got a much better reaction this time too. I'm very pleased to see that. You do need to continue with it. There's more to take in. You've just tipped the iceberg here. While experiencing the neutrality of the essence of each elemental nature, you'll want to explore the positive and negative ranges slowly to get a feel for how it's energy moves and thus understand the "signature". Understanding each element with individual senses and allows you to pick up on the element's "voice".

The range of energy allows you to learn to "read it's tone" and in this unification of both allows you to read the energy signature. As you develop it there is growth in that understanding and it comes into play with every other journey, Dance, or body of work you will do. In order to work on a spiritual level the foundations of what brings things into material being must incorporate the elements and knowing them well is to your advantage. It's not about your perceptions being better or worse than anyone else's might be either, it's about how you perceive so you can understand how your abilities work and what they are doing for you or trying to convey to you. It will all come together. With the need to not block your sight some of this effort you are putting in should be reduced considerably for you now.

Yep, the pain is still there. I'm not a good patient but I do have ice packs on it 24/7!! It's starting to ease up but standing or walking on it is really hard so I've taken to padding it with the ice packs and wrapping a big fat towel around that! Hey it works great...sort of like walking on a waterbed when it melts. LOL Thanks for asking.

Before I forget, please go back and read Tink's post "Dancing with Fire" a new thread. She gives a wonderful example of using your vision in this exercise!

Earthwalker:
To all at Spirit Lodge, Yesterday, I was trying to put into words my feelings about Cinnamon and Spirit Lodge. I was trying to answer to myself in a concise manner what about this forum makes it so unique. It is a beautiful site for which we have Silver Eagle to thank (Thank you, SEDD). Yet, to me it is not only about beauty, it is far more. This morning I woke up with the following words of Kahlil Gibran on my mind. I am not a writer, so I quote them here.

On Friendship (Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet)

And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger,
and you seek him for peace.

When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind,
nor do you withhold the "ay."
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship,
all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared,
with joy that is un-acclaimed.
When you part from your friend,
you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence,
as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth:
and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide,
let him know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need,
but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter,
and sharing of pleasures.

For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

Cinnamon, All I can say to you in regards to Spirit Lodge is thank you. Thank you for Spirit Lodge. Thank you for your openness and your honesty. Thank you for all that you give. Thank you for your showing us you humaness and your love. Thank you for your friendship! Thank you for the friendship that you give to each and every one crossing your path. To me true friendship is what makes Cinnamon and Spirit Lodge such a unique place. There is no greater gift that one can give!

Cinnamon, “You don't necessarily have to block sight from your Dance. It's not about not seeing the element itself, it's the issue of allowing visions to interrupt you. “

This I understand but at least for me right now in order to taste, hear, or smell, I have to go to a much deeper level of focus. Let me try to explain. Visions and even feelings (now) are easily obtained by a simple change of focus. I can be very present in both dimensions. More or less like writing or studying but still hearing and seeing everything going on around you but still being able to write or for students study. However, there is a deeper focus we can go into.

It is similar to the focus one has when you are so involved with writing or studying so intensely that you don’t hear people calling you and you have mentally blocked out the physical world. In order to be able to taste, smell and hear in the spirit world I have to go into the deeper focus whereas seeing and feeling can be at all levels.

“The focus has to be brought back into place. So you may find that not fighting sight and shifting that visual focus just a bit...a jiggle, no more...can help.”

The jiggle doesn’t work just yet for me I think because of the different depths of focus. Even when standing in the middle of fire I start to see the images there with me. Lately, horse seems to be of some importance. Therefore I am holding the picture of fire in my mind, trying to focus on one sense taking the time to focus very deeply on the sense and then mix the two while also trying to not focus on images. I then seem to need to come all the way back out and start the process over for each sense. I cannot say I ever really got passed imagination. However, when I focused deeply on hearing first I could easily retain that focus and move around the wheel without needing to refocus five time in each element. Feeling and seeing are easier focuses for me and they do fuse. I did see fire etc. I just left it out of notes. Actually I saw as well as felt the differing direction of the currents in each. But I couldn’t get anywhere with the other senses unless I focused on them alone. “If working with each sense to take in the essence of each element and doing several Dances that way works for you that's fine.”

