Muse Love w/ Cheri Shanti

Perfect Harmony Blog | Ancient Wisdom and Modern Times

2012-02-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

Perfect Harmony Blog | Ancient Wisdom and Modern Times:

'via Blog this'

Butterfly Wounds

2012-01-06T00:54:00.000-07:00

The Moment

2011-08-17T12:07:00.000-06:00

Ever have one of those moments when you meet a beloved soul, one that you know from some other world, some other time.. eyes meet, hearts are instantly connected, you know you could sink into those arms and be as one heart, as lovers, as makers of magic? Here's a little poem about an experience I had a few nites ago with a new friend... Enjoy1

The Moment

Timeless Moment
The veil between the worlds melts
Wrapped in surrender

As two become one
Eternity stretches out it’s arms
Enfolds me in it’s full presence
I enter
Willingly seduced

Awareness
Expands beyond beyond

I am
Whispering wind
Shuddering Earth
Embodied fire
Tears of grace
Like the seas of eternity
Washing all time away

For one dance
One encapsulated jewel of time

Sipping curiosity
With a twist of bliss

Softness I am

Chaos Calling

2011-07-30T10:58:00.003-06:00

Sweetest swirling madness
Blinding & surreal
Alluring

Seductively drawing me in
again and again
to dance upon
the razor's edge

I await you
like a lover
ready to give my very breath
to breathe in yours
and feel your passion pulsing thru me

Like an addict
Here I sit
just jonesin for yet another
hit of you
Living just to feel that
bump that brings me the fix I need
to make me feel what's real
To feed the longing that
lives within
when you have gone
away too long

Reeling wildly
all outside inside
spinning in
cacophonic elusive non formedness
You mesmerize me
Ravaging me to my core
leaving me breathless
and wanting more

Somehow in your embrace
the stillpoint within
is magnified
beyond comprehensible imagination
Beyond what possibility can define...

And I am hungry like a raging beast
to be filled again
by you..

I am magnetized
hypnotized
by the blurry realm
that rises
in between the worlds
to meet my gaze

Thru the embers
of the raging blaze
I find some source
of source of source
in the insanity you offer

I welcome you
I am your dancer
ready to move at your command

You are my completion
Surrendering all to you
is my pleasure
my sustenance
my love..

I come searching for you
late in the nite
wandering down back alleys
on cobblestone streets
three am calling me
like a zombie beneath the moon
to find some glimpse
some shadow of you
darting around the corners
the eternal elusive lover
chasing me as I chase you..

And knowing that
in courting you
I court the darkness
As an ally
to match the light
that gives me
the power to meet you
face to face
fearlessly..

From Switzerland with Love

2011-07-25T02:00:00.001-06:00

Welcome to beautiful Saas Fe Switzerland!

I have been in the little village of Saas Fe, Switzerland for a little over 2 weeks and have just about another week left of class time at the European Graduate School. Taking on a Master's Degree is a mixture of excitement, new possibility, anxiety and more. I have really enjoyed being back in a learning environment and also have been able to really see as a more mature student the value of all of my life experiences and what they are contributing to in this process. The field I am entering into: Expressive Arts for Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding is new in the "academia" world, fresh and innovative. Yet I can't ignore that in the bigger reality (the grand world outside of academia), that this is also perhaps one of the most ancient methods on Planet Earth for dealing with issues in and between communities and amongst individuals.

Art, music, dance, expression work, etc have been around far before there were institutions to try to "explore the value" of it! Humans have always used Expressive Arts to express every facet of human experience: to lament, to spread messages of hope and inspiration and as ways to help heal communities and breaks between them. So really what I see, once again, is the need for the "western" perspective thru academia to find ways to validate what has ancient people have known for centuries.

I am excited to be able to help to support this effort in every way possible as I know that in order for those of us who know the value of this kind of work to become more integrated and thus more effective in creating social change on a grander scale, there needs to be far more of an acceptance and "validity" of this transformative work. As with everything, there are many facets to consider, and much to be learned along the way, but just the fact that this degree is coming into existance and providing a new portal for Expressive Arts people to be able to become more recognized and included in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding work is a very exciting and wonderful thing to be a part of.

Switzerland is gorgeous obviously!

The little town of Saas Fe is nestled in the shadow of a huge glacier and the days are mostly cool and so far a lot of wetness, rain and even some fresh snow! I've been a bit busy with classes to get out and enjoy much and also still nursing my knee injury so not a lot of ability to hike and crawl around on those magnificient peaks which has been, to say the least, a bit challenging for me to accept. When I leave here on Aug 1, I will go to Damanhur in Italy to see the temples! WOW! I am so excited for that and will be sure to post pics and send a blog from there!

Tribal Convergence 2011: Off to a Solid Start!

2011-06-14T10:48:00.003-06:00

Bathing in the beautiful surreal afterbliss of an inspiring event is always a mix of emotions for me within the grace of a heart opening experience. Sweet with joyful memories, and a heart so full of love, inspiration, gratitude and profound tenderness, and melancholy with the missing of the tribe's physical proximity, I feel so many swirling reminders of my human-ness expanding once again! The gathering was truly rooted, seeded, planted and cultivated in a deep heart space of love and tribe which made for one of the sweetest and purest feelings of family love I've felt at an event of this size!

Tribal Convergence was up there with one of the top gatherings I've been to in a lot of years. I was interested in going after meeting Jamaica Stevens in Costa Rica at Envision Festival. Other than being a sister that I felt a deep resonance with, I also sensed her presence of professionalism and even beyond that, her comittment and devotion to stepping up to play a role within a huge global movement that is in full swing. It took me about 2 minutes to commit to supporting her event and coming to Portland to check it out and I am so glad that I did!

The Tribal Convergence Vision Statement from their website reads as follows:
"Build the world you want. Through discussion, collaboration, and celebration, we will link the west coast communities together into a larger network that will offer knowledge, resources, skills, and support to all in the years to come." The two words that caught my attention as offering something different were "discussion" and "collaboration." Dialogue and real organized structured time spent in these ways in groups is vital and has for me felt like a huge missing component to a lot of great events.

The magic of the site (Tidewater Falls, OR) with the pure essence of nature dripping it's own sweet bliss, was married with great music and workshops, solid leadership and a strong facilitation team which made for a truly remarkable first year event. The energy remained clear, pure and sweet and allowed for the unfolding of each person present thru total acceptance and inclusion in co-creating a container and an experience for all there to share in. Several regional sub-groups (Or tribes) were formed and on both Friday and Saturday evenings, each "tribe" sat together in council, answering a series of questions designed to open dialogue on what possibilities existed and/or what could be created. Most importantly, I thought, was the request, and the call, for everyone present to take some kind of positive action step towards creating and cultivating the lives, communities and culture that we want to see more of in this world and in these times.

I was honored to have been invited to participate and looking forward to the continuation of this way of sharing. Dialogue and open discussion in partnership with collaborative efforts are clearly signs of maturity and growth amongst individuals and communities. I know the seeds of this work will continue to bear fruit in many hearts and communities and I offer my hand in service to support and co-create!

Thanks to the Tribal Convergence team and facilitators and to all present who shared in this magical heart opening expression of the truth of our beingness! See you at the next one!

Beloved Awaiting: A Poem of Love

2011-05-10T23:53:00.002-06:00

My heart is the heart of the beloved
In me lives all of eternity
One kiss and you would be mine
One sip of this bliss,
magic unending, bending time
Lifting Illusion
And all else would fade into me.

Even love is romanced in sensuality's sweet embrace
My body is the temple of all lovers
Come to the door and see beyond what seems to be

Men fear this union I am
Where all becomes one within
Where time's perception blurs
in ecstasy's unbridled dance of hypnotic allure

My lips are the portal to all that you think you seek
The romance is in the seeking
The kiss is the release

My touch is like the wind
Soft, barely present in moments
Overtaking you with raging desire in others

I know you behind your skin
Your initiation is the fire of my passion
burning within you to know the truth of truths'

With skin on skin all time is erased
for the brave and fearless who are granted acess to the Promised Land

My heart is the heart of the beloved
My body the temple of all lovers
Dance in me and all of life is dancing through you

You can not yet see what lives in me
You have not yet found
the Divine Romance that is your birthright

Between the spaces of time
I await you
Bejeweled with diamonds and rubies
Sapphires beaming in my eyes
Your beloved bride to be

Roots of Music: A quote from Ty Burhoe

2011-05-04T07:55:00.000-06:00

"I happen to be of the opinion that the roots of music and art are in fact Shamanistic. The very act of creating art often involves taking risk and opening to un-charted mysteries. There is always risk in expressing ones true feelings. There is risk in breaking through boundaries which limit our expression and freedoms. There is risk in reaching out to help others open their hearts and let what is inside find equilibrium with the Universe. So I would say that taking risk is actually part of the job description as an artist. And that risk can manifest as a simple artistic expression or as a movement towards a dangerous situation where people are suffering."

Ty Burhoe

Orisha Ceremony: Healing Power of Drumming

2011-04-12T23:07:00.007-06:00

Jesus Limon Morales: My teacher and Renowned Afro-Cuban Music Composer in Cuba

My teachers invited me to a Santeria Ceremony a few days ago. I accepted with full enthusiasm, having no real idea what I was getting myself into but really excited to have been invited in my first week here to experience a ceremony in this ancient tradition first hand. Somehow in my mind, I created a vision of what I thought it might be, both from their enthusiasm and the fact that it seemed like everywhere I looked,as we were getting ready to depart, there were Santos whirling about. I assumed they were all going to the same event. I was visualizing this huge gathering, maybe outdoors somewhere with hordes of drummers and dancers from all over the area. My new friend Jose, the guitar player, warned me to keep my eyes open and protect my heart. He thought I might be too emotionally open and that it could be dangerous for me to not keep my guard up. "You may see things you have never seen before, so be careful and don't let yourself get emotionally involved." Those words of course made the suspense and excitement grow in leaps and bounds!

Ishmael, my angel already, walked with me in his snazzy white pants and sharp shoes to get a cab and we all climbed in and took off on my first adventure into exploring this religion and culture that is Santeria. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, but my heart told me it was right, good and safe and I trusted in that knowingness fully! I wonder what they think of this little white woman who has just shown up in their lives like a sponge to absorb their wisdom and witness their lives. I am so comfortable with these beautiful people. I've never been here, but it's familiar in ways I can't explain, and they are familiar in spirit like some family I've returned home to. I'm walking in and out of people's homes as if I've been here for years or my whole life, and this is only the 5th day here! I'm jumping fully into this with all of my being and loving every minute of it! Somehow I know they can see and feel that my heart and intentions are pure and I feel like that's why things have opened up for me so quickly and effortlessly!

We got to the ceremony and I was simutaneously relieved and disappointed that it was a small, intimate house ceremony with about 25 people. This was a very safe container and a very safe place to be and the intimacy was welcomed. I was instantly engrossed in the moment and the spectacle that was already in full swing when we arrived. The ceremony was held at a home in a neighboring town, a little apartment style house with a small living space that was jam packed full of people. As we entered, we doused our foreheads and hands with rose petal water to clean and purify ourselves. No one really seemed to acknowledge anything out of the ordinary when the little white woman walked in, so I felt like it was OK that I was there though I wouldn't say I exactly felt "welcomed" right away. It was an intense vibe. No one (except Jesus) smiled at me or really even looked at me for quite a while. My teachers were drumming and singing beautiful Orisha chants in Yoruba and this little living room was rocking! I was dancing and in bliss right away and my heart was smiling the biggest smile ever! The dream is alive.

An elder woman sat in the corner, eyes closed, swaying back and forth with the drums, deeply in trance next to the drummers. Jesus Sr. was playing the bell in a blue silk shirt, ragged jeans and a blue khaki cap topping his smiling head. He would give me the biggest toothiest grin, and be singing the songs with really big mouth gestures to try to help me get the words. His big joyful eyes drew my heart to opening right away! So much for Jose's warning! The music was so powerful, so beautiful and alive as Jesuscito (Jesus Jr) would call out the songs and everyone else would sing the responses. I gained mad respect for the Jesus's skill today. They are such skilled musicians and spirit guides! These two men are my new rhythm friends and I totally feel and understand their hearts in service to the people thru rhythm. I couldn't help but feel amazed and overwhelmingly grateful that spirit has so quickly brought me to these masters to learn and experience this magic that is Santeria.

It wasn't long after we arrived that the woman in the corner started shaking and convulsing. Spirit was taking her on a journey. A woman in a green shirt fell into possession and thrashed about nearly knocking over the altar in her violent gestures, head snaps and pops. Another woman, dressed in red popped next and so it went into whirling stumbling trances and possessions, people getting occassionally carried out when they got too high. Throughout the 3 hours, there were several intermittent episodes of the elder woman in the corner getting up and pushing every one else out of the way in her reeling and flopping around, stumbling and falling into the drums, then opening her eyes to see the support of her community and family witnessing her trance, she would smile and go back in. I gathered that the ceremony had some special significance for her healing as she seemed to be given special treatment and space. Just as in our ceremonies with the Muse work, Firedance, etc. the dancer was watched and kept safe by the others present, and more than once this elder woman fell into my arms and was supported to re-enter her trance by a place to lean into and re-group.

All the while Jesus just kept hammering the most beautiful grooves and ecstatic trance with his voice and the rhythms merging into shared communion with spirit, self and community. Sofiah, a tiny wrinkled woman with no teeth danced next to me for the whole ceremony, grabbing my arm or hitting me softly when she was really feeling it, her squinty eyes smiling out at me from the wrinkles. She was adorable and so loving having my company there to share the journey with her. All the women were so given to the dance and we danced together for 3 hours joining in a universal place beyond the physical realm that transcends all differences.

I laughed thinking of Jose's "warning" a few hours ago! How could my heart be anything but open here? There was nothing to protect myself from or be afraid of, and I knew there would be nothing here that was unfamiliar to me or scary in any way. I have seen in my work with drum and dance all kinds of states of trance, possession and spirit magic and even though much of it has not been "traditional" in the way that this is, still spirit moves people thru rhythm in very similar ways energetcially. This is my home! The world of spirit, rhythm, trance, dance and magic is no place I could even consider closing my heart to. This living room and everyone in it know and understand the same heart/spirit space that I do, they understand this connection, and all of us were there together in harmony and total surrender to the rhythm spirits.

The trance brought the older woman back to the dance and after some time of wobbling around and stumbling, she suddenly stood up straight and opened her eyes again. It was as if something in her had lifted and been cleansed, or healed. Her smile was bright and she looked 20 years younger. She picked up a bouquuet of basil and thrashed us all good with it, hitting the young men squarely on their crotches as if to acknowledge their naughtiness, the she sat back down by the drums and went inside again.

The ceremony closed with a beautiful chant to Elegua and a path was made to the door for Elegua to go on his way. We shared sweets and I discovered I indeed have a spirit family here in Cuba. We have danced together, shared our hearts and witnessed each other in altered states of consciousness created solely by music and entrainment. We are now family in a way only those of us who know this path can know or understand fully. It is an unbreakable bond to share this kind of experience. When I walked in no one smiled at me, but now we were all smiling and hugging each other.

I am living a dream I've been dreaming of for a lot of years and I'm choosing today to say that this is just the beginning! Returning to the Roots and loving every minute!

Journal Entry from the Trip to the Rock in the Caribbean

2011-04-07T19:13:00.000-06:00

Day 3 here on this rock in the Caribbean Sea. I feel rebellious and so blissed out of my gourd I can barely stand it. Officially, by record, I'm nowhere, I've disappeared and some part of me wonders what would happen if I just didn't go back in 3 weeks. If it were all over tomorrow and a big wave came up and swept me away, I'd die content. I've had an amazing life, and the magic that has happened here in the past 3 days would have me flying back to source with a big smile on my face knowing I have lived a dream I've had for many years!

My first night, my friend Frank and I were wandering around the streets of this little ocean village and came across a man who amazingly spoke English. There aren't many here. I told him I was here seeking to learn about the Santeria Religion and Rhythms, and he informed me that he'd just heard some drumming behind his house and gave me directions. We hunted down the house and the Bembe (Santos ceremony of music, song and dance) was just ending. People in white were filtering outside and dispersing into the streets. Since I had just landed, I hadn't yet had any time to get a grasp on what is acceptable and how to approach this, so I was feeling a mixture of total excitement, and some nervousness about approaching anyone. Especially since my Spanish is far from fluent still! I could feel this little buzz in my heart and couldn't believe my good fortune that the very first night I am here, I would come upon this so quickly!

So I hovered outside, and Frank was encouraging me to wait til the morning and come back to the house and ask. Me being me though, I just didn't want to wait til morning for what I could maybe initiate now. So I hovered, and watched and waited and Frank and I cracked jokes about having ourselves sacrificied for being there hovering outside of their sacred space cracking jokes about being sacrficied! A very tall man somehow energetically caught my attention, and I decided he was the one I would approach, or maybe Spirit had decided for me. I was laughing at myself, "Sure pick the biggest guy around who looks the most intimidating and start there!" As he left, I grabbed Frank by the arm and followed him down the street, and I don't think Frank was super comfortable with all of this by the way. We followed him until he was about 100 yards from the house and I attempted to communicate in my limited Spanish that with all due respect, I had a question and would he be willing to grant me permission to ask. He was gracious, looked at me kind of funny at first (probably my Spanish), and said, "Si." When I told him I was interested in learning about the religion and the music, he gave a big smile and told me to come to his house, which we were now standing in front of, the next day at 10 AM and he would have someone there to teach me. His name was Ishmael, and I feel somehow like he is an angel indeed brought to me, or I to him to start this magical journey!

