Feather & Sojourn Studio Blog

The impact of a powerful image is well beyond that of the spoken word in many cases. Recently I went to an opening of Patti Levey's wonderful photography and was greatly touched by not only her photography but the various aspects of her entire exhibit which included her photographs, poetry and performance art by Dana, another young woman. The combination of all these allowed me to experience the invisibility of women, and the connection that we have with one another even when we are in countries divided by war and ideologies. It was POWERFUL indeed for me, and took me back to our RISE conference training where we learned to acknowledge each other's pain and send love to one another so that we could learn to collaborate rather than compete. Patti's work raised the questions of women being invisible in a burka, and of people not being able to love one another when there are differences. It asks us to think about how women learn how to take on this mantle of invisibility for their own purposes, to hide their real identities and intentions as in carrying laptops, rifles or even pregnancies underneath this garment that is both a burden and possesses the possibility of being a gift of camouflage. A small woman in a burka then began circulating thru the people in the room, silently, almost invisibly. I saw her out of the corner of my eye at first. I realized no one else seemed to see her at all, Seeing the photographs of similar invisible women, offering a folded American flag to the viewer and many other related images along with poems of the losses and pain of these wars between countries and on women, had already left me deeply moved. Suddenly I knew this invisible woman need to be recognized by me. I looked at her. She silently walked up to me holding the folded flag and handed it to me. I can not describe the deep feelings of sadness and yet connection I felt with her. Then out of my experience at the RISE conference came a knowing and I reached over to her shoulders and placed my right hand there. She placed hers on top of mine. And with tears I simply said, " I SEE you. We stood a moment and then I returned the flag to her. It was profound for both of us as she told me later. Perhaps the teachings that we had at RISE could be done on a much larger scale so that they can sensitize many more and show us how to simply recognize one another as the beautiful beings we are, regardless of how we dress or where we live. This was a wonderful example of using multiple means of communication to empower the Voice of the Work. A message given in multiple ways that includes visual images is perhaps the very most powerful tool we have.
If you would like to see images of Patti's actual work, please check her photography at this link

http://www.photoeye.com/gallery/forms2/index.cfm?image=1&id=181344&imagePosition=1&Door=9&Portfolio=Portfolio2&Gallery=0

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Edited by Feather Redfox at Mar 5, 2012 2:53 AM EST

Photo in this blog is by Raven Redfox and copyrighted 2012

I stand on the edge of the labyrinth, the edge of my life and I cast a shadow to see how it falls, how large it is and I reach out to find the entry, the portal to my deeper knowing that comes when I leave this earth for a bit and walk there, slowly into its center. I stand at center, centered in my self... and I wait..... wait, silent and open to hear the Universe as it speaks to me. I leave full of gratitude and listening more and more to all that has been said, moving out into the world with new understanding, a new gift of the silence and my hearing of the silence.

There are many ways to walk a labyrinth or to use a finger labyrinth. They are ancient structures from oldest times and found in many places. They provide a space where we come to interact with the Unknown and offer many blessings for those who explore this practice. You can find a bit of history on them at this link as well:

http://feathersojournstudio.yolasite.com/history.php

Explore the old as it may be a very new guided path for you with information you are not able to find in any other way.

So many heart blessings to each one of you,
FeatheR of Sojourn Studio
http://feathersojournstudio.yolasite.com/

How do you approach making decisions?

Recently I had a dream that seem insignificant at first then thinking on it further I was given much information about how we make choices in our lives. The dream was this:

Twin old men with balding heads of white hair pulled up beside me in a car with their window rolled down, both in the front seat. I was walking down the street of a small town. One was alert and driving the car. He could see perfectly. The other was a passenger and as he turned to me, I saw both of his eyes were put out. He was blind and unable to see at all. The one driving was talking thru their open window and trying to tell me what to do with a decision I was making. I didn't want to hear what he said as I knew he didn't really know how I felt and what I truly needed to do. The blind one said nothing.

As I thought about this dream, I was told the "Seeing One" couldn't know what I needed to do but I didn't think to ask the "Blind One" his opinion. I had asked for dreams about a decision I needed to make as I went to bed and was given this analogy which I didn't recognize at first. The Blind Twin represents Sacred Heyoka vision. It is a non-rational vision of life that goes beyond what makes sense to most. It is based in trust of a higher power and believing that even the impossible is possible for the Universe. The Seeing Twin represents our rational self and the traditional ideas of common sense solutions but is much handicapped as he cannot see beyond what he knows. "The Driver, the Seeing Twin" is one who SEES but may not know. He lives in our brain. The Blind Twin is one who KNOWS but may not See (How.) He lives in our intuition.