I think I may have to until these other senses can be as readily assessable, in terms of focus, as is sight. “It sounds like you got a much better reaction this time too. I'm very pleased to see that. You do need to continue with it.” I will, it is sometimes hard to find the time when you can completely block out the world. The world has a way of crashing in even when you think you have found some time. However, now that I understand the feeling hopefully the focus required will get less intense over time. “While experiencing the neutrality of the essence of each elemental nature, you'll want to explore the positive and negative ranges slowly to get a feel for how it's energy moves and thus understand the "signature".” Yes, I did going from rain to a waterfall to the ocean, hurricanes etc. and realizing the effect of each element and felt its life enhancing or killing ability. I just didn’t post these since they were primarily in the seeing and feeling realm merged together. In this type of focusing however, I find it hard to distinguish between realms of imagination and spirit. One carries over into the other and I want to separate them, if possible, at least initially. The reason being understanding and feeling the difference between the two. “With the need to not block your sight some of this effort you are putting in should be reduced considerably for you now.” In time possibly but for right now it would be like trying to understand a geometry theorem in the middle of a circus performance. I cannot do both as of yet. Sight followed by feeling overwhelms the other senses. Even staying in the element in sight can be difficult. When focusing on fire, horses keep moving through it trying to pull me other places etc. It is easier to just block sight when trying hear the element etc. “Yep, the pain is still there. I'm not a good patient but I do have ice packs on it 24/7!! It's starting to ease up but standing or walking on it is really hard so I've taken to padding it with the ice packs and wrapping a big fat towel around that! Hey it works great...sort of like walking on a waterbed when it melts”

Sure sounds like you are ready to go dancing? (S). Despite your inability to be a good patient be careful, let it heal so you don’t re-break it. “Before I forget, please go back and read Tink's post.” I did, thanks!! I know that is what you want and I can do this in terms of sight and or pure imagination but the other senses don’t activate without going into the deeper focus at least as of yet. However, I have at least now felt the other senses (still minimal); hopefully they will grow stronger I work with them more often. Thanks for all of the advice and help.

CinnamonMoon:
Hi Earthwalker, Thank you for your kind words and the blush they gave me. You're more than welcome for any sharing and insight I can give you. We're all here to do that and it's not me, but the whole community that make Spirit Lodge what it is. The quote you shared was beautiful. I do want to say that the difficulties you have with these exercises are typical for many people and working through them on the boards helps more than you realize. We accomplish two things at once this way and I'm grateful you are willing to do this in public. It's a gift to us all. Re: visions that interrupt your focus through sight: I know what you're saying about needing to go to a deeper level of focus. What I see is two issues, one the inability to control your visions is a biggie for you. To resolve that, ask your Guides to slow them down, or to hold them back while you are doing an exercise. They will comply. It's about communication in a way you're just now coming to understand. If something is not working ask for help be that spiritually or mundanely. It will come. Try this and see if it works for you. Most times it does.

To stand in the essence of an elemental force and just see that it's no different than standing in the waterfall and just watching the water run over you, or standing by a bonfire and watching the flames soar with everything around it going black and obscure. It's choice. You have to choose not to take on the visions of other things and control the focus.

I understand you have your methods and I'm just suggesting things that may help you overcome the difficulty. It's really simple but we complicate things with our wandering minds until they learn to follow the pattern. The mind will wander, it's as curious as you are. But it needs to be trained to take direction instead of directing things itself. Like an unruly child, we have to bring it back to the issue/focus and keep doing that until it learns to stay there. It takes time for some and is easier for others. Yes, the focus to the Dance is deep. You do have to block out the physical world. It is a trance state you are seeking. Total focus to know the essence. That deep. Then when you are there you can open your senses one by one while standing in that essence (spiritually speaking) and just shapeshift through the senses one at a time bringing it together in unison when you've gone through them all...the Seven Sacred Directions relate to the senses too...the 7th is always you, whole, present, unified. The other 6 are the aspects of that unity. You're learning to separate them and then unify. It takes a lot of practice. But once mastered it's a snap and so simple to do.