The next day I showed up at Ishmael's home. Ishmael is a big, beautiful, mature man, maybe in his late 40's, tall, elegant and with a tender heart and a kind way about him. He showed me his altars in his home honoring the different Orisha's of his tradition, Ilegua (the keeper of the doors between the worlds) lives behind his door to guard the opening to the house, Ogun & Chango were in the living room near the kitchen and assured me that "poco a poco" I would come to know more. I was glad I came with atleast a little knowledge of Santeria and the Orisha's from my time exploring on my own and my own spiritual guidance that has cracked open those doors for me. His house was tidy, and simple like most homes there and he led me out back to the "yard" which really is just a concrete slab with a tree coming out of it where I would be taking my lessons.

The doors here are opening for me and quickly. Everywhere I look there are Santos,and I have learned a lot in just a few short days about the religion. I have taken 2 drum classes already with Jesus Limon Morales and his son Jesucito. As it turns out, Jesus Limon Morales is a pretty well known composer (some here say "famosa") of Afro Cuban music here, so miraculously, in this little village by the sea, I was led to some pretty solid real deal connections!

The first lesson I was a little nervous I guess and had a really hard time with the language barrier, but it was beautiful because even with that, we were still able to have this profound conversation about how singing, drumming and dancing activate the mind to heal and help us to connect in ways that nothing else really does. I felt like these two men I'd just met understand something I know and feel that it seems few others do. They really understand the body/mind/spirit connection of the rhythms and their effects. They understand how it opens the portal to the Divine.
I felt like we understood each other on this whole other level, a very real level somehow and I left feeling more connected in just a few short hours to these men than I do to a lot of people I have known for years and realizing that the people I feel the most "family" with in my heart are those who understand these truths fully.

I am here with deep and ancient spirits, my teachers lineage goes back generations in the Santeria tradition, all the way back to the Yoruba roots. In a few days they are taking me to my first ceremony here and I am feeling very honored and blessed to feel the portals opening to me here! I rest tonite giving thanks for every part of the journey that has brought me here now.

Initiation: Returning to the Roots

2011-04-05T22:57:00.005-06:00

My shower tonite felt like a ritual. Tomorrow I fly to Cuba for 20 days and I feel like it is some kind of overdue long awaited intiation.

Memories of a circle in Florida, playing all night long where I felt the Orisha's dancing my body, where I first began to understand the reality of spirit posession and it's power and purpose. Memories of a night in Georgia where they ripped through my core and overtook me fully and I became their vessel for play and expression. So many memories of these Rhythm Spirits, some so far back in my consciousness I know they weren't from this life. I have been tentative to approach them, but I have been called more than once to hear their voices.

I bathed tonite in release of my past and in surrender to this unique path of rhythm and magic that is my life's passion and purpose.

I hear them calling me home and at last I have found the courage to answer.

Gratitude: Pura Vida Bliss

2011-03-30T07:05:00.001-06:00

There are days, and today is most definitely one of them, when I wake up and look around me and almost can’t believe I’m not dreaming. I have to rub my eyes and pinch myself when I gaze out over the vista that greets me. The artistry of the creator, who and whatever it is, amazes me to inexplicable degrees. Nature is so enticingly delightful to my senses in every way possible. I feel tickled, sweetened, gooey and so ripe with love and grace in her embrace.

The perfect blue of the sky melts before me into the azure liquid bliss of the ocean held by the shore in the most epic curvaceous land formation known here as the Whale’s Tail. The sand bar merging with the black rocks creates the big tail fin a whale would slap on the surface. Those rocks make for fluffy white breakers that contrast the stillness of the tranquil blue water that eternally extends to the sky. I especially love low tide in the early morning when there is still a little bit of a misty haze floating over the ocean and the eye can’t detect where the ocean ends and the sky begins.

My heart stops for a moment and I take a deep breath, say an inner “WOW” and give thanks for all that has brought me to be here now. This year here has been the best by far. I have enjoyed it the most, felt the most connected, taken lots of time alone in solitude with nature and felt the most at home here. I feel so blessed to get to experience this place and to really sink into it’s rhythm, it’s grace, it’s ability to soften and wisen the heart just by being in it and allowing is a huge gift that continues to unfold every time I return.

I walk in gratitude today once again and welcome the continuing softening of my lotus heart as it unfolds to meet the grace of nature’s magical mystical musing.

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Great thanks to Josh Wendel for holding and manifesting the vision of Selva Armonia and for the opportunity to be involved and share this magic! The retreat center is well under way and we are inviting groups who are looking for space to host programs as soon as December of this year! If you know of people who are looking to host programs in Costa Rica, this is one magical piece of paradise with facilities for 15 people, and epic views that will have you WOWing every morning too! Magic, Mindfulness, Health, Harmony, Creativity, Music & Celebration of Life: It's what we're all about at Selva Armonia!

Jungle Muse: Drumming in Costas Rica

2011-03-27T08:15:00.000-06:00

I am so blessed to be living in a truly magical place right now, nestled deep in the heart of the jungle perched up above the Pacific Ocean with a magnificient view of a land formation known here as “Coasta Baillena” or “The Whale’s Tail.” I’ve been coming to this magical place for 5 years now working with a good friend on a vision for a center for musicians, artists and conscious creatives to enjoy, learn, rejuvenate and practice the artistry of life in harmony with nature!

Part of what has continued to attract me and keep me interested in this place is the community that is growing and thriving here. There are people from all over the world coming here to work and live in a different way, a more sustainable, more “tranquillo,” more community oriented way that offers a much different quality of life than what modern mainstream society and culture seems to offer.

One of the things I’ve observed and resonated with in the people that I meet here is a deep appreciation for the simple pleasures of life: good food, good conversation, nature, and a real love and appreciation of sharing creativity, music and inspiration together as often as possible!!

Last night I went to visit my friend Andrew’s finca (farm) just down the road from Selva Armonia for a little pizza party he throws there every Friday night in the jungle. Interestingly enough, Andrew and I met almost 10 years ago in North Carolina in the African Drum and Dance community in Asheville. When I first came here, 5 years ago, I thought it was pretty groovy and synchronic that Andrew lived on the same road that Selva Armonia was on! I took it as a very good sign to already have at least one drumming buddy here!

The pizza party happens all around the tiny little fire fueled clay oven with just a few benches and a grassy hill to lounge on, and with about 20 people showing up for a nite of sharing in the jungle, roots style, there was a good amount of energy and love to bask in!

For me, there is just something so incredibly magical about playing in the dark of night, nestled deep in nature, far away from city sounds or distractions. It allows the real me to surface effortlessly, especially once a drum comes within my little wild hands, and even more so when a few other experienced solid players emerge to groove with me! Being immersed in nature and playing music allows us to become deeply connected to the earth’s energy in a very powerful way. Tribal people of course have known this forever. For me, the experience is always a direct portal to blissful union with God, self and others. When that pocket of connectivity really anchors itself thru all of the players present, it seems that nature responds and unites with us, and thru us and the wisdom of harmony is transmitted through the ethers, resonating thru the stars!

There were moments last night when I could feel the insects pulsating in sync with our playing, the nite birds chiming in on the spaces that were there between beats, and all of nature totally in the groove with us. The only light was a few candles they were cooking pizza by and the clay oven’s flame behind us. The stars above were brilliantly dancing and fully be-dazzling me with their star songs. The moments of transcendance from linear time and space that music seems to create, granted me refuge, sanctuary and freedom from all of the monkey business of the mind and it’s stories!

Bliss is pretty much a given for me in moments like these where good people are together in nature sharing in the simple pleasures of life, opening our hearts to each other, the cosmos and our own divine reflections of grace and wisdom. So grateful for the opportunity to share in the Jungle Muse!

Oneness Gathering: Costa Rica

2011-03-23T09:25:00.001-06:00

The Oneness Gathering/Bioregional Council was held on Sat Mar 19, 1-4pm, Hotel Angelus, Perez Zeledon. I was invited to attend to host a Full Moon Muse Drum Celebration with the community and also was there to represent and share about what we are up to at Selva Armonia, in Uvita. Beyond all of that, though, I was curious and excited to meet the larger community here in Costa Rica of activated like minded people who are living in a different way for so many valid and good reasons! It has been such a blessing to come down here and see what's going on, but I've been so busy working most years here, that I haven't had a chance to get into the larger community to meet others and explore other projects. I was excited to have this opportunity to connect and get a bigger picture of the who's, what's, how's and why's going on in SW Costa Rica Pura Vidaville!

And being an event organizer also, I was impressed that they were expecting 50 people for the event as I know how hard it can be to get people to show up to even the most amazing of events!

So, my first piece is Gratitude: "Thank you and Great work" I say to the organizers of the Oneness Gathering! The bringing together of brilliant minds, elders and youth, open hearts and a willingness to unify with a strong foundation and clear intention can only hold goodness and unlimited possibilities for more goodness! The last count I did just before sunset had the group at about 45 people, and I think a few more showed up during the drumming and Full Moon Muse I hosted after the presentations were over!

It was inspiring and affirming to see the strength that has gathered and anchored in this area of Costa Rica to work on sustainable living practices, personal growth and living in harmony with a higher calling. Solid, mature, connected hearts and committed minds from all over the world shared their projects in the circle, resourcing and sharing their gifts together in a circle. There were a few Tico's present, and my hope is that there are more coming to share with us their experience and knowledge as I feel strongly that the integration of those who have lived and grown here for centuries with the new comers is a vital piece that absolutely must happen in order for total harmony and sustainability to thrive.

The Full Moon drum celebration was super high energy and really a sweet way to cap of the day of presentations and discussions. The following morning, those who stuck around for the night shared in a beautiful heart opening cacao ceremony together, sharing in the truth of our radiant and tender hearts! The photo here is that group post cacao, and the bliss and love were sent out to the whole world through the jewels of our expanded heart lotus blossoms!

I feel blessed to have been invited to participate and to have been there representing Selva Armonia and I look forward to the next event and the unfolding of the love and magic and sustainable efforts that is definitely in full swing here in SW Costa Rica. Thanks to all who attended and participated and shared! It was such a joy and a blessing to see so much amazing reflection and empowered essence of humanity in one place!

Here is the description the organizers posted on the event:

The circle process will welcome and bless the joined intention of individuals, fincas, communities and groups as we move into “new earth consciousness.” We will share a “seed/seedling exchange,” as a way of introducing ourselves and clarifying our purpose as stewards of our amazing bioregional habitat. As we step together into an ever-accelerating time of transformation, we put our commitment to Oneness ahead of any personal or political differences.

The circle will be facilitated by a leadership team that includes Chema, designer and developer of Casa Tordesillas, Desiree Wells, facilitator of permaculture and earth building at Finca Fruicion, Louis Bourgeois, Founder of the OASIS Center for Conscious Living, and Don McDougal, ambassador for the ManKind Project in Central America.

Practical questions that will be addressed include: who are we? What are we looking to accomplish as communities, fincas, and groups? How can we support each other as spiritual family? (ie seed exchange, tool sharing, etc.) How can we as a bioregion function as a cohesive network? (collaboration vs. competition)

For more info, contact Louis Bourgeouis on Facebook!

Bird Song Bliss

2011-03-22T06:43:00.001-06:00

The soft billowy mists are rising out of the lush green valley in front of me as toucans, parrots and an orchestra of bird and insect songs awaken me again in the remembrance of the joy of life that nature is always expressing.

How can I not awaken in joy hearing this most beautiful jungle song?

The jungle is such a sweet reminder of how life loves to express itself, and the magic of each new day bringing yet another opportunity to invite life to move and live itself through me. Each place I visit and sleep holds it’s own unique sonic vibration, and I feel like I am learning peace and experiencing bliss in more profoundly unique ways in each one of these magical places. Last nite, there were night sounds I hadn’t heard yet, and I floated into such a deep dreamstate on a sonic carpet that pulsated through me, calming every cell of me before taking me effortlessly into the dreamtime. It is possibly my favorite thing about living in Costa Rica: being so close to and surrounded by jungle. As a musical and expressive being, the expression here is so comforting and so mystically entrancing, I simply can’t get enough. I open my whole being to the vibrations here, allowing them to massage every piece of me, mind, body and spirit and the sensuality it awakens in me goes beyond my ability to express in any cognitive way.

The more time I am in the heart of nature, the less appealing modern culture becomes. The birdsongs alone here in the mornings have captured a piece of my soul that nothing in modern culture, no eye candy or ear candy, can ever come close to enticing or stirring in me. Sitting here now, I am watching myriads of them show up, brightly splashed in brilliant colors, two here with a wave of blue perfectly painted on it’s wings and a yellow head are climbing up the thatch roof and just landing now in front of me now with a whirlwind of blue, two magical little tweeters that look like they’ve been dipped in the dawn’s softest blue hue.

How can I not be totally impressed by the artist who has created this diversity and beauty? Their songs fill the air, my heart is busted open in love and gratitude that I get to experience this bliss, this truth of simple beingness that is available for those of us who have the courage to explore and seek out the reality that goes far beyond the maya that modern culture is trying to brainwash us with.

I’m in love and nature has brought me home again, as she always does, to the truth of who I am. In her embrace, I soften and crack open. I find stillness is easy and my mind rests. Joy is natural and spontaneous just in the listening. Then opening the eyes to feast on the curvaceousness of the rolling green hills and soft emerald green of the forest is a feast of delite! In her magical playground I find true solace, comfort and the remembrance of the joy that life holds intrinsically when we just live connected to the experience of life and let life move thru us. She grants me space to feel nurtured in the midst of these times when it seems much of the “human creation” is showing up to be, for me, a game I am not so interested in indulging in anymore.

She welcomes me home over and over with open loving arms and moments of magical mystical bliss. I pray and she responds in a flower or a bird or a song. I open and she fills me fully with the truth!

Volcan Baru

2011-03-16T18:14:00.003-06:00

SUNSET:

My legs are still a bit stiff and my heart and mind still full of magic and love after a journey to Volcan Baru in Panama with a new friend from the Envision Festival weekend in Uvita, Costa Rica. The journey to Panama from Costa Rica took us thru the Osa Peninsula on a bit of side trip to hike around Drakes Bay for a few days before crosing the border into Panama. Having been to Drake's Bay 2 years ago, I was happy to bring friends there and share one of my favorite places in Costa Rica. Two years ago, this is where we did the Dolphin Drumming trip with Wild Dolphin Journey's (Marta MacBeth), so it was really a sweet treat for me to revisit the area and love it up again!

We did a mellow and magical day hike there with pristine beach after pristine beach and rocky craggy palm studded shores greeting us on every turn. We saw lots of white faced monkeys dangling about the treetops, mischeviously spying down on us as we gazed up at them: I couldn't help but think "monkey watching monkey!" From Drakes Bay we journeyed to Puerto Jimenez, crossed the Golfo Dulce to Golfito and bussed to the border, then straight on to David, Panama. From David, we headed to Boquete, which surprised me in how charming and quaint it was. The little central square was all lit up with Christmas lites, and there was this very gentle vibe there that was welcoming and endearing in a way I somehow hadn't expected. We found a hostel that rented camping gear, run by a Colorado smoosher, had a little rest and got up to hit the trail for the Volcano the next morning.

We were warned that it was an "intense" hike, even for Coloradan's, by a Colorado native, and indeed it was. I have done some pretty intense hikes, 14'ers, and the likes, and can say honestly that this hike was up there with one of the more challenging hikes I've done. Definitly not THE most challenging but it ranks probably in the top 10, ,mostly because of the length of the hike in one day being 15 km (and about 14 of it a fairly steep vertical incline), and the vert of the whole thing from start to finish being pretty steep.

The bus dropped us off 2 km before the entrance to the park and just that first 2 km was a pretty good indication that we were in for some serious uphill climbing. The road part was sweet though, and took us past native Panamanian homes with women and children in brightly colored traditional garb and men playing soccer in the fields. The hike itself was nothing so great, definitly pretty terrain, rolling hills, oaks and towards the top more thick forest, but not a lot of vistas and the only wildlife we saw were lots of little sweet song birds.

The last few kms to the campsite were more or less brutal and had me in a deep state of mind over matter, my mantra became: "I am not my body." The campsite was about another 1 km from the summit and when we got there, the mists were heavy and thick, it was cold and I was not feeling like I was going to peak the summit, my feet were blistering, and my knee was tweaking and I told my hiking partner to head without me. I didn't think he'd see much anyway with the heavy mists falling. Of course my curiosity and adventurous spirit kicked in when the sun peaked out of the mists again and I trekked behind him weary but strong willed!

We peaked the summit just about at sunset. The cloud formations and sinking mists were gloriously mesmerizing and so enchanting it was hard to really want to do anything but bask in the beauty of it and rest in the moment. We sat quietly in awe of the everchanging scene in front of us, weary and I was filled with deep gratitude and grace. Such a gorgeous shifting vista as the clouds lifted and dropped into the lush green valleys beneath us.

Apparently, many people hike up over nite, see the sunrise, then book it down. I just can't see the point in that to be honest, though I guess if people don't like to camp and want to see it, they've got to do it. After such a gruelling hike, to just turn right around and go down would feel to me like torture. Not that I wasn't tortured in my own way: I laid awake all nite freezing in a thin cotton sleeping bag at almost 12000 feet (it wasn't freezing but probably not much above it), tossing and turning on rock hard ground too overworked to fall asleep! But atleast not having to turn right around was some form of rest and comfort for my body. And sunrise the next day was well worth losing a night of sleep!

SUNRISE:

At dawn we could see both oceans, the Pacific and Atlantic, and a beautiful cover of clouds hovering above the earth. I offered prayers to the earth, cuddled in all the clothes I could find with cold wind blasting thru me, and strong warm arms of my friend reminding me of how much love there is in this world when we are ready to receive and give in return.

