As we come together for the winter celebrations and as each family carries out their own unique traditions I am so filled with joy at the diversity of all of this.  The decorating of our homes with symbolic pieces that represent what we honor during the season is something I look forward to and enjoy hearing of as others share their experiences.  For some it may be the nativity, the yule log, the return of the son {sun of God}, the bright Chanukah, the colorfully lighted Kwanza and La Posada.  Even Santa and his eight little reindeer, the gifts of the three wise men, snowflakes and Frosty the Snowman. 

All beautiful expressions of celebration.  And all representing the "Light" in some way.  Lighting candles, hanging tree lights and building fires.  And the winter reminds us with a cold breeze and a frosty morning to seek shelter and go within.  Within- where it is dark.  Where things gestate.  Where all is growing, beneath the soil, where there is life.  And where the light shines- all will grow and sprout reaching for the Sun, El Sol; filling up with the very essence that lives within all.  The sun is rising inside of me.  I am grateful and I am praising the glorious ritual/tradition that this time of year is offering by honoring...our LIGHT WITHIN.  Shine my loves...shine.

As a kinesthetic and expressive being, I love engaging the world with artful grounding practices.  I choose sacred spaces and creative acts to solidify a new beginning, an ending, an intention.  I rename, transmute, transform, claim, and allow a new level of my path to surface.  I spent a day at Point Lobos Natural Reserve in Carmel, California.  A spot I often travel to with my Soul-Family for ceremonies and gatherings.  I planted seeds of my new journey, my new name, my old dreams come anew.  Celebrate a new direction of your journey by venturing out.  Create a personalized ceremony with your favorite people to act as your sacred witnesses and step into the rooting energy as you welcome Greater and Blissful things!

_She decorates life with moments.  Stringing them along banners created of substance and soul nourishing tendrils.
She repeatedly responds to the wind with open arms and joyously allows the cleansing rain to pour upon her heart.
If you watch, she will notice you and count all the miracles you are here to be.
She will hold your hand and nudge you to breathe in your golden wisdom that fortifies your very being.
Tell her. . .tell her all. . .she will listen and lay out the pieces for you to craft with your gentle fingertips.
As you birth, she remains at your side chanting your soul name of ancient times in hidden languages.
Early rock and age old bones gathered to create your inner haven.
Branches and twine lead the path.
And the markings on the earth leave prints to follow.
She will walk with you and find symbols along the way that resonate to the flow in your veins.
Your truth will grow a garden.
Your voice will know- no shame.
Your smile will tell many of the strength that grows from within.

Her name, like many before come with a vibrational tone that lingers and:
Waxes.
Shapes.
Unravels.
Unties.

From withered to the brave glory that resides in your BEing.

She's lived before and continues today.

I will carry her name in my form.

My name becomes hers.  We blend in a harmony of all-knowing.

That wild medicine soul inside me has been set free.

I am Melissa Ixcheldevi

. . .and today I breathe {anew} life.

Namaste to my Soul Family: Daniel, my brother | Maya, my journey-sister | Michele, my mentor/teacher/beloved for your Sacred Witnessing and mesmerizing ceremony on this day- the marking of a new journey and renaming a part of my soul's life expression.

Love you all.

I don't even remember what the conversation was about or exactly the whereabouts, but it had something to do with that Magical Goddess Leonie!  A facebook post is what I remember most.  I couldn't even tell you what the conversation was about, but we connected instantly.  Over many emails, sharings, phone conversations, and skype sessions we bonded and began an initiation into sisterhood. 

We traded picturesque image ideas for photos.  We spun words that created melodious poems and writings.  We talked about our whirlwinds in life; things we experienced.  We laughed about how silly human-ness can be if taken too serious.  We stood by each other during moments of frustration and held the veil up high for a clearer view.  We cheered each other on and marched through the mud just to get to the other side of the task.  We became connected through Soul and reunited in Spirit.

Sharing the same passion for joyful and artful living.  Connection and honoring the journeys of others.  Listening with heart and speaking with love. 

She- sharing the same name as my own daughter.
She- speaking to nature and listening to it's symphony as I do.
This wonderful Goddess-Friend of mine.

I am awaiting her arrival in one day.  From the East Coast to where I stand in California.  We will reunite.  In.  Real.  Life.

Tomorrow, I will be waiting at the airport to meet my Soul-SiSTAR.

And, together we will share our journey in moment-caputring pictures and stories.

When I began my spiritual healing journey, I decided I wanted to heal others...in fact, I felt quite ready to assist, share and get in there and help people see...the way I was "seeing".  I had this incredible idea that I was in a "right" position to help others and that I would pick up on some healing for myself along the way. 

But, what happened was the quite opposite.

Because, I wasn't ready to begin my own healing.

And, I totally convinced myself that I didn't need much training or studying.  It became rather annoying to spend any time in things I felt I needed to prove to the world that I was worthy.  I spent a lot of time, well...uhmmm, judging others.

Oh, but this was a learned reaction.  You see, in the past I really needed something to go wrong in order for my natural instincts to light up and catapult me to stand in my own power, my own decisions, my own opinions and feel secure.  So I began to blame others.  I complained, about how that teacher wasn't a teacher, how I knew more than them, how unorganized they were, how simple they're teachings were, how much money they charged me and so on.  I was a troubled student and was allowing ego{fear & insecurity} to rule.

I closed off.  I left no opening for any learning, nor any opportunity for healing.

Because, I wasn't ready to begin my own healing.

So, what I studied didn't actually integrate right away.  To this day, I actually experience moments of integration as I remember something someone taught me and it is at the moment that I can really appreciate it and them.  I remember how much I appreciated my parents, especially my mother when I had my own child.  It is that real-life experience that brings it full circle.