If the jiggle isn't working for you just yet then keep working on it with that in mind and keep trying it as you go. One of these times it will "click" into place for you. We all go through this on some level. It also sounds like you may be confronting a blockage and we'll know more about that as time goes on if you can't make progress. So far you seem to do well. We'll see. If you get images when standing in the Fire go to the heart of it and BE Fire. This is about being the sense and merging with the essence of the element to sense it...know it...be one with it to understand it. If you aren't deep enough to do that the images will come at you and you have to push them back and go deeper. Once there you can shift from one sense to another very easily. Horse is coming to you as you are meant to be one who journeys and that's the Shamanic Steed. Visions come easily for you, some people spend a lifetime seeking just one or a glimpse. You're blessed with this though it may seem a problem now you have the sight and it's innate in you. You just need to learn to bring it under control Your Guides will teach you that when you have time to work with them one on one. The need you seem to have to go in and out to shift sensory perceptions seems extreme to me. You should be able to do that (once you are in there) by thought and will alone. It's like flipping a switch...on and off, over here, over there. Focus on that sense should shift it for you.

When you want to cross a room you don't think about each muscle used. You walk. The body does as you command it. When you switch senses you call on one and it comes to you. Then you drop that focus and call on another. It's there with you already so you shouldn't need to go looking for it. Assume it. Be it. Shift focus on the spot. Try that. I think the problem is a set form of perception you're taking and this is about learning new perspectives. You have to open to that desire to fuel your will. As you do this it does grow much stronger and we want that to happen.

Here's your clue:

“I cannot say I ever really got passed imagination.”

There is your blockage. You can't get past the concept that this is all in your imagination. Let's talk about that. The imagination is the key to the door of imaging/co-creation. We use it to open the door and create a portal through an image we design. Once we pass into the portal we step out of imagination and into the image itself. From there we open ourselves to it and the journey/Dance begins in earnest. We are in motion and images come into motion around us. As we explore and take that journey further we are in another dimensional realm. Form comes from thought. Prior to that it is energy without form but yet in motion. We pull it in through the energy present to take manifest form (even if intangibly so) and that's the portal. As the landscape begins to form on its own that energy is manifesting for you and the dimensional realm comes into view. As you journey through it you begin a natural mapping process to learn your way around and find your landmarks. Once there you know the way and can return whenever you like. The doors of dimensional realms are created within us. This is why you hear that old saying "if you can't find it within you will never find it". Spirit resides within us. Internally and externally,

Spirit permeates. So we have to learn to permeate the Self to merge consciously aware. You use imagination as a key, but once used you have to set it aside and go beyond that to the reality of the experience it brings to light. You stay with the key in hand and you can't pass through fully. This tells me you can't let go of it and therefore create your own blockage. See? Perhaps you should Dance the Wheel with one sense at a time if mixing them per element is too hard for you. Just a jiggle that way would turn things way around. All senses will eventually fuse, that's the unity we seek once they are separate and defined consciously to saturation and understanding. Like the cross-quarter experiences you have, if you don't separate them it's chaos at first. Define and unify with focus. Yes, the world does crash in on us at these times. Many recommend shutting yourself in a room, taking the phone off the hook, and hanging a sign on the door: "Do not knock, don't you dare enter, unless there's blood go away!" It all takes practice. You don't pick this up in one experience. It's a path unfolding and you have to journey down it. You're excited and trying to take it all in at once and we all do that. But you need to see a need to slow it down and just go at your own pace. You're not competing with anyone or needing to "keep up". Do it as you can and when it's right things will work out as they are meant to. Meanwhile you're still making progress as things begin fitting themselves in place.

On a spiritual path, new to it and with other conflicting concepts running in your mind, anyone is going to need a good year just to get the basics in order. You're moving right along and just need to not expect too much too soon. Go with it, don't try to push or pull, just let it happen. Imagination stops when the image takes form and you focus on it. In that sense imagination melds into the reality and you begin to experience it as it flows out from there. It's not like there's defined line between the two other than the stage you are at so separating them is not the issue, it's going beyond one into the other and to do that you have to pass through the transition (like a cross-quarter) and emerge on the other side. As you do this you'll start to feel the difference in the shift as it takes place. It's very subtle though, like a feather falling, so don't expect it to be black and white. There are grey areas everywhere.

"Sight followed by feeling overwhelms the other senses." That's the starting of shifting senses. Feeling is a sense. So you need to go into the feeling letting the sight fade. Then from that into hearing letting the feeling fade, from there to smell, taste, touch. The pattern is the same. Eventually when each has been distinguished you bring them together to read the element. When you work later on these elements come into play and you need to instantly know which is present fully or which needs to be drawn closer or which is telling you something. This exercise will put that at your fingertips. Ha, I may be mentally ready to go dancing, spiritually capable, but physically it will be awhile. I need my red heels for that and the break is on the ball of the foot. Maybe next month. LOL. I'm treating it like a new baby though so it's responding and with friends sending Reiki and other healing energies it's doing remarkably well. I was off ice yesterday for 8 hours without pain...until I did the dishes and had to go back to it. Not bad though. Thanks for the thoughts!