Such a delightful way to start a day with a birds eye view of the world and the love of all life pulsing thru me!

Glorious experience, if you ever get to Panama, I highly recommend doing the hike! Take your time and catch both a sunset and sunrise: it's really worth it and the views are so different depending on the cloud cover and time of day you catch it

Reminders on Being

2011-02-25T15:36:00.001-07:00

Found this list in my journal from my Birthday this year! Thought they were worth sharing! Enjoy!

Accept what is with gratitude and faith

Embrace Life

Find and do what you love

Trust more Deeply

Resist self criticism and self judgement

Think less, Be More

Learn to let go ON COMMAND

Practice discernment in speech and thought

Become the master of your mind and emotions

Don't re-act: Sit, reflect, breathe and respond with discernment and grace

Live in the present: Let go of the past: It lives ONLY as long as you feed it

Liberate your mind by letting go of stories and perceptions

Trust in the flow to bring what needs to be

Don't interfere with what is: Allow truth to reveal itself: IT ALWAYS DOES

Forgive yourself as you forgive others

Accept that somethings can never be understood: especially other people's actions

Find your SELF & Never let her go again!

Never let anyone else confuse you on your own values and needs

Never compromise your values

Remember you deserve integrity and honesty

Choose carefully, consciously and with great discernment who and what you take into your body, life and community

Awaken to the joys of your wild side: drum, dance, sing, be in nature, play pointlessly

Live courageously: take more chancs: jump into the unknown with passion and zest for the mystery it holds

Live fearlessly as if today is the last day of your life!

Reflection on a Year of Change

2011-02-25T12:46:00.002-07:00

For some reason, February is always my real new year. It's always the time when things start to really feel fresh and alive again within me. January is more of a stewing time, ideas and intuitions are churning but usually January is a time of such maintenance level work that the newness doesn't really get birthed until February. I am finding myself again in Costa Rica this year reflecting now on what has proven to be one of the most challenging years of my adult life.

It was February when I made the choice to exit my relationship of 7.5 years, and now, a year later, I am finally feeling inspiration return, and in new ways that I am happy to allow space for and cultivate. It has been a year of deep introspection and a lot of turmoil and chaos. Some of the most intense pain I've ever experienced inwardly has softened me, not hardened me, and for that I am so grateful. I feel like I can speak and be in a place of wisdom and truth when I share with others what heartbreak and mental turmoil are like because I really allowed myself to sit in and with it all. I accepted it all and bore witness to the reality of what was, and it wasn't so easy!

Now, a year later, I feel more ready to move forward resting in the knowingness that I did not run away or hide from any of it. I moved with authenticity and respected my heart even when I knew doing so would open me to being hurt more. I learned the power of vulnerability and the grace that comes from grief and loss. I challenged myself to keep opening my heart and showing up in the truth of what I felt, not to run away, not to shut down, not to cut and sever, but to integrate the experiences of grief, loss, heartbreak, betrayal, deception, disappointment and all the myriads of emotions that came with it all from insecurity to depression. Now, I am at peace with it all, with what and who hurt me, and with myself for giving myself permission to be real with myself every step of the way, even when it wasn't pretty or "cool." I won't say I'm proud of every moment of it, but it is clear now that I learned from it all and that the lessons I learned are invaluable ones we all must learn if we are to grow up and mature into our higher, wiser selves. It couldn't have been any other way for me to really get what I needed to get!

Last year, thru recurrent dreams I was having of wild cats and domesticated wild cats while I was in Costa Rica, I birthed a vision of working with women to help other women reclaim their own power and primal essence. The dreams were so powerfully clear that my soul was calling for a break from domesticity, and a way back to the true untamable free essence that is my nature. In one dream, I birthed a litter of cats that were sort of alien felines, and went to pick one up and it clawed at me and attacked me. I had to kill it, then run and lock the door to escape the others as they all turned wild on me, the one who had birthed them. In another dream, the land I was working on allowed poachers to come and kill a big beautiful tiger for money to survive, a representation of selling my soul and passion for "security and money." In another a panther was on a leash like a dog, beaten and subdued, looking pathetically dis-empowered. It was dream after dream like this, screaming at me to look deeply at what I was trading for the illusion of security and comfort. I knew my life had to change and it was these dreams more than anything that pushed me towards change.

Out of this, awareness came to me that I had much work to do to reconnect myself to myself and to the Wild Feminine Essence that the Feline energy was so clearly representing for me in the dreamtime. Being who I am, I love to share the journey and learn with and from others, and so the vision that began to germinate was to bring forth opportunities for other women to take the journey with me and see what we find and how we can support and nurture each other thru this experience. Being in nature was (is) so powerful for me every day to reflect and watch and listen to what the ultimate "wild woman," Mother Nature, had to share with me. Reconnecting deeply to nature, her cycles and vibrations was one of the most healing elements of my journey, and remains so.

That desire, to share and support other women on their journey back to self, brought me into journaling my process in a blog (that I have yet to release), as I know that someday, some woman may read my story and find solace and support in their challenges. If my journey home can help one other being to find themselves home within, I have done a great service and can leave the planet knowing I made some kind of difference.

As I sit here now, with the waves crashing on the shore down below me, and the cicadas chirping it up, I am reflecting on all the pieces that have fallen into place perfectly to bring me here now to this place of feeling re-inspired and reconnected in a new way to my purpose and passions. It was just a few days ago that I completed, with two other awesome facilitators (Sofiah Thom and Una Paradox), and 10 participants, a 5 day long retreat entitled, "Awaken the Wild Woman Within." The retreat was wildly successful overall and in it's afterbliss, I am having some much needed down time to reflect on my year and my own passage back to self.

Truly it has been an epic year and when I look at the goodness of what all the pain has brought forth in maturity, wisdom and depth, it's hard to be anything but grateful for the journey.

My life is moving forward, and the love of my life is becoming once again my self. Tonite I sit here with a glass of wine celebrating the arrival of this moment, to be able to feel strong, OK, safe, powerfully vulnerable, competent and capable of overcoming my own demons and fears.

I am in love with life, totally in bliss in this beautiful place overlooking the ocean and nestled into the jungle and my heart is bursting with the desire to share and serve in any ways I can!

Blessed nite! A celebration of the spirit!

Creating a Practice You'll Love

2011-02-22T11:08:00.002-07:00

Please bookmark the new Blog site for more specific Recreational Music Making Sharings!

I just finished a week long retreat working with 12 other women in Costa Rica in which every day we danced, played music, practiced Hatha Yoga and shared our stories. One of the workshops I offered was called "Creating a Practice you'll Love." This is such a vital piece for an individual to continue growing and evoloving in whatever their art form is, and for the retreat we did, it felt to me so integral as a way to support the women in taking the practices we shared home and keeping momentum in their daily lives.

Practice is how we become. It can have many forms, and my definition of it is really more about connecting with source and self and allowing some time for that connection to deepen and mature over time. It is valuable and so vital to maintaining our passion and purpose in our lives.

Creating a practice you love requires a few simple external pieces:

Creating a space for your practice: free of distractions, kids, pets, phones, and computers. A place where you can really be alone and undisturbed.

Carving out the time for your practice: For some of us that's 15-30 minutes, if you have the time, I recommend an hour even if part of that time is just settling in, having a larger chunk of time allows for a deeper practice, but start with what you can commit to realistically.

A practice Journal to write and reflect on your practice and how it has affected you or what your frustrations were getting there and how you overcame them, but a special journal that is just around your practice.

Giving yourself Permission and requesting that from others in your life who may need to understand your need for not being bothered or disturbed in that time, perhaps your spouse or child.

Sacred Environment: Choosing music or silence, incense, candles, etc that help to facilitate the energetic space you are wanting to drop into

Internally, creating a practice you love requires a little bit more! If you already have a strong practice, ask yourself how much joy you are really getting out of it. I don't mean just satisfaction that you did your practice, I mean joy and inspiration! Do you leave your practice feeling excited and hungry for the next one? Are you practicing your passion or what you think you should be practicing?

If you fiind yourself stuck or stagnating in your practice, try these tips:

Try a new space, perhaps go into nature and allow it to inspire you for a few days a week or more, or rearrange your practice space, pick a different room, etc. Buy a plant or change the decor a bit to bring life into the space.

Switch it Up: Try something different, if you love to play drums but you haven't danced in a while, use your body to connect to the rhythm and see how that changes your relationship to your instrument. Try doing what's not as comfortable and familiar in your practice, step out of your box and make yourself grow, even it it feels akward, do it for that very reason!

Expand and challenge yourself: Go take a class or a workshop or find a way to be in community with others who share your passion and to learn something new to bring into your practice that is challenging and makes you feel fresh and WOWed.

Practice with others: Have a gathering and bring others together to practice, even if there are different forms going on, say you are a dancer, bring some other dancers and a few drummers together and practice together, others often inspire new ways within us

Pray when you practice: use it as a way to move energy and manifest your heart's desires

Happy Valentine's Day: Practice Self Love

2011-02-12T21:36:00.002-07:00

Arriving back in Costa Rica just two nights ago, I am already shifted into remembrance of how necessary and nurturing it is to have true quality time alone with nature and stillness. I am quickly remembering the value of deeply listening to the voice of the inner self by allowing and enjoying time away from the "world" and all of it's demands and expectations.

This Valentine's Day I am rising back into love with myself and I invite you to join me on the return to the deep heart space of self care and self reflection and appreciation. We spend so much of our lives caring for and catering to other people's needs, demands and requirements, especially for those of us who are women. We have a strong tendency to be sure others are cared for first and foremost and often leave our selves at the end of the line. By the time we get the time and space to consider our own needs, we are so exhausted by taking care of the others in our lives that we can't even remember what it was we actually needed! Give yourself to yourself this year and romance your self FIRST! A candle lite bath, a massage, a special treat, maybe even a quiet nite alone with a fire is in order rather than seeking outwarad or looking to someone else to romance you, find that divine romance within and cultivate that depth of love for yourself that you so often offer to others!

I am preparing to start the Awaken the Wild Woman Within Retreat here in Costa Rica with a group of 10 women who are heeding the call to reconnect deeply to their own passion, power, purpose and to listen to the strong clear voice that lives within us all that is our most authentic self. I know that this coming week with these women will bring much forth for all of us, presentors and participants alike. Our own heart connection with ourselves and the divine are the most valuable and long lasting romances we can have, and calling forth the passion and pleasure within ourselves does nothing but make us more attractive, sexy and pleasing to others to enjoy basking in our radiance!

Happy Valentine's Day and I pray it is your own treat to yourself to romance your own authentic love for YOUR SELF!

Bliss of Being

2011-01-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

Bliss of Being
When I play
I am alive again
The joy is instant
the passion's power tremendous
Flowing thru me like waves of grace
I am in bliss

The Bliss of Being
when hand strikes skin
rhythm begins
And I remember my true purpose
is for this...

Heard or unheard
I arrive at myself
Present
Empowered
Passionate
alive
Pulsing perfection

A Sharing from my Friend

2011-01-02T19:49:00.001-07:00

I received this beautiful email the other day from a sweet fire muse brother I've known for many years..

It touched me deeply.. and I asked him if he would be open to me sharing it here, and he was. I hope you enjoy it and feel the heart of devotion opening in yourself!

Greetings friend,

Today, I invite you to take a moment and celebrate with me. Celebrate a day that is not determined by the rhythms on the outside, but which emerged from the rhythms within. Today, I celebrate 500 hours of music practice in this single year. This count, kept meticulously on my iphone, does not includ gigs, NWR jam sessions, teaching, etc. It’s time spent one on one, me with my instruments. As the 500 hour mark approached, I began to feel some depth of importance, some real sense of growth centered on this milestone. I wondered what I might do to mark the occasion, and it occurred to me that this moment, more than most other holidays, is particularly special to me, and that I wanted to share it with you.

When I practiced today, I roamed appreciatively through various compositions, occasionally branching off into delightful flights of fancy, and often returning to those thickets of untamed wilderness that demand the hope and sweat of disciplined focus. All was going well, and as is often the case, I played my way through a wide range of emotions- living, as it were, a day in the life of my drums.

When the 500 hour mark arrived, I stopped and closed my eyes. My heart was instantly filled with gratitude and I was flooded with an awareness of the bright blessings of my days. I saw the long path behind me, ever weaving my way towards a pattern of living that would provide all that it takes to make this kind of adventure, this practice, possible. What a great and glorious boon it is, I thought, to be able to study like this, to have time like this, to have a vehicle like this, and to have friends with which to share in its fruits. I reflected then, on all my teachers. I heard their names and saw their faces pass before my mind’s eye. With each one, the gratitude within me grew. I could feel them inside of me, their passions wrapped around my own, their own tireless practice woven into the very roots of my musical soul. And what of their teachers? The river of gratitude stretches beyond memory. Gazing into this stream, I felt that I had drunk from these waters and have now been forever changed by them. They flow within me.

It was at this point that I felt a sharp pain beneath my shoulder blades. At first I thought it was the familiar ache of sitting, but it quickly occurred to me that this feeling was a part of the moment. I suddenly knew what to do. I pushed my tablas forward and knelt before them, my forehead pressed to ground, my hands touching the base of each drum. The pain was instantly gone. The feeling in my heart burst forth through my mouth in waves of, “namaskar, namaskar, Aum, namaskar,” and, “thank you, thank you, thank you.” As I lay there, I had a vision.

I saw Ganesh, the elephant-headed remover of obstacles and maestro of tabla, a radiant, but translucent presence seated before the gates of the universe. With the stars and the galaxies arrayed behind him, I heard this idea: some are born into this world as Mozart, Einstien, or Jimi Hendrix, and some are born as worms, or frogs, or other creatures that have no dreams or means to grow them. There is no way to measure the distance, for the beginning is not ever at hand, nor is the end as clear as it seems. That thing you call your birth was only a moment, but you who practice are born again with each new day. And as you and your art are united, all that is outside, and all that is inside, become one.

So it was, this brisk day in the depths of December- a holy day, I feel. May this light that shines in me, bring some warmth to your path and open the way for your own journey. Whether you travel outward or inward, may you become what you are looking for.

Wild Woman's Wisdom

2010-12-07T12:51:00.006-07:00

Wild woman
You are
Like a strong fire
That rushes
All over my
Entire body
Wild woman
I love the way
You kiss me tonight
And I can feel you holding
Me tight
Wild woman
Wild woman
Wild woman
See you next time
I am glad that you were
Mine tonight just for a
Little while

Aldo Kraas
====================================

The aspect of the "Wild Woman" brings up so many images and concepts to explore, and as this year's "Awaken the Wild Woman Within" Retreat approaches, I am feeling called to listen more deeply to my own callings and stirrings within that have been whispering, singing and at times screaming to me to get my attention. In modern culture, the wild part of all of us, man and woman alike, has been almost discouraged from having it's full or even fair expression. We are taught to be "good" children, obedient, and to do the "right" thing, even at the cost of our very souls sometimes. We are, in modern culture, taught that wildness is something to be tamed, subdued, quieted and kept contained very carefully in the dark places of our subconscious minds, dreamstates or fantasy realms. Wildness is looked at as "crazy" or "intense" and is so often, especially for women, given strong sexual connotations. "She's Wild," or "wild thing," etc.

In a lot of ways, being wild is looked down on, or thought of as immature or not being "responsible" in the world. And to me, that is a sad reality in the modern world. Wild things are kept in cages, they are unsafe, unpredictable by nature and as such aren't to be relied on. There are volumes to go into here on the reality of what "civilization" has done to wild women (who were, at one time, labled witches), wild cultures (African, Native American, etc), wild animals, and wild places. There is a deep seated fear of the whole concept of the wild, both within us and outside of us.

In January of 2010, I started to have some pretty interesting dreams while working in Costa Rica. In one dream, I gave birth to a litter of kittens, and when I went to pick one up, it turned into this crazy wild animal, biting me and almost alien like in it's intensity and I had to throw it down and lock the door lest it destroy me. In another dream, there was a big beautiful tiger that someone had killed for money in the jungle I was living in, and a huge panther that had been domesticated and was on a leash, miserable in it's domestication. For three months, I had dream after dream in this vein, many of them involving cats, and all of them having this theme of wildness domesticated, or a wild animal being domesticated... and from these dreams came the realization that there was/is a part of myself that is calling to be free, calling to be honored and expressed: the wild nature of the feminine was calling to me thru the dream worlds.

And, so when Sofiah and I started talking about doing a retreat for women this year, it was these dreams that were a part of my personal inspiration for bringing women together to work with the deeper, subconscious, primal aspects of ourselves that aren't "societally" (or even "spiritually" sometimes) accepted, acknowledged or even totally unveiled yet.

Being in touch with our "wild side" is really, in essence about being in touch with our authentic selves, our deeper selves, the part that plays out it's fantasies in dreams or in the dark mysterious places of our deep subconscious. What if, instead of being ashamed of our primal pulses (lust, jealousy, magic, shame, guilt, fear, etc) we could find ways to look deep into them and find jewels there? Therein lie the teachings of compassion and/or the voices of our untamable expressive spirits just waiting for us to give them a chance to move thru us. Movement, play, art, drumming, and reflective time in nature are some of the most powerful means known to the human being to access and channel the subconscious into the superconscious. This is what "Awaken the Wild Woman Within" is all about!

My hit is that by unveiling these pieces of ourselves, and integrating them with the same kind of respect we give to the beautiful, bright pieces of ourselves, we become more whole, more natural, more comfortable and more real in the world. And, by doing THAT, we become examples of authentic, expressed beings who can then inspire the same in others.

A wild woman is fearless in being totally herself, expressed fully in integrity with her passions and deeper truths, and unintimidated by those who find that expression threatening or too real.