Do you make all your decisions according to ration or do you consider your soul needs and the possibilities of the Unknown? Consider the Blind Twin's Knowing as well as the Seeing Twin's Ration.

Beautiful and Helpful Dreams,
FeatheR

Feel free to connect at link below:
labyrinthdoor@gmail.com

Harmonics and Harmony, flowing with the movement of things, being the water within the water....think about that....water...within the water. Its a bit like being a separate individual part of the great Source of all and flowing as an individual within that great energy. Harmony can be a sound, a pitch and a flow of movement, a feeling about the state of our souls and the song they are singing to us. Do they sing of beauty or of the depths and darkness. Actual singing is such a good remedy for raising our harmonic. Even if we can't carry a tune, the sound of our voices interacts with the energies of our chakras, our body's fluids to vibrate them in so many ways. The wavelength of that vibration is what we need to change and create in joy, to help our harmonic, to raise our energy levels. I like to think of it as creating a beautiful river of flowing energy whose sounds slide softly and sometimes thrash round the stones in our path creating a whole symphony of energetics. Using sounds to work with our harmonics is just one way, one kind of opportunity to create a movement and a force of beauty and change.

May you be blessed with beautiful harmonics,
FeatheR

MOVING DAY: PORTAL TO THE NEW!!! Yesterday we helped a neighbor to move....Strange what that uncovers for us all LOL. Many lost things are found, which often no longer have any value. Great new possibilities arise . Not only do we have an opportunity to rearrange our belongs, but to rearrange our thoughts about how to organization our worlds, our belief systems, priorities and even our personal likes and dislikes. It would probably be good to have a "Life Moving Day" every so often. I think the beginning of each new season would be appropriate so.... HAPPY MOVING DAY TO US ALL... As we get ready to move into Spring may we all MOVE across the block in our mental attitudes and see our lives from a new perspective, from a new direction. May we all uncover the old dirt and losses that no longer guide our lives and clean them all away to step thru that doorway to start anew. ♥ ♥ ♥

VOICE, how do we take the energy and empowerment we have on this earth plane and project it into our audible voice when you need to make yourself heard about something important? (Don't forget to use your empowerment to tell those around you of your love and appreciation for them as well!)
Can you project across a room in a whisper or powerfully to the person standing beside you? What emotions can you project and how empowered is your whisper? Try this simple exercise, watching yourself in the mirror. Your facial movements say much. You can also add simple hand gestures to amplify your message. Create a short confrontational scenario such as you wanting to have a change while another person does not. Set your intention: I want to forcefully but lovingly send this message: "I want this to change!". Breathe deeply and draw energy from the earth up thru your body. Breathe out holding it in your heart chakra area then breathe again several times. Look at the intended recipient's left eye if possible, (its connected to their right brain and will be more susceptible to intuitive and nonrational communication). If you work with Source or a form of Higher Power, ask also for assistance and guidance from there. (See yourself in the mirror for practice) and first say "I hold you in love but I need you to hear me!" then form and say the words of your message silently breathing your power and energy into them. Try saying the same thing saying out loud very softly. Then in a moderate voice and finally say it loudly and boldly. Can you say this boldly even when your voice is very soft? Feel the energy of your intention as you gather it in every fiber of your body. Do that in a very aware way. Practice so that you can feel the power of your collected energy and put it in every syllable of what you say when the times comes that you need to do that. Use only the volume necessary to be heard. Less is generally more in these cases and when you have spoken, say to yourself or out loud if appropriate. " I hold you in love. Thank you for hearing me!"
When your message has been received, take an Oxytocin breath, a deep breath and let it out slowly with an audible sigh that starts at a higher pitch and goes lower as your breath diminishes. Allow all the emotions you were using to be released with the breath and relax. Do this as many times as needed to feel relaxed. Then you will be ready to move back into more normal interaction with the other person and disperse any remnants of confrontational energy between you. Practice until you are familiar with the feelings of collecting energy and using it in this way. It will not work with every person but it will create a more empowered you when you speak.

Blessings, Light and Empowered Voices,
FeatheR

Please feel free to comment here or to me personally at this address:
labyrinthdoor@gmail.com

So many women are taught by their cultures that they must always speak with soft tones of kindness, with consideration for the feelings of others. I truly believe in showing compassion and judging little or not at all, but there are times when we have something of true importance to say, and we just have to shout, yell if you will and allow our passion to show in our words. In this way we claim our boundaries, teach the things that need to be taught. They may be yells turned up in volume or of deadly quiet but, we have to pour out our words with power. That is not to say we should slander or be hateful, simply that we must learn to speak with conviction and power. Sometimes, sometimes the element of surprise, of hearing such power come from the mouths of those who are normally quiet spoken, and non-confrontational, can allow those who hear no one, to hear YOU. Those of you who work with a power animal will find it helpful to pull their energy in for this work. And remember that you must do this work with the intent to be heard. Its not just about releasing anger though that is often a part of empowering your voice. Our lesson is to learn to take those powerful emotions and to use them in an intentful way as a path to reach those who are not able to hear us, and still be able to hold all of that in compassion.