As for what Tink expressed in her post and your comment here "I know that is what you want and I can do this in terms of sight and or pure imagination but the other senses don’t activate without going into the deeper focus at least as of yet."

I see another clue: "in terms of sight and or pure imagination"....are you equating sight to imagination? More blockage! See imagination like a daydream...then go through that to the experience it brings into focus. It's just a curtain, an illusion that we use to get things going. The key in the ignition turns the motor but then the motor takes over and moves the vehicle. Yes, the senses do go stronger as you work with them and that's what we're trying to accomplish.

For an initial attempt you've done very well. Just keep at it and it will come.

Earthwalker:
Cinnamon,

“ I do want to say that the difficulties you have with these exercises are typical for many people and working through them on the boards helps more than you realize. We accomplish two things at once this way and I'm grateful you are willing to do this in public.”

I have no problem discussing the elements this way. They are not personal as such. I just hope everyone just doesn’t get completely bored. As you know, I seem to approach things from an opposite direction than most people on this site and I can be very dense at times.

Sight: I agree guides do what you request. Friday morning was a perfect example. I woke up and was constantly having guides show up while I was rushing around trying to get the wash in, the dishes done, make the beds get Michael ready to leave etc., etc. I am not complaining; it is kind of nice to see the white shaman standing in front of you as you wash dishes etc.. However, finally I just indicated to the guides that I would love to stop but I could not right then, I needed to complete chores, go to work and I needed to be able to concentrate on work not the spiritual world. However, I did promise to dance that night despite the fact that I was planning to get my income tax together. The visions stopped and didn’t return. I danced as promised even though I really didn’t feel like it. But I did get initial reactions as discussed above. I just had to get up at 3:00 am to get my taxes together since I needed to leave by 7:00 to meet the accountant. I have never not kept that promise and have always felt better after the dance even when going in with less than optimal enthusiasm.

“If you get images when standing in the Fire go to the heart of it and BE Fire.”

This is easy but this is what I am calling imagination and I think possibly some of the problem is semantics. As an example envisioning yourself on top of a mountain feeling the wind and feeling yourself soaring on the wind currents. I am the initiator and can, feel, see, hear etc. but I haven’t moved into the world of a different dimension. I have not fused with those elements even though I am one with it.

“If you aren't deep enough to do that the images will come at you and you have to push them back and go deeper. Once there you can shift from one sense to another very easily.”

This makes sense I will try!!

“There is your blockage.”

After reading the paragraphs you wrote on imagination, I think you are absolutely right. Imagination is the blockage. Currently, with sight, it is very easy to differentiate what I create and what is being given to me. There is a subtle shift in densities even in like dimensions. I am looking for that shift visually when trying to use a different sense. Since I cannot differentiate this shift like I do visually I am calling this imagination while it may be a fusion of both.

“You can't get past the concept that this is all in your imagination.”

I don’t think that all I experience is my imagination; there have been too many validations of the intervention from Spirit for that to be true. But I do try to differentiate between the two and therein lies my blockage. What I have been missing and what you have pointed out below is that they really are a continuum. I needed the differentiation up front in order to accept all of this as within the realm of possibilities and was given that validation in terms of sight. However, I am focusing on the differentiation as opposed to the experience of melding. In the past I have experienced melding but not through my own conscious initiatives. It just happened spontaneously. I have not actually initiated that type of activity although have thought about it.

“Form comes from thought." Prior to that it is energy without form but yet in motion. We pull it in through the energy present to take manifest form (even if intangibly so) and that's the portal. As the landscape begins to form on its own that energy is manifesting for you and the dimensional realm comes into view. As you journey through it you begin a natural mapping process to learn your way around and find your landmarks. Once there you know the way and can return whenever you like. The doors of dimensional realms are created within us. This is why you hear that old saying

"if you can't find it within you will never find it"

. Spirit resides within us. Internally and externally, Spirit permeates. So we have to learn to permeate the Self to merge consciously aware. You use imagination as a key, but once used you have to set it aside and go beyond that to the reality of the experience it brings to light. You stay with the key in hand and you can't pass through fully. This tells me you can't let go of it and therefore create your own blockage. See?”