A wild woman is in love with this life, and in love with all parts of herself... even the shadows for they give us our deepest teachings.

Wild Woman Sharings from Sofiah Thom

2010-12-02T18:49:00.000-07:00

It’s important with any practice that we allow ourselves to let go of our thoughts and emotions, so we can be an open channel for our authentic expression. In the beginning when I am paddling, my thoughts are more active, once I allow myself to move through the monkey mind, there lies a stillness underneath. The gentle rocking of the Ocean helps magnify the stillness within.

I surrender to the great life force and I am moved, through sound, breath and inner vibration, I float on my paddle board and become one with this great life force that is me.

I am reminded how important it is to create the space in our daily lives to connect to our inner selves, to let go of the monkey mind and be at peace with who we are deep within.

I feel this is relative to our retreat coming up in February, Awaken the Wild Woman Within, for me, this retreat is about allowing ourselves the space to express our authentic selves at all times. Before we can be an open channel of pure consciousness, we must accept all of aspects of ourselves, including the ugly parts we may have repressed, it is time to free up the emotions, allowing them to release.

We are perfect as we are, we all possess a primal, instinctive, powerful nature which wants to be seen and heard, in order to be whole and happy as we walk through our lives, we must accept and express all of our parts of our inner nature.

I hope you can join us tapping into our power and expression, connecting with our raw passion and authenticity as we Awaken the Wild Woman Within.

Gratitude I AM

2010-11-24T15:19:00.004-07:00

A little something I wrote before anyone arrived in a few moments of cherished solitude on the Day of Gratitude I hosted at Muse Home Nov 20, 2010

Gratitude I Am

Sitting with sunlite streaming into me
The mists floating
Gently hovering above the stillness of the lake
Hiding the mountain tops
Shadows of trees melting into their sensual embrace

Gratitude I Am

Tears of acknowledgement flowing
for every step of the journey that has led me
Here Now

Quietly reflecting on this life
My heart has been busted sweetly open
Again and again and again

Tears of rage have brought me compassionate understanding
Fears of losing have taught me the richness that I Am
thru Vulnerability's bitter but sweet deep kisses

Gratitude I Am

Depression has taught me the mysterious ways that darkness calls forth lite
Anxiety has shown me to rest thru exhaustion's paralyzing inertia
Grief is still teaching me the preciousness of each moment
Grief reminds me to listen less
to fear, depresssion and anxiety's strangely seductive songs

Gratitude I Am

Dancing mind births surrender into stillness
The lines on my face etch my time passing
like a wild tempest wind
Fast and furiously earth shaking

This home allows me to be the grace I am thru the sharing of space that is my bliss

Gratitude I Am

For the passing of cycles
Fall into winter
Forgivenss into compassion
Anger into Soft sadness
Stillness into Divine Union

Gratitude I Am

For the friends who have listened to my stories
Again and again and again

For the mother who carried me in her womb
gifting me this life
to be challenged
to be overjoyed
to be witness and witnessed

For the creatures great and small
that amaze and captivate my heart with awe
The four leggeds and winged ones
The creepy's and the crawlies
The enchanted ones of the sea and the underworlds
For this earth and all it's abundance and ever unfolding magic

For the gifts of rhythm and song
And all that they have allowed me to experience as bliss in union with Creation

Gratitude I Am

For my unbalanced intensity that humbles me
when it rages thru me like a tidal wave
reminding me my work is far from done
Reminding me that I am

For what some call my "overexpressiveness" and all that it represents
as one being being real and authentic in this under expressed society
where so many are afraid of truth and heart felt sharings
For the facade that I refuse to wear that "societal" appropriateness dictates

For the scared insecure little girl
who is as much me as is the Warrior Queen
As fearless as I am, so too are the depths of my fears

Gratitude I AM

As above, so below
For the duality and it's suffering nature
reminding me to discipline myself more to choose acceptance of what is

For this home I sit in now and all that it has already been home to
love, life, music, community and warm fires..

For the teachers in every being I meet
For this moment now

Quietly sitting with sunlite streaming into me
The mists floating
Gently hovering above the stillness of the lake
Hiding the mountain tops
Shadows of trees melting into their sensual embrace

And tears flowing like sweet nectar
to soften all of me into the
Gratitude I Am

Women's Wisdom

2010-11-15T14:36:00.003-07:00

Last night's Women's Wisdom Prayer Share was such a clear and sweet reminder of why I am so committed and in love with being together in creative community! Each of us is so blessed with powerful life experiences and each of those experiences teach us a piece of wisdom that we sometimes just sort of tuck in to our selves without thinking much of it. When in circle and someone pops open, and the tears come, it is a rare and special opportunity for us to reach out and share our nuggets of wisdom with that person and that has been happening so beautifully and organically at the Women's Prayer Share that Muse Home has been hosting!

Having the lovely Una Viggiani, visual artist and facilitator, who is also working with me on the retreat in Costa Rica (Awakening the Wild Woman Within) with us last night allowed the women to express visuallly the gratitude and embodiment that we are cultivating as we move forward in these times and for me definitly brought up my fears and insecurities around visual expression. Ooh..

I am so grateful for the community of women, not just here in Boulder, but worldwide who understands and values the heartfelt work of transparent sharing and baring of our hearts and souls. I honor you.. sisters of the world..

On Vulnerability

2010-09-29T10:31:00.001-06:00

One of the pieces that has come up for me over and over in these past few months, that I'm feeling to share this month is the concept of vulnerability. As humans, with big open loving hearts, we are vulnerable. In our culture we seem to have a fascination with strength, youth and impermeability. What I've been learning, more than anything else this summer, is that our true strength lives in our ability to be vulnerable, over and over. It was like a light bulb one day for me on Jesus's teaching of "turn the other cheek." Love is always loving. Vulnerability doesn't have to mean weakness in the typical definition. I'm learning that true vulnerability means being receptive, open and continuing to love in spite of the infinite hits we take to our hearts and minds. It means recognizing and honoring our tenderness, and taking care of ourselves when we need rest and quiet and sanctuary rather than just closing down, overdoing or filling the hole. Vulnerability allows a certain grace as a willingness to accept life for all of what it is and it is nothing to be ashamed of!

Sanctuary

2010-09-04T01:42:00.002-06:00

Sanctuary within my skin
The rhythm brings me in again
To pray at lotus feet upon which I stand
as movement lifts me into my own Promised Land

The temple I am
this form holds the formless
merging worlds above and below
My body teaches me
what I need to know

Silently hovering in ether's embrace
one arm drifts down
mesmerizing
I am entranced
I am danced
I am bedazzled by the glow I feel
Igniting spirit thru flesh
Nothing else is real

Sanctuary within my skin
Temple I am
Without and within

Return My Queen

2010-09-02T23:01:00.002-06:00

Return to me
Your throne sits awaiting you
Atop my skillfully filled skull
overflowing with mindless chatter
Until the moment you arise in me

Then like rivers of glass
enchanting me your eyes meet mine
Remembrance is so divine
And all time stills as you pour into me like wine

Sweetened by life's tragedies
Tainted by none
Deepened by tears of grief
Shined brilliant by the sun

Magically appearing
In the midst of cold black night
My Queen, your majesty I behold
Your presence is my insight

Even the blackest lump of lead
Returned to fine spun gold...
Even the aging heart of death
sprouts the seeds of young in old

Passing from one form to another
Wise crone, tender mother
Sacred whore betrayed by lustful men
Let's love again and again come in

Return to me
Sister of Grace and of Mercy
Your sword is sharp and quick to fall
where truth goes astray..

Warrior Queen
My Heart is yours
Forever More
Return to me

Stray no more.

Creekside Muse

2010-09-01T19:16:00.004-06:00

I never want to leave you
once I've sunk back into your embrace
Your tender stillness empties me

Time becomes like a lost happy child
wandering aimlessly
exploring the forests of possibilities
with curious eyes and an innocent heart
Known to no one

Here by creekside's constant cooing
my heart cracks open
I am soft
spilled into tranquil pools
where rocks like my heart
are softened to sand
washed away into the vastness that is your love
My body melts
My body vacant but for you

The willow's swishing soft hair-like tendrils
brush gently against my skin like a lover
The one you are for me
Stirring me to stay longer
I succomb willingly
opening to your breath again and again..

Nothing is as this
No place else is home
My beloved lives here
Naked, unadorned, freely dancing in the wind
Turning white fluffy clouds into magical imaginations of the mind
hovering above me as this earth spins
Turning leaves and water and air into symphonies of perfect grace

I never want to leave you

Dancing Coyote Canyon Family Gathering

2010-08-30T10:12:00.002-06:00

Prayers emerging in this bright sunny mountain valley

From beneath blanketed lodge, voices of many, sometimes joining together in song

Sometimes one single prayer offered and held sacred by all inside and out

Fire raging in the warming day crackles and offers soothing sweetness to this valley

Aspen sing praises twirling like dainty ballerinas graceful in sight and sound

No time

No place

The dance of rememberance is moving thru us

Home is here

Still point awaits the song of creation breaking forth from it's sweet depths.

Home we are together..

Together we are one loving breathing dancing musing swirling surrendering into the NOW

------------

The First Dancing Coyote Canyon Family Gathering this weekend was a gem of an experience! Thanks to Ahva and Matthew and Pattie for all their hard work and organizing of this sweet treat at the end of summer! The Rhythm Sanctuary community came together Sat night for a Muse Ceremony and it was such a personal treat for me to share and experience this activated family of movers and shakers and poets and magical beings! The bliss was running high and the aspen littered valley sang with us by offering a little smattering of late night rain just at the perfect time when we were all inside, cozy and warm! Bodies groovin, voices singing and the popcorn poetry that came forth was truly Muse Inspired magic in the making!

Can't wait for the next one! And definitly, if you need a sweet spot for a retreat, check out http://www.dancingcoyotecanyon.com it's a fabulous place, and Matthew who owns the place is a rare gem of a being to work with... totally in service to goodness and easefulness. He resonates joy thru his true love and light in every moment! Dancing Coyote Canyon is only about 2.5 hours from Denver and a worthy and scenic drive!

Thanks to all of you for sharing your love and light!

Moment of Stillness

2010-08-30T09:57:00.003-06:00

Your breathe makes me quiver
like aspen leaves do
with the most subtle whisper of your essence
dripping thru the air

You delite me in ways indescribable
Sensually stirring me beyond the physical
Stilling me
I am captivated
Speechlessly in awe of your embrace

I can not move
yet all of me is flowing
I can not think
yet all of me lives in knowing
I can not breathe
yet your breath sustains me

I am yours and you are all that I am

Waves of fleecy swaying grasses hypnotize me
holding me captive
Enraptured by the way you kiss me
body, mind and soul

And in these moments with you
the rest is silenced

I am whole
Full beyond fullness
One beyond Oneness

With you Beloved
I am free
I am home
I AM

Cheri Shanti
Aug 26, 2010

Sacred Space Jam: Sister Muse Sweetness

2010-08-24T06:58:00.003-06:00

Magical Mystical Muse works are by far the most powerful medicine I have found for the dis-ease of Modern living. Co-creative, playful, deeply moving, prayerful, transformative and invoking the spirit of oneness, Muse experiences allow us to be witnessed, to hold space, to share and to meet in a profound way. Most of our lives are spent in the mundane, talking about our daily challenges or joys, our lives, our jobs, our frustrations, and often there is a certain level of superficiality to the exchanges, "Hey, how are you?" "Good.." because there isn't time, or because there aren't words to express the depths of what may be really going on for us in this wildly spinning world where the changes that are happening are fast, furious and sometimes totally unruly and insensitive to our more childlike, deeper, curious essences. This world can be so sweet, and so cruel all in one day.

Muse Experiences where we can let go, unwind, sing, dance, cry, lay on the floor and belt out our pain or our joy, writh in ecstasy or in sorrow, drum, pray and just simply be our true essence in the presence of others are a reprieve from the mundane, and a medicine that is deeply needed in these times. Last night I visited the Sacred Space Jam at the Starhouse and was right at home in the sweet and delightful facilitation by founder Karen and Michael Travers. I felt last night that I was in the presence of the Master Musers. Profoundly moving, the bodies, voices and music wove their way in and out of high states of trance and intense booty shaking. Many offered at the end of the night that the highlight was when the moon came shining thru the windows of the perfecly placed Alchemical temple we know as the Starhouse in Boulder, CO. The crystal bowl, the hang, and a circle of voices praying their hearts out carried us into the silence that closes the practice. Certainly, I too felt that magic as the crystaline point of our hearts, souls and bodies merging in service to the Muses that service us!

These practices are opening us into our hearts. I am honored to meet another sister carrying the torch of creative free expression and look forward to sharing every month at the Sacred Space Jam in Boulder! Don't miss the next one, and look for the Muse Practice which will be returning to fill in the spaces in between the Sacred Space Jams.

Medicine of Music

2010-07-03T02:04:00.003-06:00

Bodies moving
Sensual delite
The Medicine of Music
Healing all this nite

Faces beaming blissful beingness
In the seduction of the groove

Rolling
Hips soft like river dance
Swirling
hands making air romance
pounding
feet praying for a chance
to live again
another breath
just to feed this medicine
to my soul

Music takes away all pain
Music makes the insane sane
Like honey dripping from the hive
the medicine of the muse alone
is keeping me alive to thrive

Only the passion of the pulse can turn the dark to light
Ignite the nite
magnify the lite
send my body swish swish
yum yum into sweet delite
unable to be explained
so deep beyond all space and time
body, spirit and mind
I venture in thru rhythm's eye
And there
I find

Myself awaiting the return of her beloved...

Awaken...

Upcoming Events & Updates

2010-06-23T11:59:00.003-06:00

This week: Don't forget

Awakening the Wild Woman Within

AND

Evolution of the Drum Circle & Alchemuse Drum & Dance Celebration at Double Rainbow Ranch

Hope to see you there!

I leave for my NE Tour on Sunday, off to

Drum & Splash in PN
Starwood Festival in OH
Syrius Rising in NY
Summerland in NY

and more...

Keep in touch and The Muse Network is coming very soon, so stay posted and start sending me resources, links and events to post on the Muse Network for you until we are ready to launch it fully to the world!

Upcoming Event: June 26

2010-06-06T09:11:00.001-06:00

4:30 pm - 6:30 PM - Evolution of the Drum Circle - $30
Applications and Teachings for Better Drum Circles & Community Music Making

8 PM- 11 PM **OPEN COMMUNITY ALCHEMUSE FIRE DRUM & DANCE CELEBRATION
OPEN TO ALL MUSICIANS.. bring sound equipment if you need it!***
7 PM POTLUCK, 8 PM Open Circle $10

This experiential workshop offers an in depth look at drum circle dynamics: past, present and future. Be sure to bring your instruments, a notepad and your wisdom to share with us!

In this workshop we will:
*Explore Ancient Methods of Drum and Dance Cultures around the world
*Examine Current Paradigms for Drum Circles
*Learn Tools to help Evolve and Transform your Community Drum Circles
*Learn the 10 Conscious Considerations for Better Recreatioinal Music Making
*Learn the 4 Building Blocks for Building better Drum Circles
*Have fun, meet new people who share your desire for better and more creative drumming experiences!

Poem from A Florida Drummer

2010-06-04T09:57:00.001-06:00

AN AMERICAN DRUM CIRCLE

We all arrive gradually,
Slowly form a circle under the trees,
Talking in the breeze,
Not breaking our inertia.

Out across the circle,
Someone reaches for his hand drum,
Strikes idle notes that turn into a rhythm.
Ears prick up;
Sounds like he’s on to something;
One or two others pick up their drums.

Up strike the djun-djuns,
Bass drums of Africa;
Mellow, singing bass drums
Almost like marimbas.

They get a-goin’
Goin’ on a rhythm,
Rhythm like a river;
We’re all embarked on it.

Someone’s brought his congas,
Rich, full and round sound,
Building on the djun-djuns,
Rounding out the rhythm.

Djembes everywhere,
Stemmed cups of wood that serve a heady vintage—
The boom and the clang,
The boom and the clang;
Exultation under drummers’ hands.

Tones of an ashiko drum
Meshing with the djembes,
Strong, compelling bass
That stirs us into action.

A crowd gathers round now,
Drawn by the drum-song.
This is what they came for:
Waiting for the drummers
To carry them away.

A woman stands up,
Shakes back her hair,
Steps into the ring,
Begins to dance.

Another looks on;
Her mind is made up now;
She stands and she steps.

Two sisters dancing now,
Exchanging smiles of welcome;
Two sisters dancing—
Another one—
Three!

Someone strikes a tambourine,
Claves, bell or wood block;
Deft punctuation;
The song takes on an accent.

Someone’s drumming hot now,
Strikes up a solo,
A dazzling, crackling rattle;
The rhythm undergirds him,
Rich, sustaining rhythm;
He feeds from his brothers,
His brothers and his sisters;
We all feed from him;

All caught up in it,
Caught up to glory;
We’re rising—
We’re rising—
We rise and we soar!

The drummers start to dance now,
Dancing behind their drums,
Dancing in their harness.
Rooted in their places,
Takes a lot to get them moving,
But still, every now and then
There’s just no stopping it.

Accents come from everywhere,
Like nature roused to chorus—
Bells and tambourines ring,
Woodblocks and claves’ clink,
Rods and shakers rattle;
Someone plays a flute.

Other musicians come out with their instruments;
A blare of saxophones,
A peal of horns;
They want to take part in it.

The drums sink low now,
Thunder held in deference,
Restrained to accompany
Some delicate notes—

Soft boom of didgeri-doo,
Guitar’s gentle song,
Gliding of violin,
Set to muted thunder.