Blessings and powerful voices,
FeatheR

Please note comments or questions here or at the email listed below
labyrinthdoor@gmail.com

Posted by Labyrinth Door. Posted In : Empowerment for women

Recently I completed a large painting called Star Thunder Being's Teachings: All Is One.

These images came to me in a dream last summer and I have been working on it off and on ever since. It shows an ethereal being and a young female who moves out from her meditation in a labyrinth to connect to the energies of other realities and the Sacred Being. The energy there is in a number of forms and we learn to interweave our own with it in new ways to receive help, support, love and teachings. Over the time I worked on this painting, I received much channeled information about it and the images and information I was to include there. This is some of that information:

"Space is thick and thin or open and dense layers of energy which dance back and forth in different configurations. We are able to move thru them in our shamanic dreaming and connect with that which is there, thru our own energy configurations. As we interact with these energies, we grow our own, yet the closer we move to SOURCE, and the more we open, the more our individuality dissipates and integrates with SOURCE. We learn to function in the ways of energy, rather than the physical. All is a huge Connected circuit that pulses alternately with masculine and feminine energy. These figures have created a circuit of such energy and the female holds it in balance with her opened heart, a symbol of compassion. SOURCE is just that yet we are the flames within that flame. Thru our work, we stabilize and integrate that raw energy, helping to create and recreate SOURCE which is also ourselves. ALL Is One."

Soon I will have more larger images and some details on my web site under Healing Art so that you may see it better. I am a shaman guide who is given information for myself and others, so I share this with you with my blessings and love, that it may be of whatever service to you that you need. Check my website in a few days at this link for refuter images.

http://feathersojournstudio.yolasite.com/healing-art.php

If you have questions or thoughts about the painting or its messages, please feel free to comment here or contact me at the email address below.

Love and many blessings for your life's journey,
Feather

labyrinthdoor@gmail.com

About 3 years ago I felt a stronger and stronger urge to begin working with the Goddess. I had not done that before but have found it to fill a mysterious, missing part of me.

Quickly the sun approaches that time of standing still that we call Solstice. For some time now, I have felt the call of the Goddess, felt the absence of her feminine energy presence in this sore world . I know its return is imperative to the healing of our Earth and ways of living. We seek from her three aspects of feminine energy to bring balance to the adrenaline "fight or flight" paradigm under which we live:
*Intuition and intuitive guidance rather that only ration as our guide.
*Compassion and Action rather than Reaction
*Vulnerability and giving energy to positive things, being FOR rather than negative energy that is always AGAINST.

Goddess is Calling Me

Goddess is calling me
I feel her presence
in the moistness
of the down-slanting rain
thru the wind talk of
my little chime as it sings
beyond all my dreams,
and I answer through my sleep,
"Here I am;
Here I am",
as I lie in the
Purple tents of the soon-to-come-day.

Goddess calls...
I wake to hear her whispered call float forward
from the painted cave,
and I love
Her gentle presence
and the strength
of its persistence....Endurance
Endurance
moves her beyond my fears
that She is gone.

FeatheR

Please feel free to comment or contact me at the following link
labyrinthdoor@gmail.com

Winter Blessings
FeatheR

I am a shaman and I create art that helps create healing for others or environments. People often wonder just what that means. Are shaman American Indian medicine men or some one in an African mask; what exactly do they do? Different areas of the world have different shamanic practices but in the end, all are about moving and changing, enhancing or dissipating energies in order to create the perfect environment for healing or some other desired effect. Everything in this world including us is made of energy that is constantly moving. Because it moves slowly in objects that we see, the objects appear solid but electron microscopes show us otherwise. As healers, we have different ways of knowing where that energy needs to be shifted and what tools or methods might help us do that. There are many ways of working with this. Shamans from the beginning of time have been creating art with healing properties. They painted in dark and deep caves, made small statuettes of the Goddess and feminine energy, created labyrinths, special masks and clothing, drums and rattles, mandalas for meditation and beautiful large paintings as well as large and small art installations. I follow that line of art and each work I do has information and healing energies for those who interact with it. My art really is a form of spiritual practice.