Yes, I do finally see and it explains my fear to move completely through the portals etc. even when in sight. I felt that imagination and spirit world were separate entities and felt a real need to understand or be able to differentiate between the two before moving forward. Viewed as a continuum, differentiation (that I needed initially to validate the dimensions existence) is no longer needed. Elimination of the need to differentiate removes an enormous focus so that I can just experience the element or dimension and sense as opposed to focusing on seeing the subtle change.

“Perhaps you should Dance the Wheel with one sense at a time if mixing them per element is too hard for you.”

I believe I will still do this in order to spend some time in each and the probable depth of focus I will need to go to.

“Imagination stops when the image takes form and you focus on it. In that sense imagination melds into the reality and you begin to experience it as it flows out from there. It's not like there's defined line between the two other than the stage you are at so separating them is not the issue, it's going beyond one into the other and to do that you have to pass through the transition (like a cross-quarter) and emerge on the other side. As you do this you'll start to feel the difference in the shift as it takes place. It's very subtle though, like a feather falling, so don't expect it to be black and white. There are grey areas everywhere.”

Yes, but what I was looking for was validations like the dinosaur appearing. Dinosaurs that I had no fore-knowledge of, that after identified, showed me things that made sense but even more importantly were validations to me that I communication was being made from the world of Spirit. Validations would be much harder to get from an element and in reality I don’t need them anymore. It is simply time to trust; I have been given enough in terms of validation after validation. It is time to give back; trust is a minimal that I can give. Thank you for your insight and the above. I think I finally can move forward. The differentiation requirement that I required between imagination and spiritual realms was the blockage and I suspect it is gone. I will try the dance again but probably not until mid-week. I need to assimilate all of the above first. Thank you again for helping me see both initially and helping me remove the barrier to be able to move forward.

CinnamonMoon:
Thank you for the illustration of your Guides response to your request to wait. Excellent!

“This is easy but this is what I am calling imagination and I think possibly some of the problem is semantics. As an example envisioning yourself on top of a mountain feeling the wind and feeling yourself soaring on the wind currents. I am the initiator and can, feel, see, hear etc. but I haven’t moved into the world of a different dimension. I have not fused with those elements even though I am one with it.”

You can't be one with the element until you do merge with it. You may begin by feeling them in your created visual, but to spiritually BE the element is the merging or shapeshift necessary. That's a point of total saturation and what it means to "call in the elements" you call them "into" yourself. Some call this "invocation". "Evocation" sends it out of you and that's also how we project our spirit.

“There is a subtle shift in densities even in like dimensions. I am looking for that shift visually when trying to use a different sense. Since I cannot differentiate this shift like I do visually I am calling this imagination while it may be a fusion of both.”

Note: This "shift" is not always a visual and can often be sensed through any of our senses thus we are feeling it differently. I've had it happen in many ways at different times. So it's necessary to recognize it with each independent sense just as the elements are individually recognized. To achieve this as you enter each element watch the cross-quarter and explore that. You're looking for it once you get there but the shift is at the cross-quarter portion. This means it's a brief recognition and then you enter the realm. It's a point that can be strong or just a wavering like a mirage on the highway in summer's heat. As you Dance and shift dimensions through the Wheel it is a continuum but...but there is a portal to pass through with each. Once you get the hang of that you see the Wheel itself as a whole and a portal in and of itself, another dimension in and of itself. Sort of like a large university with many classrooms. The paths from one to another are created as you move from one point to another (one stone to another) and unlimited. They appear as you take action and I'm getting *W-A-Y* ahead of these exercises. I'll stop here for now.

We need to stay in place for the moment. Yes, experience the melding. It is simultaneous, but if it helps you, see that merging as a cross-quarter and while it's happening use your senses as independent feelers to explore that merge. This is the initiation of that on a conscious level. We're intentionally exploring sensations. As you grasp each one it naturally merges into unity with the others and you have the overall "feel" of the element impressed upon you to recognize that signature in or out of the Wheel.

Point in fact: We never really step out of the Wheel because life itself is a giant Medicine Wheel encompassing itself. This will transfer then in or out of a shamanic trance, in or out of yourself, in and out of dimensions and everywhere your pathwork takes you. You know it and whenever or wherever it presents itself you'll know that element is speaking to you to take in all its symbolic meaning and apply it to the situation at hand. In essence, the element touches you in your mundane life. You're faced with a trying situation and the element is telling you what to apply to that situation to resolve it simply by making it's presence known to you through your senses. You sense it step up, come to the forefront for even a brief moment...like a tap on the shoulder telling you what perspective to take and what approach to apply. They work with us all the time but you need to be aware of them, understand them, and then apply that knowledge before you can use it properly. It's all one, and this is just a peek at what it is for a shaman to walk "between the worlds". It's a peek at why we center ourselves daily to be aware.