The drums rise up again,
Take up their ascendancy,
Rolling and booming out,
A wild exultation.

The solo rings out again,
A full crescendo crashing out,
Crashing and soaring out,
Rising up to climax.

At last the drums fall silent;
We bask in the afterglow,
Shake the tingle from our hands, quench our thirst, talk in the gentle breeze;
The circle drifts apart.

Then out across the circle,
Someone reaches for his hand drum,
Strikes idle notes that turn into a rhythm.
Ears prick up;
Sounds like he’s on to something.
One or two others pick up their drums.

We all start drifting back;
This new rhythm’s rising
To sweep us up once more.

© 2005 Daniel Gedamke. All rights reserved.

Awaken the Wild Woman Within

2010-05-27T06:20:00.007-06:00

The Awaken the Wild Woman Within Series has officially begun, and after this first event, I am more than inspired and excited to bring it forth to the world!

15 women gathered last night, May 26, 2010 for the First Unveiling of the Awaken the Wild Woman Within Muse in Melbourne, FL.

The power and grace that came forth throughout the 3 hour experience was moving and profoundly magical.

At the end of the night, when the women were sharing their experiences and journeys with me, I was touched by something like a humble awe of what had transpired in the evening within each woman there and I could see a visible difference in the way these women were holding themselves and each other. The bonding that had occurred between them, but also within them to themselves, was purely a gift to witness.

Here's what some of them had to say about the experience:

"Freeing, enlightening about myself, empowering!"

"Empowering Energy: I was able to identify my true essence."

"This was a great medium for women to get together to express themselves through their primal essence."

"Opening and Releasing"

The women shared their journeys of seeing and freeing their inner primal essence. There were stories of animals transforming and molding one into another as they journeyed through and into themselves, colors and swirls, their Wild Women digging them out of the mud of their domesticated existance, and on and on.

The inspiration of this night will feed me for many many years as the birthplace of a direction on my path to bring more women into their wild nature, to break off the chains of society's expectations and find ourselves free, empowered and moving with the magic, and strength of who we truly are.

Unity Women Empowering Women

2010-05-22T11:55:00.003-06:00

Last night's Unity of the Gardens Women Empowering Women's group proved to be a very special evening. Of course, it always is a special evening when we get to come together to play, dance, sing and share ourselves with each other, but the women who came last night to the event held some touching stories and I felt that the medicine that the Muse brought forth last night will be forthcoming for some time to come in their lives.

The Unity of the Gardens Women Empowering Women group meets once a month, and I had been selected to be the presentor for the May event.

The word got out about the drumming and in addition to the Unity Churh women who were regular attendees to this event, a group that wasn't at all connected to the church showed up from a home where women go to recover and rehabilitate from addictions and abuse. I was immediately touched by their openness and humble soft spirits. We talked about how the quest for God and divinity is the real driving force behind many addictions and they had a lot to ask me about meditation and other practices to work with the mind and body healing they were in the midst of.

These women are facing and moving through their darkness with a kind of courage and willingness that comes from the place of surrendering into new strength. Most of them had never experienced a drum circle, or anything like a Muse experience in their lives. They ranged in age from 19-50ish and I could feel that some of them had some pretty intense stories they were working to re-arrange in their own heads, hearts and selves and I felt so grateful that spirit had brought this group to be a part of this nite.

As always, the circle opened with intention, followed by some moments of quiet reflection to ground and relax, and just seeing them soften, their shoulders relax and their breathing unite was a gift to experience in and of itself. I know for a few of them the whole experience was like stepping into some bizarre field of whackiness, and I could feel the trepidation within them at the onset. In spite of it, they were brave enough to be open and I watched them soften, laugh, smile, and free themselves little by little, more with each excercise we did!

And seeing them after the circle closed, looking softer and more radiant, feeling how much more connected they were to each other, and the opening that I could feel and see in their hearts was the sweetest gift I could have and reminded me once again of why I love this work. I am so grateful and humbled to be sharing this in this world!

Thanks to the women of Unity and all who came last night for sharing yourselves and being brave and fearless in the great unknown.. and finding your joy there waiting for you!

The Manteis Project 5.7.2010

2010-05-19T09:43:00.000-06:00

The Evolution of the Drum Circle: Jupiter, FL

2010-05-14T07:50:00.005-06:00

May 13, 2010

Being back in Florida is such a sweet experience of homecoming, love, community and support and I feel so grateful for what is happening here. Clearly there is a strong current of consciousness, community and even sustainability that is emerging here which inspires me and warms my heart to it's depths.

Last night at the Corners Drum Circle, in Jupiter, I found myself surrounded by old friends from highschool, and my other visits and years in Florida, but also by a familiar energy of love that is common in drum circles around the world. Something about being together in this way, transparent, real, and exposed to the circle around us creates a vortex of love and connectivity that even if we don't speak, we share.

All ages of people from 15 to 65 were there, dancing, grooving, drumming and relaxing together. I am so inspired and so touched to see this circle as well as the Sheppard Park circle in Stuart which I was one of the original members of in it's early years almost 15 years ago. To see the committment of some of these people who I know have been holding it down for all of these years, and their inner personal growth through the process only adds fuel to my inspiration to continue to do the work I am doing and feel passionate about with community music making!

n talking with some people last night, I feel to share more about what this is, and why I'm doing it!

The Evolution of the Drum Circle workshops are designed to be a combination of discussion and the application of skill sets to help existing communities improve their circles, build more solid and interesting rhythmical and musical foundations and ultimately bring the individuals in the group together more as a collective whole functioning as one instrument played by many hands!

The idea is that the more we communicate openly about what is working, and what could or might be able to work better in the circle, the more we share, reflect and talk in a safe space with no judgements, the more we grow and evolve as a community. By sharing in concepts and dialogue and learning together some basic practical skills and applications of working energy and cooperating in the circle, the more exciting, rewarding and fulfilling our community drum circles can be for us as individuals and as a community.

Please feel free to email me with any questions. My sincere intention is that the community leaders and those who frequent drum circles will come to share and grow together, for YOU are the ones that the rest of the community looks to as the model of what is expected, possible and acceptable even. What the drum circle offers us as a model for the new paradigm is tremendous in scope!

Seeing what is going on here in South Florida is an inspiration for me to continue to share and learn and grow with this beautiful community sharing!

I am so humbled to participate and so grateful for the opportunity.

Returning to the Roots Tour: Florida Fun

2010-05-08T14:43:00.003-06:00

The Muse is flowing thru me once again and after much transition and life changing intention driving me forward, I feel supported, nurtured and blessed to be back out in the bigger world with friends, family and new connections carrying me forth into my joy!

The kickoff for Returning to the Roots Tour last night was an electronic ambient groove show with Rhett Johnson of Manteis Productions and Red Shift Mantra. Also the producer of my album Visions of Reality, Rhett's super yummy blend of textured grooves with live musicians is courageous and trancey to the core. And some of the best belly dancing I've ever seen as a warm up to the show! Wow!

Such a sweet treat and I am excited about the rest of the May tour here in Florida to bring newness, reconnection and magic into the lives of many!

The Muse Network is being worked on diligently and I am hoping to launch that within the next 4-6 weeks if all goes well! You can get a basic idea of what the Muse Network is about by visiting my website: www.cherishanti.com

The value of the Witness

2010-04-08T06:34:00.001-06:00

The Value of Witnessing

Standing witness to each other is one of the most valuable and profound offerings we can offer in our community. Just quietly holding space, and honoring the process of another individual offers them such freedom, and grace to be. It has the power to transform us at the most subtle levels and at societal levels as both the observed and the observer in community. If we are really serious about cultivating meaningful community in our lives, we naturally recognize that we hold a responsibility share our lives, be transparent and help others through our own experiences. To be the seer and the seen both educates, inspires and helps others, and offers us opportunities to be educated and inspired by them.

Any group of friends that meet regularly and share life in some way can attest to the reality that there is a natural sharing of ideas, insights and information that comes just from being together. In the musical context, this sharing happens in a different way: not necessarily thru conversational sharing, but in a deeply profound non-verbal way that is more experiential and metaphorical in nature. If we are really present and receptive, there is a wealth of wisdom that can be transmitted when we play together.

For example: I can learn that it’s important for me to listen more and talk less when I witness someone playing too loud or excessively in a groove, or dominating over another player who is trying to solo. I also can learn a little bit about that person’s need to be heard more and gain a little insight into how I can foster that person’s growth by listening more actively to them and offering them space to feel more comfortable, respected and nurtured. In music, we share so much of ourselves without words, and that is a relieving and peaceful place to be in such a mentally over stimulated time!

In my years of doing this beautiful community work, the one thing I have discovered is that everything shows up in the music! My first teacher told me when I was just discovering my passion, “If you take this path, beware: it will reveal everything of yourself to you.” He could have added, “and to others” and been right on with that!

Witnessing is one of the most powerful and direct ways that we can offer ourselves to another and allows us a window to become more compassionate, caring people gaining wisdom from the life experiences of those we share with. It holds infinite wisdom for those willing to watch, learn and be seen themselves.

Muse Community

2010-03-27T21:23:00.002-06:00

Hand in hand, around the fire we stand
together as one
From all over the world,
young, and old alike
Ticos, Israeli's, N Americans, Europeans, Irish...
The colors of the world merging under the soft fading of day
Into one rainbow of love and light
United by a desire to share, to play, to sing, to celebrate life

In harmony with nature
The circle opens with deep breaths giving way to the sounds of the ocean
The turning of day into night
Magic emanating from the intention to touch it's sleeve
And the Muse is on...

Moving the bodies
Pulsing the rhythms of life
Shared magic is felt by all present

My gratitude for this path
Always bringing me back to sweet surrender
Soft return
Open hearts
Kind spirits
And uniting hearts..

Pavones, Costa Rica

Muse Power Feedback

2010-03-09T14:47:00.002-07:00

"I have been reading your book each night, I am in awe, and you have created a new spark for me! It is funny how many of your philosophical insights into traditional rhythm and ceremony hold their place and are very important for cultural significance and the passing of history, lore, and tradition, etc., yet you also strongly emphasize the importance of creating music based on the unique energy of the group, the mesh of energy from a variety of individuals creating new music that is dynamic and based the combination of the individuals that are present. This is also what I believe. I know that often structure is important, but I have also heard and participated in some amazing circles that were grounded in no specific foundation; thus, Recreational Music Making, and allowing each individual to reveal their being, giving them the space to play, and honoring their effort, not judging their performance. The train must run away before it can find it's rhythm!"

Feedback from Mark Gibson, Western State College, Gunnison, CO

Natural Music Making

2010-03-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

Here in Costa Rica, natural music is surrounding us all the time. The songs of the birds, and the cicadas, the constant pulse of the ocean roaring softly in it’s own groove, the wind rustling the palms.. The ever-changing orchestra of sounds and expressions emanating from the jungle and the sea are one of the true joys of living here for many people, both Tico’s and others. Nature is such a clear example of free expression and non-judgmental inclusion of all life, and for me provides a beautiful model for music making being able to encompass the infinite potentialities for expression thru the human being.

The “modern”/“developing” worlds typically define music as "an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch, rhythm, dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture." In my experience, thinking of music solely in this way feels unnatural, exclusive and limiting. It validates only part of the whole.

The treatment of "music" and "dance" as separate art forms is pre-dominantly a European idea. Most tribal cultures are more like nature in their understanding of what music is: all inclusive of all expressions. For example, in many Bantu languages, there is one word for both music and dance; they are inseparable parts of the whole. In Kiswahili, the word "ngoma" may be translated as "drum", "dance", "dance event", "dance celebration" or "music", depending on the context. Kala is the art of music in the East and has three aspects, vocal, instrumental and the expression of movement. In seeing music as more inclusive of all parts of itself, it becomes a much more whole expression and creates more equality amongst all those who share in it by validating all parts of the same equally. Music then becomes the entire experience of how we are relating to each other and moves beyond just the technicality of the sounds. It becomes the spirit of the Muses: poetry, movement, sound, expression, environment, nature and divine inspiration combined. It becomes more like Nature: harmonizing, wild, and beautifully free.

Jungle Grooves: Music Making in Uvita

2010-02-23T11:09:00.002-07:00

Here's a small Article I wrote for Montana Al Mar to promote Recreational Music Making in Uvita

As a lover of the Muses, in all their beautiful and entrancing forms, I have been delighted to find many opportunities to gather with others in the celebration and sharing of life thru music making here in Uvita. Music is often called the “universal language” and indeed it is. I have played music with people all around the world whose languages are foreign to me, but in music, we can understand each other’s hearts and truly connect in profound ways. Making music together strengthens a community in so many ways and it’s fun, so come on out to one of the many local open jams this week and bring a drum or a shaker or tamborine, or even just your smiling face and dancing feet! And please, bring a Tico or Tica friend to play too!

Open Jam’s Happening Weekly in Uvita/Dominical

Sunday Nite: 9:30 PM Open Jam, Maracatu Dominical
Tuesday Nite 6:30 PM Muse Jam: dominical Bamboo Yoga Play
Wednesday Nite 7 PM Cascada La Tica
Thursday Nite 6 PM Drum Circle/Open Jam: ConectARTE
Saturday Nite 6 PM Facilitated Artist Showcase & Jam: Tucan Hotel

Coming Soon:
*The Muse Experience: Music making modeling the New Paradigm:
For drummers, dancers, poets, storytellers, and musicians of all kinds. (8930-5830 for more info)

Divine Inspiration

2010-02-23T10:54:00.005-07:00

Your beauty is like wine to me
Intoxicating and always divine
Sensual
Stirring to the core of my being

Your waters heal and sustain me
Your magic unfolds eternally
Reminding me of your infinite presence

You never leave me
I wander often
Yet you always remain

teaching me grace
Allowing evolution
in passion's play

Your voice comes to me
In moments of stillness

"Seek me until you find me
And when I am revealed
Rest in me and seek no more
Then you will know
I have been inside you all along

I can never leave you
Foollish are those who continue to seek
Even after I have arrived
addicted to their neurotic quest for more

Stay with me
Here
Always
I AM the infinite eternal always present"

Muse Power Review in Conscious Dancer

2010-01-18T10:23:00.005-07:00

"Craving something deeper?" asks Cheri Shanti. "Music heals us; music brings us together; music builds community; music is the universal language of all time, all space. This is your invitation!" In Cheri's eyes, each of us is capable of being a musician, and by doing so we can experience a greater sense of community, feeling of belonging,and the ability to overcome depression, anxiety and deep seated fears.

As shown throughout Shanti's own story and those shared in this book, the experiences of playing music, dancing, drumming and participatory music making can create mysterious openings and transformations in our lives. These opportunities allow us to explore our longing for human connection in ways that modern culture does not: Western society's usual space for tribal experience-the bar or nightclub-may capitalize on the vital human need to be together, but it capitalizes equally on disconnection, depression and anxiety. There is indeed a hunger for a deeper community sharing in a place more sacred than a bar.

Shanti offers insight into how to overcome our fears and "I can't do it" programming around the sacred and magical play of music-making so that we can bring it into our lives as a daily practice. No matter your experience level, "Muse Power" is likely to touch something in you and entice you to play, dance, sing and share.

Conscious Dancer, Volume 8, Fall Issue page 38

Radio Interview: KVNF: Aug 28, 09

2009-09-02T14:42:00.004-06:00

Here's the link or just click the title and it will take you to the download page!! http://www.sendspace.com/file/arsey3

Firelight Passion from Crested Butte Camping

2009-08-11T21:59:00.004-06:00

Firelite
inspires surrender into
stillness
The softest sound
Water running thru rocks
Wind wishpering thru trees
Grasses dancing in moonlite's glow

Solitude in nature
The sweetest gift I know

Crackling fire
wind, water, earth
songs in perfect harmonies
Rememberances of these truths I know

This valley
Sweeping wide into magnificient peaks
carpeted in velvety green lushness
Speckled by infinite splashes of color
Yellow, violet, pink, purple and every shade of green

I am intoxicated into the silence of my soul
Mesermized into perfect blissful re-union

Magic
Green lush perfect magic lives here
and my spirit will wander here as my body rests

Gratitude for the Goodness of Life

2009-08-10T21:04:00.007-06:00

Softest orange twilight tonite brings my open heart to grace once again.

I feel, so often, the blessings of this divine play of life and I find myself crying with gratitude and joy at the magic that this life has offered me. In truth, it offers itself to all of us, but many of us (me too sometimes I admit) stay so busy and occupied by the mundane that we can often forget, for days, months and sometimes, for some, for years or even a lifetime. A few moments sitting quietly with nature though and I am quickly brought back to my senses!

Reflecting in this quiet time on the many amazing moments of a lifetime. The good dear friends who make me smile, those who reflect such beauty and wisdom to me are so cherished; yet it seems impossible to express the depths of my love for them in any way. I Love you is just such a tiny piece of the equation.. I am you.. I see myself in you, I honor you.. still not even close to what I feel in my heart for those special lights who have walked some piece of my path with me. There truly are no words to express the profundity of love.

Tonite, sitting watching the last sensual embers of light fade into the dark of night I sent my love to them all, in all the corners of the earth that I have been blessed to touch my feet upon where I met their smiling (and sometimes not smiling) faces. Waves of peace and gratitude for the parents who, though they do not understand me, gave me my foundation to become the woman I am becoming. The woman I am learning more and more to love with great passion and tenderness. Not the egoic love of "I'm great," but the true acceptance of myself, with all my "faults," all my weird parts, my neurocies even. Love is acceptance and I am finding every day that I am learning more and more to accept all of myself with grace. A lifelong practice it seems to offer me. May we all bless our parents, even those who really didn't do as good of a job as we think they should have, for they gave us the greatest gift of life, and maturity is facing that acceptance that no one can ever be perfect for us but ourselves.