Teachers are everywhere and your growth is constant, your expansion is eternal.

One must be willing to see the opportunity; to see the gold in someone's wise expressions.

Ego{fear & insecurity} will always point the finger to blame...so stray far from that and carry on with your life: living and learning.

And it may show up in real time, and you might remember where you picked up that little nugget of wisdom.

In appreciation of all my teachers: old, young, animal, stone, tree, Spirit Being, & Human Angels.

We do have much in common.  The tree and I. 
I have memories of seeing the world from a tree's view.
Was I the Owl, the Jay or Squirrel?

I don't ignore the subtle signs and messages that are left in rocks.
They way the leaves fall are words to live by.
The old woman under the tree knows something and the sheep herder
presses his back into the bark to communicate.

I know, I talk a lot about trees,
but it is something I know.  Something deep in the soul.

Bare feet hugging sacred ground as I
walk and scan the Earth for messages, confirmations, and words of wisdom.
Carved in mud.
Carried on the wings of our feathered friends.

Wild.  Weed.  Roots.  Mud.  Stick & Stone,
I continue to live among such wise guides and allies
of the natural terrain. 

Bless our human experience as we blend
within the folds of La Madresita- those soothing
spaces of whole, complete and unity.

I will shapeshift tonight.
Half woman and half wild spirit.
I choose animal print.
I choose a slim fitting skirt.
Now, I don't usually dress like this.
I choose comfort.
Room for the body to breathe.
And mostly shoes that don't require I walk against gravity.
I'm not one to wear to much of anything.
But, I am one to add accent pieces.
Similar to my art...
Simple, simple, and then boom!- A grand piece that speaks.
One that has a story behind it.
And sometimes, a piece that sparks inspiration.
I've been known to carry bindis in my bag and get my girlfriends to wear one with me.
Right between the eyes.  Honor that third eye, woman.  It needs to be glorified.

I can't walk away from glitter or sparkly.
I can be a girl.
I can also be in the most natural phase of a savage like beast.
I can be in the temptress of Eden.
I can be the muddied native goddess.
I can be naked only covered in leaves.
Tangled.
Free & overgrown.
Lush and rich.
Undomesticated.
Primal and precious.
Untamed.
Unbroken.
And, when I have run a full phase barefoot,
to reach the ocean and see the magnificence of dancing water,
I can dive in.

Indulge in ritual,
honoring full self.
And I am annointed, cleansed and renewed.
Self decoration brings me pleasure.
Praising my body with:
animal print,
black lace
the of color plum,
twinkle,
shine,
scent,
gloss,
and loving gazes in the mirror appreciating and adoring.
Celebrating my
Tender Wild Womaness.
Purrrring and softly roaring.

“I learned about the sacred art of self decoration with the monarch butterflies perched atop my head, lightning bugs as my night jewelry, and emerald-green frogs as bracelets.”
― Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run with the Wolves

Cradling tree branches and preparing them for the crossing over.
Bronzing Buddha.
Building, piecing and rearranging.
Mossing.
Tying in and fastening esqueletos.
Preparing a welcoming for the others beyond the sheery layer.

www.thealtarshow.org

It is a very deep time for me.  It is very open.  Paper thin.  I can almost smell it in the air.  I can feel it in the blades of grass that rise between my toes as I walk the park barefoot.

I see it’s outlines and sense it’s presence.

It is a time…

a time that is timeless.

There is a gap in the calendar.  An opening.  And they come, they arrive in different ways.  Some float on in, some just appear out of thin air.  They joke and hold hands as they walk.  They walk from home to home.  Moving about from space to space admiring, pointing out details and remembering.

But, really we’re remembering.  We remember their Earthly energy and we offer a bridge to connect.

Our loved ones that made it from physical to the invisible-everything.

I celebrate their life.  Celebrate their existence in whatever realm it may reside in now.

I begin by gathering.

Sorting, cleaning, taking apart, piecing together again and building an ofrenda.  An altar.  A set space with intention to welcome home.

I spend a week in preparation.

We meet and talk.  Trading bits of wisdom for the upcoming lifetime and laugh at the funny human ways of planning and really over planning.  Anyways, this is what my Abuelita (Grandmother) told me in a whisper as I grinned at the moon and shivered in my burgundy shawl on Dia de los Muertos last year.  She said she enjoyed our meet ups and told me to stop coloring my canas “grey hairs” as she made her exit back into the invisible-everything.

“Abuela!  No fair!" I shouted.

And on these days it usually is a thin sky with a heavy moon and everything feels a little off…in an unexplainable way.  Yet, it feels free and open. 

Although, one must be open and free to experience its real meaning.  The deeper meaning to why I choose to honor the lives of those who treaded this physical planet.  Their stories and wisdom were neatly tucked to create a path to follow.  A path of understanding.  A path of courage to rise above and beyond.

Besides, I remember that being my wish and now I’m back to remind others.

Reminder: You are truly holy- yes, already.  Please live out your dreams.  Your loved ones paved a way, now go and pave it further.

Dancing magic.

My soles of uncharted territories linger
to outline the beauty of leaves

swaying in trees,

leaves with dreams.

Sand keeping rhythm,

while distance spreads...reaches over...arms wide,
winding love in it's steps.

Spirit flutters.

Bitterness melts.

Sacred floating at noon.

Lovers soak and dwell in
romantic recipes of enchantment.

We were swaying in trees,

when we were leaves.

Clinging to brassy branches,

twirling,

weaving textiles of zenfull states,

in mystica.

Measuring shapes in the skies
and defining colors.

Living on "complete"

and content for the sake of

dreaming leaves that dance.

From the Tree Journal  |  By: Melissa Fernandez© August 2008