To step into the natural flow of that energy as a whole, as Source Energy, and be one with it throughout our day. It is *why* we center and you're experiencing the need to do that as a result of the Dance. It brings enlightenment and understanding through experience. You are in the learning process through hands-on methods here.

Personally I strongly feel the shift from day into night (actually on all borders whatever they may be) and I center at both times. It allows me to have clearer insight and react better with the energy. That's just me. Not everyone does that consciously, I just have a keen awareness of shifts period. For me it's an embrace. I feel it on all levels...even with time. I can slow it down or speed it up. Like the course of Wind that is gusting. You're just starting to see what your abilities are. All of us have gifts unique to ourselves. It makes us unique...who we are. Learning this through the Dance is time consuming, but it's the only way I know to give you this experience in the physical sense for validation. Once you get it down it's really instant awareness and you really can accomplish all that we're doing here in a matter of 7 deep breaths. To breathe in each of the Seven Sacred Directions each breath takes in all that respective dimension symbolizes to *you*. So I'm attempting here to give you all of that in a nutshell through your senses.

It's the permeation of the essence that is pure energy exchanged and the energy itself contains the information you need...the signature. It's like downloading a file into yourself. You take it to the cellular and sensory levels and then absorb it through osmosis. Once known it's yours and you assume ownership of that knowledge. Then you can (with understanding that will continue to grow with you) begin exploration of other issues and applications of spirituality.

Your abilities continue to grow on all levels simultaneously through each experience you have. It keeps compounding in knowledge and you're finally off on your journey taking everything in along the way. This is when you really get busy. It's a marvelous sightseeing trip through life then and your eyes are more than open to all the nuances that say so much.

Your Spirit Guides and Teachers are working with you as guides and interpreters and a strong relationship with them develops. At that point you are on *your* path and free to break from whatever tradition you've begun with. You see that these truths are present on all paths and a respectful insight takes place. Tolerance is born. You understand what your abilities are capable of and can apply them as needed to enhance strengths and compensate for weaknesses. Rarely do any of us function fully on all 6 pistons/senses all the time, but we do find our state of balance with them such as they are.

We can then work the muscles to strengthen our weak points, and we know what to apply and when to do it as events take place or situations present themselves. In a sense you are your own magic wand and you're learning to use your Self as a tool. Spirit gave you everything you needed the day you were born. This is the other 90% of the brain no one knows what to do with...it's the housing unit for the wielding of our abilities and IMHO what we are working with here...in a sense. The other tools you find used in traditional settings are just that...tools...they keep you focused and give assistance when you need it but all you really need is yourself...and the understanding of what to do with the Self.

Happy introduction!!! The senses combine with our thoughts to bring things into manifest form on spiritual levels or dimensionally. The energy reacts to thought (our will or intention) and we sense it manifesting. Once manifested spiritually and on a conscious level (visualized and focused on) it can germinate for a time, sprout roots, and then begins to seed itself...spiritually. That done (and it can be instant or take time depending on the work you do and how you do it) it begins to manifest in the physical reality. We literally and consciously Dream it as co-creators with Spirit. Later we become the Dream. In essence this is what spell work is too. I know you don't like spells but you can see here how they come into being. They aren't all bad. It's the intention behind them that determines that along with our integrity and respect for the free will of others and invasion of that privacy. For this reason when we are going to work on someone we respect them and *ask permission* either of the person themselves or by addressing their higher self/spirit. To address their Inner Spirit you have to get to it...you need to know the way to journey to them. The Wheel is the vehicle that will take you there but you have to learn to steer it in the right directions first. You have to learn to drive. You see?

“Elimination of the need to differentiate removes an enormous focus so that I can just experience the element or dimension and sense as opposed to focusing on seeing the subtle change.”

Yes, and you'll find this attitude will support you along the way as another key to use on your keyring when similar circumstances arise in other lessons. The secret is learning not to try to re-write the lessons to suit our fancy. They are what they are and will be what they will be. We need to embrace them as such and work through them.