I watch nature and it gets easier and more simplistic to comprehend acceptance:

Does the earth try to change the plants that grow forth from it?
Do the plants complain to the weather that it's too hot or too wet?
Does the butterfly try to change the smell of the flower it suckles?
Does the hummingbird, whom I have been seeing every few minutes here, dislike the whirring of it's own wings?
Does the coyote question the strength of the herd it's stalking or simply await it's dinner if fate chooses to weaken one calf or not?
Does the river say to the sea, "I wish you'd get out of my way already, you're blocking my flow."

Love is total acceptance and total being of itself, and truly, nature embodies love in all it's forms.. wild, raging, hungry, passionate, animalistic, reflective, on and on.. there is for me no greater sanctuary, no more complete temple than the planet we live on. When we learn this, all that we must endure become gifts for our greatest unfolding. When we learn this, we are always in prayerful embodiment recognizing the divinity in all we see from the pauper to the prince, the parasite to the pretty flashy feathered peacock. We realize "church" isn't a building, the temple is within us, around us, underneath our feet; prayer is alive always in our senses and our touch. As above, so below. We are that which we seek outside of ourselves and when we get still, we know this to be true. No one else can make us complete, not a lover, not a job, not a house, not a man or woman alive can complete us, they can only compliment us and teach us and share with us our own self.

Nature is the greatest teacher I have ever known or will ever know I'm sure.

I was feeling tonite into my own life. My life has been, as truly I believe all lives are, an amazing experience. I have been blessed beyond what I often feel I am worthy of with good solid people, wise and loving reflections, and funky whacky trippy opportunities and people who remind me to live life as fully as I can; and though I may not ever have many of the "normal" comforts of "security" that many people value above all else, a "job," "house," "marriage," etc. I realize that what I have been gifted is pure grace to experience life in ways that many people may never know. I find myself regularly in complete humble astonishment at the beauty around me and within me when I allow it to unfold.

Music, poetry, sensual passion that is unbridled and wild, magic, mystical awakening to greater truths than money or the "American dream" have been part of my life since I was a small child. I have always known the Divine and been in awe and that to me is one of the biggest gifts I could have been given or chosen. I often try to deny those gifts, thinking that's not "enough" and I have to be "successful" in the ways society expects. Then, on nites like tonite, I get real and realize the illusion vs the reality of life: stillness, unparalleled natural beauty, mountain tops, a life where friends are making me smile and laugh on Facebook from all the different parts of my life, from highshool, my drum circle years, my professional musician colleagues who sings songs that make me fall in love with them to their bones hearing their passion that resonates with mine, Costa Rica connections, and I feel deeper than ever how much love I have been allowed to experience and how loved I am by so many whom I love and adore with all my heart.

What could I find more enrapturing right now than a night like tonite, alone in thousands of acres of desert and mountains, with no sound but crickets, no breath buy my own, no distraction whatsoever from my own depths, a shot of good tequilla and a sacrement of stillness?

I live in gratitude
I walk in gratitude
I breathe in gratitude
and in that gratitude there is such deep celebration in my heart for this life.

Thank you to all of you whom have graced my life with so much sweetness, humor and reflection of greatness. Though the words can never touch the true depths of my love for you, I LOVE YOU!

If I left the planet tonite, I would leave content and grateful for this walk on Planet Earth, for getting to know nature in the way that I do, for the coyote's song, for the crickets and cicadas, the howler monkey's, the sweetest yummiest jams and grooves by firelight, on stage, in living rooms, at my campfire last week in Crested Butte, with big lights or no lights, for the poetry that has floated effortlessly thru me from the Divine spirit of the Muse, for my family, for my sweet nephew who is now a man, for my dear sweet mother who I pray finds peace, and my father who I believe is maturing into his own grace, for my beloved partner Jessee of 7 years, for Matt who gifts me this sanctuary in Crestone every year, for Wolf and my drum brothers and sisters, for so much amazing life...

When I do go, have a big all night fire ceremony for me and play, dance, sing, and celebrate the joy that I know to be truth in this life that you have shared with me.
Cry but not for me.. I have lived a full life already and if this were my last night, I would go
In peace

Message from Peace

2009-08-10T20:53:00.002-06:00

To know me is to love me
To feel me is to cherish your truest self
I am always here
Awaiting your remembrance
of the gifts I offer you

Tranquility
Magic
Mystical awakening
To the depths of your inner being

You and I are the same
Only you sometimes forget me

I welcome you to my abode anytime
Day
or night
My heart longs to feel your breath
slowed
Empassioned
Awakened fully to the love I hold for you

I am eternal
I am the dawn
I am the mid-day heat radiating my warmth
I am the soft surreal colors streaming from sunset's kiss

I am yours
Come to me
Again and again
And I will always hold you

I am your eternal lover
I will never forsake you
Though you will forsake me
Time and time again
Until...

You learn that I am here for you
Absorb me
Learn my ways
Rise into the heights of the glory of grace

Choose me
And I will return to you
Every day
In every moment that you let me
I will be the lover that you can never find in another

I alone can gift you eternal joy
I alone can be your ally in the darkest night

I alone

Breathe
And you will feel me breathing
Move
And you will feel me moving
For I am the blossom
I am the birdsong
I am the lone coyote
wandering the desert
with the rabbit and the fox
the elk and the deer

I am the magic
I am the mystery
I am the muse
I am
that I am

Yours Eternally

Midnite Moonlite Muse

2009-08-09T00:22:00.004-06:00

Bright sweet mistress
Enraptures me
Entices me
Reminds me of slow, sensual sweet surrender
Like a lover
Soft
Deep
True
Creating heat in the cool night's kiss
My skin shivers
My spirit awakens

The Goddess on Sacred Ground
She shines down
Cascading mystical remembrances
Of the Truth in Being

Soft
Sensual
Delightful to all senses
She pulls me in
Like I would a lover tonite
Deep into the womb of warmth
Dripping ectasy

Magic is always here
And she reminds me
to find the grace in simple solitude
and body awakened to purity
As coyotes sing now
To the stillness of my heart
with one soft candle whispering flickering shadows

My body pulses to her call
I am awakened
Deep in the night
Thinking of the lovers of love
Feeling the call of divinity
Flowing
Effortlessly

Embracing me
I dance within her in midnight's magic
Willingly her lover
Always and forever more

Starwood re-connection

2009-07-29T21:44:00.005-06:00

Arriving late in the night, the first thing I heard was the drums resonating across the distance in the cool misty night. My heart warmed to hear the consistent pulse of others who feel the call that I do to this unique and magical experience of playing music all night for no other reason than sharing pure bliss and joy with others. The beat was familiar, and I found myself smiling instantly. It was the same groove I have heard on that land for years, what I had affectionately named"The Brushwood Funk": a very unique 4/4 foundation with a lot of pitter patter on top and one or two distinct djembes carving out the backbeat.

Two AM, and I could feel that the end of second shift was approaching. I felt perfectly synchronized to arrive just before third shift. There are very very distinct times in the night that those of us who have participated in this sub-culture of the drum for many years have come to know, and refer to as "shifts." First, second, third, and Blue shift, and typically (though certainly not always) the energy, musicality and vibe gets higher and more clear with the turning of each shift. There are other cultures (India especially) who connect the rhythms of the time of day to unique energetics as well, and in the all night drum and dance realm, it is so clearly evident you can almost set your watch to it. Predictable patterns, feelings, emotive qualities, etc. are a given for certain times of the night and anyone who spends much time at all playing music into the night, or the day for that matter, begins to get familiar with those "shifts."

Pulling up to the fire, I felt so many emotions rolling thru me, along with a deep stillness and presence of mind. I had not been to this land, this fire, for 7 years. A perfect cycle for me of growth, evolution and transformation was about to be completed in this week of drumming and all night rituals, and I could feel the edges of that reality. They were tangible, palpable and I felt so much grace pouring thru me as I arrived and moved into the magical realm I love so much. Many of my most intense musical and spiritual experiences with the drum had occurred right at this fire 7-12 years ago. I had cried, wept, sang my heart out, danced into bliss, bled, shed and been wed to my drum here at this place. Countless hours of prayer in my hands on skin, countless dancers falling at my feet, countless nights of all night magic and mysticism, countless wanderings into the deepest places of my own psyche and the psyche of others had occurred right here... and here I was, once again, 7 years later feeling so completely at home, so completely at peace, so completely transparent.

In the week back on this land, my heart was busted wide open once again, as it has been so many times before. The rememberances of the growth and the love that fire, drumming, dancing and bringing in the dawn with others were such a profound and beautiful experience to feel. Every time I do an all night circle, anywhere in the world, I feel so grateful for whatever pulse it is that moves thru those of us who cherish this work/play. I recognize how unique and strong we are, and I am so so grateful that I have been chosen for this sacred, wild and maybe slightly crazy path! There is just some super magical essence, some etheral otherworldy quality that emerges in the deepest part of night that, when we stay witness to it, keeps our bodies and spirits engaged, and goes beyond the illusion of tiredness as it transforms us and unifies us in a way that nothing else I've ever experienced can do.

In sharing with old friends there at Brushwood who I haven't seen or even spoken to in 7 or more years, the depth of our connection was profound and simply evident to me. I felt like these people knew me more, deeper and more completely than those whom I spend every day with in my "mundane" world. There is a comfort, a knowingness, an acceptance, a LOVE that just completely goes beyond familiarity or friendship into the realm of true spirit kin. Kin who hold no expectations or need for anything but true transparent sharing of space and time, prayer and beingness.

On Sunday morning, making my last few "O's" around the fire before departing, I took the time (and courage) to look every single person in the eye for three full slow walking rounds. Not just a glance, I held intention and created a true "making the connection" with each person. Maybe 50 or more people were still present well after dawn and each one of them granted me access to their hearts; each one of them was holding joy and a tenderness that I rarely see anywhere else or in any other space but this one. There was a vulnerability and a gratitude at being seen, accepted, and honored by me as I truly and fully was experiencing myself thru and in each of them and I knew that they too were experiencing their love thru the love in my eyes. From the tattooed, pierced and naked bodied super funky friekky folk, to the women moving thru the circle in wheelchairs who had limited use of their bodies but who's spirit's were alive and in joy to be together with others at dawn: all were in love.

Magic...
Music...
Acceptance...
Peace...
Dancing...
Firelight...
Sunshine emerging...
Mists Lifting...
rain Falling...
Muddy bodies Rejoicing...
Smiles of such delightful souls...
Intangible Grace...
Spiritual/Emotional Transformation to the Gold Within...

These are the rewards for the strong wild breed that celebrates life in this way...
We share
We accept each other, and we offer our gratitude...

I LOVE this work and I am so grateful to have gotten to go home to that land for 5 days to pay my respects and shed some skin!

Thank you for all of you who were there with me... I am so in love with you always and forever more... I will never forget your eyes and the wisdom therein..

Chaos: the sweet surrender to the great unknown

2009-07-10T09:30:00.003-06:00

Swirly void
Envelope me
Find me in my peaceful place
Stir me
Shake me to my core
Remind me
To find you once more

You
who so often is feared
Left out in the far away places
Afraid to be seen
An untouchable
Yet I welcome you now

Come
Teach me of your depths
Limitless potential
Boundless energy
Fullness of all that is nothing

Infinite potentiality
exists in your disguise
The great unknown
Mystery
Like the deep heart of night
But much less still

Find me
Remind me
Teach me
Unleash me
Let my edges be pushed to the places I have forgotten

I surrender to you
And out of you
I find the Grace
I know I AM
Emerging softly
thru my tears
Thru my resistance

And on the other side
I see once again
The light of God.

======================================================================================
Chaos is, as I talk about in Muse Power, the wellspring of creation, the void of new birth, and it is a wonderful and magical experience to emerge from it's swirly soup with clarity, and newness awaiting discovery!

It's all about the surrender.. those of you who have Mused with me in the Muse Jam's, you know this place, we go thru it in every Muse.. and every single time, the magic that comes through it is so beautiful.. for me, the Muse is my metaphor for life.. what happens there, I KNOW is what will happen in life.. if I follow the same course of surrender, allowing and letting go... The Muses are my guide and reminder in moments of chaos, or stillness, or perfection.. all of it.. they teach me everything I need for life skills... I know many of you know this too! :) That's why I wrote the book after all! :)

Please share your experiences of chaos and it's passionate place in your life! :) Love to hear from you!

Book Review on Muse Power

2009-05-05T17:45:00.003-06:00

Check out this link: http://www.ivouch.com/cherishanti-com

From Futureman & Ty Burhoe on Muse Power

2009-04-11T09:16:00.006-06:00

Here's some feedback on Cheri's new book: Muse Power: How Recreational Music Making Heals us from Depression and the Symptoms of Modern Culture

"Cheri has created a rich and inisghtful book on the far reaching impact of music on today's society as well as it's importance to us as individuals. She has woven together, not only very provocative research and important facts about sound and psychology, but also her own moving experiences in one of the human race's most valuable resources: music."
Ty Burhoe, Professional Tabla Player, Student of Zacchir Hussein

"I have taught drums with Cheri on several occassions and this book is great as I feel that I can continue learning from Cheri. Cheri has such great energy and brings such a unique blend of feminine insight, power and passion to the art of drumming. Muse Power reminds us of the healing power of music as a way of building community and relationships. I love drumming, community and relationships and so does Cheri! Thanks Cheri, I love what you are doing! Bravo on creating this great educational journey."
Royel, "Futureman" Wooten of the Grammy Award Winning Band, The Flecktones

"Cheri definitly channels the powers of the muses when she performs as a singer, or leads the circles of ecstatic percussion. This book is yet another manifestation of her incredible and beautiful energy: a welcome contribution to the growing testimony to the healing magic of music."
Cameron Powers, "Musical Missions of Peace"

Buy your copy today at http://www.cherishanti.com/products and bring Cheri to your community to share the power of rhythm, music and community building!

The Power of the WItness in Music Making

2009-04-11T08:59:00.005-06:00

Moving in perfect stillness as my feet are hitting the floor in perfect rhythm, I look out into the audience and my heart is spilled open once again by the presence of these dancing, free spirits moving to the groove of the band I'm playing with, Onda from Boulder. It's always intoxicating to me, always completely consumes me to stand witness to the experiences of others in their movement knowing that they too are seeing me and what we are exchanging is of such a unique and profound quality in today's world of computer screens and techno blah blah.

It is my inspiration. It is the food that feeds my ever growing heart of compassion and connection to others. It is the fabric of my existence somehow, this experience of the witness being witnessed, simutaneously holding others as I too am being seen in my truest essence. There is so much grace and power in what happens when we are grooving together, when eyes meet, and there is acknowledgement of one for the other. Be it in our pain, our glory, our passion, our sensuality, our frustration... somehow music makes us transparent, it brings us back fully into the shared experience of our humanness.

Drumming together, singing together, dancing together are all forms of music making. We are in the groove, our bodies and hearts and minds become synchronized on a whole different level when we are in that state. We can get past the mundane and for those moments we can see each other without judgement, without any dilution of the personality, without words. For me, this is total freedom, and I feel that those who know me best, know me thru the Muses. They've heard me play the passion of my soul, they've seen me cry in the middle of a song or fall on my knees on the ground and pray thru the grace of tears as the hardness of the world melts me, they've seen the truth of me which shines far brighter in the Muse. And, likewise, when I see someone in their groove, suddenly I get a true glimpse of the depth of their hearts, I feel and see their pain, their struggles, and their victories. It is as if the lens of music allows for a total removal of the filters our overactive minds try to work in too much of the time! We are free, we are whole, we are completely ourselves.

I am, as always, blessed to participate! What a joyous and amazing life journey it is to be a musical being who has chosen to participate.

Brazilian Music Study Trip: 2009

2009-04-06T18:02:00.002-06:00

I am very excited to be sharing an wonderful opportunity to study drumming and music in Brazil this summer! If you are interested in this trip, please email me directly for more info: cheri_shanti@yahoo.com and I will get you in touch with the organizer to make arrangements! This is going to be a fabulous trip! I'm looking for 5-10 people to go with me the first two weeks of August, but you can go anytime this summer that works for you!

Read on and enjoy, and please pass it on! Thanks so much! Yahoo, Muse Tours is on it's way!

STUDY ABROAD iN BAHIA, BRAZIL - PROGRAM INFO

This is an independent program, run personally by Joao Junqueira, CU-Boulder Brazilian Ensemble Director and Musics of the World Instructor- Metro State Denver,
with a contracted local assistant. Because this trip is independent, a great feature of this program is its flexibility. It can serve diverse goals, and diverse budgets. It will be custom made to fit all participants needs and wants,as much as practically possible. Participants will participate in the trip design as well.

TRIP LEADER
Thetrip will be led by Joao Junqueira, a Brazilian native based in
Boulder, CO with strong ties to Salvador, Brazil. Joao was born
in Porto Alegre, and has lived 21 years in the US, with yearly
trips to Brazil. He is fluent in Portuguese and English, has worked as an
interpreter for several years, and has extensive experience in
intercultural communication and exchange. He is currently an
Ethnomusicology PhD Candidate at CU-Boulder, and is in the
process of doing fieldwork/dissertation on Brazilian folk music and
disadvantaged children's music education at a non-profit organization.

You can pick dates beginning on 7/1 and ending on 8/10. June dates can be
arranged on a personal basis.

ABOUT THE STUDY TRIP

Why a "study" trip?

Because you can actually study music, dance,capoeira, or any other subject you may be interested. Joao will set up lessons/classes with expert teachers located in Salvador, Bahia. You will have the opportunity to learn from local Bahian masters
and have a total immersion experience. Participants can propose a study plan, i.e., a number of lessons, and subjects. Because this program is independent,
participants are not "locked in" any class schedule, other than the one co-designed and contracted with Joao prior to the trip.

Study trip participants may spend at least ONE to FIVE weeks in Bahia hosted by Joao Junqueira and his assistant in a Salvador-based location.

Contact Cheri for more info and specifics if you are interested! Thanks

Reconnecting to the Roots

2009-04-02T21:10:00.002-06:00

Sweet soft sensuality breathes here in the deep south of Florida. The air is heavy but so refreshingly crisp with the promise of tranquility. Night jasmine blooming blasts my senses back into perfect harmonious bliss and I am nourished deep into the depths of my being.

Hours and hours floating upon the gentle undulating sea bring my body into rhythm again in a little yellow boat with fish splashing everywhere. When the air is thick and moist, my body moves slower, feels fuller and loves to appreciate it's self.

Florida is richer than ever it seems. I feel like I can see the efforts that have been made here to conserve, preserve and bring vitality back. There are dolphin swimming in the river again, fish jumping everywhere again, healthy and strong to feed the graceful giants. The water is blue green and magically inviting and I feel a sense of hope for my native home here, the world that birthed my appreciation for everything natural.

Reconnecting to my roots: remembering my love was born in this place of the ocean, rivers and wild howling winds. My soul is here, my heart is here, and my roots are here. This is the place that taught me the rhythms of life and the ocean sings forever in my soul because of this place.

Sweet moments of musings, songs sung on the dock to the moonlight and fireflies, a little girl's memories of the magic of seeing the dolphins swimming beneath the boat and feeling the ocean pulsing beneath her feet, falling asleep every night with the sound of the waves singing in her bones. How blessed I was to grow up in this place, so close to Yemaya, the sea. How blessed I am to return and feel so connected, so whole, so grateful and so serene in this place.

with only grace..

Interview with Cheri Shanti on the Benefits of Musing and More

2009-03-26T19:02:00.006-06:00

From March 2008 Interview with Jeremy Brieske

Click on the title of the post to hear the interview.

This is a little late in getting posted, but should provide good info for those of you wanting to know and understand more about the benefits of Music Making and the Muse works I offer for retreats and communities.

Gives a little insight on me too!

Dolphin Love

2009-03-11T15:04:00.006-06:00

Had the most amazing opportunity while in Costa Rica, thanks to my good friend, Cameron Powers who made a connection happen, to play drums for dolphins! WOW.. so fun, so sweet and so beautiful to feel their hearts connecting to us. Thanks to Marta & Craig for making it possible for us to experience such joy and bliss on the sweet Pacific seas.

As a young girl growing up in Florida, I have had many dolphin experiences. My dad and I were always in the boat and there were always dolphins close by it seemed, a few times they even came down into the canal in our back yard which was super cool. I have memories of their love filling my heart that go back to those days, and the heart space they inspire has never changed or diminished. Last year I got to see them near Kauai and the Big Island, this year Costa Rica. It's fun to know they love to groove too!

Enjoy the video and pass it on!

Costa Rica Update

2009-02-17T11:55:00.008-07:00

Such sweet times here in the warmth of the tropics. It's been an amazing time to dream the dream, live the dream and work with sweat dripping down my body constantly.

Costa Rica feels funny too, like a place that has pants it hasn't really been able to totally squeeze into!

Music is the place my heart always thinks it needs more of, even here with all the amazing sounds of nature and the wild things, my heart is craving the sweet soft places, the lover in the Muse! I've had a few good doses, luckily enough to keep me soft and yummy but always wanting more it seems of those really precious sacred moments in the Muse.

Forest Dance was here, old friends from many years past in the fire tribe community. Twas a treat indeed to hold space and play all night beneath a big phat tropical moon with monkeys howling and funky Whattar players busting early morning grooves by the fire that was a bit too large for the size of the circle! The beautiful Ceiba tree hovering ominously over our heads was a blessing to behold and the biggest relief on the land was the swimming hole just on top of Nauyaca Falls (the picture is Nauyaca).

I've been here, in Costa Rica, Dominical, for 6 weeks working with a very dear friend of mine on creating a Community Retreat project in Uvita, CR just outside Dominical. It's been an amazing time of writing the dream into being and feeling this super surreal knowingness that I am living in the dream I've been carrying for so many years. I feel so grateful for the opportunity to get to collaborate with a friend on something that we both have been dreaming for years! It's tremendously exciting, and I feel like kissing the ground almost every minute... wow..

The synchronicities have been wild and whacky of course too! Lots of re-connecting with old friends from all over my life, Florida, North Carolina, Fire Tribe all over this country and others have been showing up left and right. It seems there is some merging here of all the differeng amazing pieces of my life! That's telling me something, as a big part of my dream/vision has been that all my favorite people from my whole life would come to be together in one magical, natural place like heaven!

The book, "Muse Power: How community Music Heals us from the Symptoms of Modern Culture" is in it's final final stages, no really, I mean it! I'm having Sirian Philips redo the cover and once that's done, it's off to print, so it will be available from my website as well as Amazon.com and other sources before spring I think!

Always good for me to leave the country and reflect on how amazing a place we live in in the US. Even with it's crap and it's problems which are many.. we are so blessed to have the reality we do.. bless the mess and let's dance the dream alive every day!

PREFACE to Cheri's Book by Cameron Powers

2008-11-11T17:02:00.003-07:00

Cheri Shanti’s musical path and mine have followed some very similar
trajectories. I was very honored when she requested that I write this
preface. My evolution as community musician has culminated in
the creation of a non-profit organization called Musical Missions
of Peace which raises funds to carry community music-making into
international arenas. My non-profit organization has recently helped
fund an American woman to travel through Iran, sowing the seeds of
connection and friendship by joining in village festivals across the
Persian countryside.

Musical Missions of Peace also currently supports music lessons for
Iraqi refugee children which in Syria and in Jordan. These schools
provide employment for displaced professional Iraqi musicians and
help ensure that the valuable content of ancient Iraqi musical tradition
is not lost during these times of upheaval.
My community music engagements have ranged from Native
American festivals in Peru and Mexico, to Greece and finally, during
recent years, to Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon.
My years of study of the ancient micro-tonal music scales and the
music of the Arab world have enabled me to feel a sense of belonging
in many far-flung community settings in the Middle East. Ah, if only
the politicians could experience some of these same things!
Early in life I spent years in counter-cultural communes across the
Western states in the USA and I led many live music events when it
was time to celebrate.

I have had the great pleasure to join with Cheri in some of her Colorado-
based community “Muse” and “Fire Ceremony” celebrations and have
been delighted to feel the powerful energy and clarity of vision which
she brings to each occasion.

Baghdad, Iraq: Unified by a favorite old Iraqi song we stand and
move our bodies together while the high-rise buildings burn and
the invading army tanks drive by. Musical reality is more cohesive
than military reality. This is what I have discovered. When will the
soldiers lay down their guns and pick up the flutes and the lutes and
the tambourines? The ancient wisdom tells us that this option does
exist! It works for us here on the streets of Baghdad: we are American citizens singing with Iraqis here in the ancient Iraqi capitol even as we
all mourn the destruction.

In this book, Cheri reveals her experiences drumming with women
in India and we discover that there are indeed other tools for cross-
cultural commuication which, unfortunately, are generally omitted
from US foreign policy around the globe. Connecting through the
universal language of music offers us familiar and respectful ways to
bridge worlds.

Sina, Peru: Tucked into a village in a valley high on the slopes of the
Andes above the Amazon jungle the Inca-speaking families are into
the third night of the celebration. Clapping their hands for rhythm in
their dance they sing of the loneliness of the vast mountain landscapes.
They sing of the pain of lost loves and of the hopes for new romance.
Eusevio Qispi has planted the cornerstone for his new house! Tears
come as he sings in anticipation of the arrival of his new bride! No one
mentions the one awkward detail: he has yet to succeed with romance
and the bride is entirely imaginary. But never mind! Four days and
nights of singing and clapping the village rhythms will surely help to
conjure her up!

Cheri’s elucidations of the roles music plays in tribal societies around
the world make it clear that brides can indeed miraculously appear
when the right music is played long and sincerely enough!

West Bank of the Nile, Egypt: The piercing wails of three ancient oboes
ride atop the skilled drum-strokes on the skin of the big bass drum.
Dressed in their white robes the village men whirl at opposite ends of
their ceremonial dancing sticks. The flavor of a martial art stylizes the
dance. There are no gaps in the music between midnight and dawn.
Once again all turmoils and struggles have been laid to rest for an
entire night. From time to time a woman dances solo in the center of
the courtyard beneath the appreciative gaze of the assembled men. All
is just as it should be. The atmosphere is absolutely Egyptian! Eight
thousand years of ancestral rhythmic tradition manifests once again
and carries our energy up into the sky!

In this book we discover that Cheri has been laying the same foundations
for rhythmic tradition right here in the USA! Her work offers a place
for us here in the US to find this kind of experience, a place to lay down the struggles and turmoils of the world and be together, in spite
of our differences, and celebrate life in community.

Naxos, Greece: Tonight the island drummers and musicians have
congregated in a small town near the northernmost Mediterranean
beach. While the lines of dancers revolve under the moon a wave of
energy carries the energy to new highs: the rhythm has suddenly shifted
from seven-beat phrases to eight-beat phrases! Without a single break
the band plays until past dawn. Dancing all night is something taken
for granted as a natural human right!

Cheri’s clear statements about the strangeness of some of the still
existing rules about MUSIC “disturbing the peace” here in our
homeland can help us bring about changes in values. There are few
cultures in the world where music making on a community level are
so restricted, repressed and devalued as it is in the US. The freedom
to gather and play music, anytime, anywhere is not something we are
familiar with in the US.

Sinaloa, Mexico: It’s now four o’clock in the morning in a small
mountain town. A group of fifteen guitar players serenade the
crowd from the front porches of randomly chosen homes along the
neighborhood streets. The highly amplified dance band in the central
plaza has finished for the night. Now there is acoustic space for random
improvisation! This village has truly come alive!
Here, as in most of the indigenously intact cultures in the more
tropical parts of the world, the music is “by, for and of” all the age
groups in the community: the children, the teenagers, the adults and
the grandparents.

In this book you will find beautiful descriptions
which hint at the beauty of this reality, although, as one of her quoted
contributors mentions, you really had to be there!

Deep in the Grand Canyon: The rhythm fever is upon us! Anything
will do: we extract whatever pots and pans and jars and cans we can
find from the cooking gear on our tethered rafts. Spoons make great
drum sticks! Which parts of our primal identities will emerge during
the next few hours of frenzied playing? High moonlit rocky crags stand
sentinel for the duration of the night. Musical moments are punctuated
with the sights and sounds of ecstatic human bodies diving into the
fast-moving river waters of the Colorado. Everyone swims back more. The next day there is a special satisfaction in the air.

In her chapter on the glamorization of popular music, Cheri gives
our young folks some encouragement for personal participation in
the communal creation of rhythm and music even as we observe the
trends toward electronica.

Amman, Jordan: Thirty Iraqi refugees gather in a friend’s apartment.
Dinner is shared but then the drums and instruments come out of their
cases. As the rhythms bubble out of their fingers onto their drums,
the refugees burning questions around basic survival gradually recede
from the forefront of consiousness. Someone has begun to sing. An
ancient stringed instrument, the Arabic lute, is in the hands of a skilled
player. Drums begin the accompaniment. A violin appears. Five hours
later the dancing and singing are still in full swing. Spoken words and
conversation will have to wait for another time. Now we are in a space
made sacred by the rhythms of the ancient muses of the Mesopotamian
Tigris and Euphrates river people!

What are the glues and fabrics of cultural identity which can hold
people together even in extreme times of disruption and catastrophe?
Cheri examines the trends in music teaching in American schools and
makes some clear-cut suggestions.

Boulder, Colorado: Seventy-five dancers reach the stage of screaming
and singing out their ecstasy. Four percussionists are here in the
ballroom well into the second hour of rhythmic ebb and flow. The
sound is live and no amplification is needed. The drummers and the
dancers adjust the tempo and no electronic tracks are included. A
wave of refreshment rolls through our consciousness as we celebrate
our freedom from the usual electronica. Cheri Shanti is one of the
drummers.

What do all these scenes have in common? Music is flowing. Love is
flowing. Bonding is happening. No one is divided. No one is separate
or left out! No one has reason for plotting or trickery. We are all
one. Even aging bodies feel pain-free and young again! The elixir of
communal music is being served by these drummers and musicians
who have evolved to become the local shamans and priestesses. The
ancestors are having their say and harmony has been achieved. What
a magnificent model for the rest of life!

Yes We Can... Barrak Obama New President

2008-11-04T22:54:00.002-07:00

Tears of joy on the faces of so many people last night with the sweeping victory of Barrak Obama! I shared the tears of joy and hope watching the new first family on stage, and my heart was so touched to see skin of all colors embracing in front of the world. Seeing the call to union and peace prevailing over the color of the skin or differing backgrounds.. my heart filled with hope and even more, with faith.

We now have a leader who has some connection with the people, who can inspire the masses to action and who represents something so much greater than just the presidency. We now have a voice, and an ear in a place of power.

So now when I wonder, Can we really shift the tides and start moving towards something greater than greed and rape and pillage consciousness.. my heart says..

Yes we can...

Can we now begin to act with personal responsibility and accountability on an individual and global level..

Yes we can...

Can we offer opportunity to all..

Yes we can..

I know he may not be as wonderful as he seems (or maybe, just maybe he really is), and I'm sure he will make mistakes and have many challenges.. but in my heart of hearts, he represents something noble. He inspired the people to act, to vote, to stand up, and be counted, and he has activated this country like no other president before.. I have faith in him, and I even like the guy to be honest... and his wife.

I give thanks for the new beginning and that maybe we will be able to finally pass on a better world to our children than the one we have now because we finally chose to get up, stand up, be counted, and try something new and different..

Yes we can build a better world... and it starts with YOU and ME...

Barrak said it well, the victory is OURS as much or more than his... we made a ripple in the pond...

Keep it going.

When will we care?

2008-09-02T12:36:00.001-06:00

Today I went into Book Ends Café and was sharing with the young barista about the broadcast I had just heard from Democracy Now on the raids and the infringements of our rights happening around the Republican National Convention in St. Louis. His response was, “I just don’t care.” While I understand the apathy and how it happens, I am still somewhat shocked at the complete unwillingness for so many of us, myself included too often, to really stand up, get vocal, organize and fight for our rights.

Will we care when we have curfews and police on our streets brutalizing innocent people just because they feel like it and they can? That’s happening now, today, do we care yet? Would we care if it was us or someone we know personally who’s house was ransacked, camera cards erased, video camera’s taken, houses broken down and put under arrest for doing nothing but exercising our rights, according to our constitution? That too happened today, do we care yet? How close to home does it need to be?

Will we care when yet another war monger president is in office, inciting more hatred, death, revenge and mass destruction in the name of the “Proud and the free,” creating more enemies in the world for our children to have to try to make peace with? Would we get active if we had to consider, as people in other countries have had to do, putting a machine gun in the arms of our 5 year old sons, brothers, cousins, to protect our families and homes? Would that make us care?

Will we care when some of these angry people finally get thru and land on our soil and start to wreak the havoc here that our country, in the name of freedom, has there? Will we care then? Will we care when it is us who are seeing our friends, cafes and streetcorners blown up by car bombs?

When will we really care? Everyone’s so busy, few people have the energy to care. Like this young man, it was a bother for him to stay informed and he got to upset and felt like there’s no way to make it shift perhaps… I know I’ve felt that a lot.

Listening today to what is going on at the Convention, the degree of the fear mentality, the control, the police state-ness of the whole thing triggered some place deep inside of me. I felt it in a way I haven’t in some years, and the graveness of this election, and the coming months is weighing heavy on my heart, even though I live in the Boulder Bubble, and everyone’s happy and excited for Obama. Even though I know all things work in the way they are meant to, and all the spiritual hoo haa that I know to be truth, even still, the gravity of our current political reality is beyond my comprehension for sure. I have felt it for many years growing to this place, and in my own way of keeping my own sanity, I have stayed quietly reflecting, praying, and trying to counter the “powers that be” by not subscribing to the fear, the dogma or even the media’s attempts at brainwashing and manipulation. I see much possibility and not all of it is as pleasant as I’d prefer. I feel edges of civil unrest, and would not put it past the current regime to fuel that fire to distract us more, as they are doing now with the raids, and the arrests of conscious media and activists folks such as those working with Democracy Now and Food not Bombs.

My call to action is to visualize the world as we want it, but beyond that to ACT and to support those who are out there on the “front lines” of this heated political time in whatever ways we can: $, letters, food, support, prayers. I was an activist when I was in college, and I had to stop because my fire gets a little too hot, and I knew I’d end up in jail or getting shot. It takes a lot of courage, a lot of guts to get out there and really do the work that our true freedom fighters are doing there to tell us the truth and report what’s going on. I just want to honor those people, and say “THANK YOU.” You are doing what many of us are too afraid, too consumed, too apathetic or too “busy” (ha ha) to do, and I am so proud of you when I hear you on the radio, see you in the streets, stepping up for us. You are the soldiers of the people, fighting peacefully, and I pray the power of the almighty, call it whatever you like, is with you to keep you strong.

Music: By George Moore

2008-08-30T19:05:00.003-06:00

Found this in a paper in Lyons, CO the other day.

So beautiful, wanted to share it.