“Validations would be much harder to get from an element and in reality I don’t need them anymore. It is simply time to trust; I have been given enough in terms of validation after validation. It is time to give back; trust is a minimal that I can give.”

Actually by assimilating understanding of the elemental forces as we're doing here, they will become validators for you. Once you learn to "speak" with them (shamanic languages come to us through the senses and telepathically along with our understanding of the symbology present in all life forms and this grows with you). In this way we're prepared when a situation you are questioning presents itself. Understanding brings the trust about...you know you can trust...your Self. The elemental forces are always present to validate truths or warn you of pitfalls. So you'll be getting validations left and right but in a new form that's all. Not always a visual validation, there are many ways to receive messages in life. All based on one of the Seven Sacred Directions in perspective to understand everything else that follows...each relative to a sense you possess already, each relative to seasonal shifts, levels of maturity, perspectives, and merging with life itself to fulfill a role necessary to sustain it. Thus a higher consciousness/awareness is achieved and we're constantly striving to increase that as we journey through our life.

These are just basics. You've quit fighting them now and in that stopped holding yourself back. They don't fit into the slots of the physical reality because they are their own reality and you need to understand the laws that govern each realm. That comes sensually to you, and the mind needs to be trained to work with the senses. It's where understanding shamanic ways begins and so we're laying the foundation here for a whole explosion of arenas to explore.

That exploration from this point out will be a merging of many levels and vary considerably from person to person according to their pathway. That's when it will really get exciting and be a lot of fun...if you haven't pulled all your hair out by then. I'm only partially bald trying to convey all this! I'm happy to see the blockage is gone. You know as our path unfolds we find obstacles along the way (things we don't understand are always lessons to learn and placed there by Spirit or our Guides to initiate the lessons), and we need to explore them. When we come to a blockage, the inability to resolve progress, we need to see that *we* put it there through our perspective and/or will. It's only a couple different things that can block us. We are stuck in a narrow-minded view that must be expanded. We have experienced an event we do not wish to repeat and tossed our proverbial hands into the air saying "never again".

In essence, we're putting a bit of cement around another brick in our wall thinking we are shielding ourselves instead of embracing the truth and moving past it by releasing the experience as another lesson learned. Finding the blockage takes a retrospective look at what has been to see what is and is coming to be. Either we learn from it or we repeat the process until we do learn. Lessons don't go away, they just continue to present themselves in new forms until they are driven home. Spirit is in the driver's seat too...we do have a co-pilot...and when we learn to surrender our will to that of the Inner Spirit's we're off and running. See, the Inner Spirit has the map in its back pocket at all times. It knows where we've been in past incarnations and those lessons are the sum total of it's evolution to date. It knows where we are each moment of the day...and why we're there. It knows where we need to go to complete the evolutionary process...the synopsis of our education is also in that back pocket. Learning to trust the Inner Spirit's guidance through our senses, our heart, and BE come who we truly are is what this is all about. So there you have the battle of the Spiritual Warrior...the battle that is with the Self. Once conquered you win!

Okay, now you can enjoy your journey and I'm off this soap box.

Earthwalker:
Cinnamon, Thanks for all of your help!!! This morning the dogs woke me up about 3:00 AM and since I wasn't still really tired and the house was relatively quiet it was a perfect time to dance. I danced the dance of the elements without barriers for about 90 minutes. The answer is yes I can feel all of the senses in each element and could start to tell the element by as you say "their energy signature".

Certain senses are stronger in certain elements. Seeing and feeling are strong in all elements, sound became stronger in all. The sense of smell being stronger in fire that in the other elements. And the sense of taste being stronger in water than other elements. Nevertheless they were all there. I will go back however to try to increase their strength. After the dance I fell back to sleep and woke up to the "sounds" of my guides. I suspect my nice peaceful quiet journeys have come to an end. Nevertheless I could actually hear my guides. It was special albeit loud. Thank you!!! I have noted however that this is April 1. (Smile).

CinnamonMoon:
I'm happy to hear it went so well for you and that you are having such good results. (I don't think our Guides work with April Fool's jokes though. Mine never have. LOL) Yes, by all means keep working with this. Your reactions with your senses is normal and we all hit limits along the way

that we have to breakthrough on. You'll do fine now. I'm working on another Dance along these lines to take things deeper. I think you'll enjoy it. I'll be posting it soon. Well done, Earthwalker!

 

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