"Music"

The first music was accident
perhaps, the clanging of a stone
against the solid resonance of tree,
the slipping of rocks down a stream
in high season, some impossible
whining of the limbs pushed
up against their leaning neighbors.
The ear picked it up almost
coincidentally, at first, a song,
something the brain said but
did not say. The pattern was born
out of a longing no one had known,
and appearance in the wind,
At the back of the mind.
This was the moment of music
but more, the moment of human
anticipation,of humanity,
springing to life within the animal skin.
There was something more
waiting in the wings
the rush of the senses in synchronicity.
The words would follow but not
for ages, at first it was only noise
made to sync like a river, water
sounding it's own depths, moving
stones down it's long corridor,
cave echoes, the shouts of wordless
desires from god-high cliffs
But the words did not matter
when the body performed it's rite
swaying day out of night, grieving
voicelessly for the disappearances
But the music did not leave the trees,
nor the stream, it simply inhabited
the living and the dead,
those who would come back again
as if they were the very singing,
and the cave dwellers who knew
the earth was their mouth
and that they were the voice
of it's deepest shadows.

From Crestone with Love

2008-06-11T21:01:00.003-06:00

Windy Day
Blows me open
Blows thru me like the mystery

I am raw
Unbridled
Unhinged
Unkempt
Free like the wind

Oya: My beloved sister of eternity
Pulsing around this globe of grace

Infinite kiss of the Divine
Blessing me
Eternally

This magical place
Stillness reigns supreme
It is tangible here
The peace
The depths of stillness
Even as the wind rages wild dust tornados

Stillness Lives here

This is it's home
I am blessed once again to dance with her here.

From Musical Missions

2008-06-05T09:56:00.000-06:00

Riding back South across the border into Jordan we arrive in Amman. Our
driver jokes every time we pass a picture of the blue-eyed Jordanian
King Abdulla that he must be the "King of Denmark." In reality, the
king's mother is American.
To the north in Syria we had been surrounded by pictures of the
Ophthalmologist from London who is now President of Syria, Bashar Assad. As I
said, people in these parts of the world know better than to associate
people with the governments which rule them.

Walking down the early afternoon street in Amman on our way to a coffee
shop we look up to the sky as the incredible roar of US fighter jets
buzz the city on their way to Iraq, enforcing the rules of the American
empire.

How many empires have preceded? egyptians, hittites, israelites,
assyrians, babylonians, persians, macedonians, romans, byzantines, sassanids,
umayads, abbasids, seljuk turks, crusaders, saladin, mongols, ottoman
turks, etc... to name a few...

Check out the History of Empires in Middle East in 90 Seconds
http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/imperial-history.html

Notice the Age of Nations and Borders which began under European
Colonialism. This animated history of Empires in the Middle East in 90
Seconds is well done but it is actually an extreme simplification of a much
more complex history. Each "empire" left a legacy of scattered villages
wherein the population preserved certain languages and ways of living.

Although taxes were demanded afresh by each new empire and a certain
amount of violence erupted as new conquerors confronted old rulers, it
wasn't until the age of "Nation States and Borders" appeared in the 20th
century that large numbers of people were suddenly trapped, frozen in
place, behind artificial borders created by foreign mapmakers in ways
that separated brother from brother and tribal member from tribal member.

Referring to the nomadic nature of local populations, a member of the
Saud family, reportedly in tears, told the Europeans in Paris in 1925
that the seeds for hundreds of years of conflict would be sown if borders
were drawn in the Middle East. The European powers went ahead and drew
the borders anyway.
Are we witnessing the consequences of this border-drawing map-making
frenzy?

More soon about our current work back here in Jordan.

Please encourage your friends who may be interested to add their email
addresses to our list at:
http://www.musicalmissions.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi
Or have them just send us an email requesting to be added to the list!

Thanks and More Soon, Cameron
Please reply to this email if you are so inclined. We love to hear from
you!

To support or read more about our 501c3 non-profit organization:
www.musicalmissionsofpeace.org

Cameron and Kristina:
www.musicalmissions.com

Musical Missions Post: From Jordan with Love

2008-05-11T16:54:00.000-06:00

Cameron Writes:
We spent last night surrounded by 30 Iraqi refugees singing the "old
music" for us: this gathering had been organized to honor our return.
Our host works diligently with his violin to magnetize us all into the
unified field of the music. Tonight is not a night for discussion.
Underlying all the singing voices are the instruments: two ouds, two
drums, a violin and a nay (flute) and as the night grew later more people
were drawn to dance.
Two of the women present are accomplished singers and their leads are
given appreciative space. One of these women is also a fine
percussionist.
After midnight the most revered Iraqi maqam singer began to weave the
poetic lines of his "mawals," or arrhythmic incantations, which truly
give voice to the old spiritual wisdoms of Iraq.
"Sama'i!" "Listen carefully!" is repeated to encourage absolute focus
on the poetry and the musical scales.

As I look at the faces around me, all men and women who are now exiled
from their homeland, I can see the different mixes of hardships and
suffering. And I see the childlike joy with which the music emerges from
their souls.

We have begun dialogue with the owner of a music shop regarding our
Musical Mission of Peace designed to offer support to Iraqi refugees here
in Jordan by financially encouraging their children's musical
education.

We will soon make a loop through Syria where an even larger number of
Iraqi refugees are currently in residence. It is said that at least two
million Iraqis have fled to Jordan and Syria to escape the disorder and
violence in their homeland. But neither Jordan nor Syria has the
infrastructure to offer employment to so many. That is why we are here. We
will do what we can, in our own musical way, to provide a pipeline of
financial support from sympathetic Americans.

Kristina Writes:
May 9, 08 Day one
As I walked down the street today in Amman, Jordan, tears came to
my eyes. I felt like I had come home. This feels like home to me not
because the sights are familiar or particularly beautiful. The
buildings are mostly grey concrete colors. The streets are dirty. Many people
smoke and I dislike the smell of tobacco inside the shops. It's just
that there is something else in the air that feels more powerful than the
smoke.
So how do I explain to you what it is?
Maybe security is a part of it. If I should fall down everyone
around me would come to my rescue. If I should get lost someone would
personally guide me back to my hotel. No one is trying to steal my purse.
Every shopkeeper and almost every other person I meet on the street is
saying a sincere "Welcome" or "Hi."
Maybe it is that there is less fear. I have very little fear
here. My heart is so open, because every other heart it meets is so open to
me.
I guess another word might be "relief." I don't have to be an
island. Women in the lobby of the hotel, whom I have never met before,
motion for me to sit down next to them. I am welcomed. I don't have to be
alone. Relief to know you're surrounded by loving beings.
Isn't that what home is?

I've heard that there is no word in Arabic for "alone", the closest
word means "lonely".
I wonder why I, an American, need "retreat time" or "personal
space" or "time to collect my thoughts" or "time to regroup" or just time
to shut out the world and rest? For an Arab, time alone is just
"lonely." Do we Americans tend to stress each other out? Why do we need a
break from each other? Here they just like to sit close to each other and
feel the connection. The air is filled with the currents of acceptance,
less judgment, more connection. Like Fayez the hotel owner here says,
"Arabs are your friend immediately." You don't have to "earn their
trust." It's just so much easier this way.

www.musicalmissionsofpeace.org
www.musicalmissions.com

From a Musician: On Bars & Music

2008-04-25T16:39:00.002-06:00

This is a commentary from Neville Harson in response to some feedback I was requesting for a subject in my book: Neville is a wonderful musician living in Boulder. Here's his input:

"I had a strong (positive!) reaction to one of the questions you sent. Here are my thoughts:

Your question was: "Do you feel there is a need for alternatives to bars/nightclubs for community music participation? Why specifically? For example: what don’t you like about bars, what doesn’t it provide, etc…"

You even said it last night: it's an honor for musicians to play to an audience who actually listens!

Rhetorical question: How did we as a society get to the place where that is the exception rather than the rule?

It is indicative of the general lack of listening skills in our culture, not only with the arts, but with conversation etc. It's rare for many people to find a friend who really listens.

Bars are not for listening. You don't go to a bar to hear a band. You go to see friends, consume intoxicants, and SEE a band. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that. But most musicians don't want to be seen. They want to be
heard. And it's hard to compete with conversational noise in a bar (not to mention all the other noises).

Another factor: alcohol is the wrong drug for listening. Alcohol and cocaine are "talking drugs."

But why do we need the drugs anyway?

My ideal place to play: a Listening Room, which would be billed as such. No alcohol served. Maybe tea, but out in the lobby. I like the idea of beanbag chairs,or pillows and mattresses, to encourage inactivity on the part of the audience (unless it's music for dancing). Everyone's on this journey together. No one admitted after the performance has started (though maybe between songs would be okay, like at the
symphony). Two 30-45 minute sets with a break in the middle for socializing, etc. (Like Gypsy Nation, socializing should be discouraged during the music).

Let the audience know how long you'll be playing for when they come in, so they can plan accordingly.

In order for live music to evolve, the audience has to change. And in order for the audience to change, the context and rules (written and unwritten) of the
space has to change..

Honoring the Stillness

2008-03-20T14:54:00.002-06:00

Last night's muse was so symbolically sweet! As one of the last nights of winter, as the sweetness of spring is approaching, the energy was still, quiet, deep, contemplative and reflective. The sharings of stillness were profound! Just hearing each other breathe, sigh and relaxing deeply without any need to do anything was a soothing reminder of our connection, and an honoring of winter's teachings!

Grace in these shared moments permeates the room, and every person present. It was as if the exhaustion of winter was running thru us, and we were willing to be spent together in that space, willing to succomb to death in the moments just before rebirth!

Thank you to those present for honoring the stillness in yourself, and together as a community.

Sweetness!

Excerpt from Chapter 4: The Glamorization of Music & Decline of Music Making in Western Culture

2008-03-09T11:35:00.005-06:00

“What is happening to raw music? Some people would rather listen to techno than create raw music. The very magic of synchronizing group music and dance is going away. A lot of tribal dance was dancing the same steps to create togetherness with the raw backbeat and magic that only drums, flutes, bells, stings, and singing can create. Dancing to a computer can never be the same to me. “
Johnny, Denver, CO

Making music together has shifted from a community sharing to a profession that has alienated the larger community from a very real and basic human experience. It has become a lost art form, something “scary” for non-musicians or “ordinary” people, and unfamiliar even to trained musicians in any out of context way. Many trained musicians can’t improvise, don’t know how to play from the moment or their heart. In this shift, we have lost something very valuable and indescribable. We’ve lost an inclusiveness, an openness and a willingness to “play” with each other, and in that, there has been a loss of intimacy and connection. The musical experience is more and more now dictated by the performer or DJ, more or less, and the opportunity to experience true group expression thru chanting, music making and story telling is more or less non-existant in the vast majority of bars, nightclubs or music venues. Music has become far more of a spectator sport and a commercial venture than a simple sharing of the human spirit. In my perspective, the commercialization of music is a major contributor to an overall feeling of dis-empowerment in ordinary, everyday people in relation to their own connection with music. For many adults, music was maybe in their lives as children, but for one reason or another they gave it up before they left highschool and never touched an instrument after that. Perhaps they quit because they didn’t think they were “good enough,” or “serious enough” or maybe because there is this illusion that everything we do has to be for profit, and playing music “just for fun” isn’t enough of a good reason to do it when there are bills to pay and mouths to feed.

As a society, we are taught that we “Go and see” music, that there is an “appropriate” place to “go and see” music (bars, nightclubs, etc.), and that we have to “Pay” to see people “Perform” or “Pay” to have lessons for the priveledge of learning. The free sharing of information that happens in more traditional cultures with music, the passing on, generation to generation of rhythms, songs, dances and musical etiquette, just isn’t always prevalent in the western culture. It has been a progression over time of commercial interests, again need and greed on the part of artists, and corporations, and the seemingly always present concept of the western mindset that everything has a price and can be bought and/or sold. Music and the arts have suffered tremendously from this way of being as it has shifted the consciousness of creativity from one of a playful exploratory child to a business man making deals that please the audience.

It is difficult to really imagine, now for many of us, that there was a time when music wasn’t a commodity, a specialized “skill” or a game of money. There was a time, and it still exists in some tribal communities, that music was simply for the sake of music, a way of life and a part of life. It wasn’t relative if you had a “look” or not, or how much you could turn on the opposite sex, it didn’t matter what kind of clothes you wore or who you “knew,” and you didn’t need to know every mode, scale or methodology to be an active participant, whatever piece you felt to contribute, dance, story, song, drumming, was equally valued and appreciated as a part of the whole.

“Serious music, which sticks to the strict, life inhibiting rules of harmonics and the twelvetone system is not capable of creating a new culture." (Grandpierre) Both classical and contemporary music "expect the audience's pregiven consent and forebearance. There are no participants here, just performers and listeners. Fake 'folk music', beyond its commercial uses is only good for damaging the word 'folk' and for frightening as many people as possible away from true 'folk music' Let's add to this the sleep inducing hits of light/pop music and we can say that the overwhelming part of today's music is quite simply only good for exposing man to his own misery and for manipulating him so that he can be even more manipulated. The music that used to be so vigorous and alive that neither man nor animal could free himself from its magical power is now a disemboweled mammoth on tip-toes." (14, p. 24)
Grandpierre, Hungary

In general, in the 20th century, the mainstream culture in the west has gone deeply into the capitalism of music and away from the concept of music for the people, by the people thru this process of “glamorization” of music, the artists and the whole lifestyle around it. “The history of the American Music Industry is a disheartening one, which largely details the exploitation of artists and musicians by opportunists and those without the musician's best interests at heart.” (16) Rock, pop and hip hop in particular have created an idolization of a lifestyle that is for the most part (there are exceptions of course) a relatively unhealthy one that is overly glamorized and filled with drugs, alcohol, sex, guns, and vanity. Just watch a few minutes of MTV or VH1, or look in a pop magazine and see what is being portrayed to our youth and the entire population as “Cool,” and you can easily get a concept of what is being “sold” en masse to mainstream society and in particular to our youth.

I do recognize that there are artists who break this stereotype, I know several personally and greatly admire their inner resolve to set a good example in an industry that sets a lot of poor examples of integrity, community and self respect. The reality is those artists, overall, get a lot less media attention, and a lot less exposure to the people who really need to hear their messages and see their examples. Many of them are preaching to the choir really, performing for people who are already somewhat aware of their messages and in support of them. In the past few years, it seems there are more and more up and coming artists who are realizing the power they hold to influence their listeners and are making wonderful contributions to the world thru their arts. I look forward to the emergence of more of those beings. I also appreciate those elder artists, such as Bono, of U2 who are setting positive examples by using their influence, money and success to launch humanitarian projects and serve the world.

Evolutionary Emergence

2008-03-06T08:12:00.006-07:00

The first Muse of the Spring Season here in Boulder and I am so yummified! Choosing to learn to play and explore and express together in this way is a statement of intent I feel towards a more participatory life with each other. To really show up, be seen, be heard, and also witenss and hear the voices of those sharing the space is a sweetening of the soul, a warming of the heart, and an invitation to more intimacy in life.

I am always so touched and so grateful to watch the unfolding!

Last night there was a moment when it seemed voices were coming from everywhere, creating a magical weave of masculine and feminine spirits in supportive harmony. It was really a beautiful tapestry of vocal play, but there was a unique quality in the particular notes and frequencies that seemed to create a portal that I can not explain fully, except to say it was deeply primal and totally futuristic & evolutionary at the same time. I was transported thru time and connected in to the voices of other peoples in far away lands, felt their eyes watching us somehow, acknowledging us, singing with and thru us. I felt the presence of such grace, such wisdom, and such support for us, here and now, doing this playful profound work.

This next series of the Muse is dedicated to the Practice, to embodying the Muse in life, as we do our Yoga, as a mindful practice to be conscious of in every breath, in every moment. To deepen, to do the "work" thru the play and to learn each other more intimately. How can we support and listen, and co-create with more sensitivity to each other, with more clarity of intent, with deeper willingness to serve the Divine in each other thru the Muse? The re-birthing of community music making is ready for an evolution, and in Boulder, we have the opportunity to set an example of creativity, communication, support, and empowerment thru this vehicle. Bring it on!

Possibilities for Transformation

2008-02-24T05:45:00.004-07:00

Tonite I recieved great blessings in the sharings of many hearts all tuned to the chords of community.

I am inspired and touched to my core and somehow I am even more committed to this great work: the Alchemy of the Soul, and the Personality, and even more so the Great Alchemy of Global consciousness.

Each of us is such a vital piece of the whole. The transformation of consciousness that is emerging is doing it's dance in every person it seems. Some are more resistant than others, but still I see this magic working it's way into the heart and mind of each person. Something wonderful, magical and revolutionary is brewing up in the cosmic soup of consciousness, and we have a responsibility to step up, step in and do our part, to whatever extent it is possible. Not just for us, but for our children, and their children.

To invite, support and encourage those who have skills, resources and wisdom to connect, collaborate, and support each other whole heartedly is a crucial piece that we can all take part in. Encourage dialogue, encourage mutually beneficial relationships, talk to those people who you think are so "different" than you, and give an opportunity to find the common ground, give what you have and know that IT IS ENOUGH to make a difference.

We are in such desperate need of GOOD leadership on all fronts. We need more solid able minded beings who know how to move between the worlds and people who can help assist in the in between spaces. We are in need of more liasons between corporate consciousness and New Paradigm consciousness, we are in need of more sharing, more relating as humans, as friends on Planet Earth. We don't have to always agree with each other, or try to change each other, we can't get rid of "one" for the "other" but we can learn to honor, respect and find creative ways to let all voices be heard and respected!

The time now is for integration and exploring how we can dance together. Trying to fight the inevitable is just a waste of time and resources, but learning to utilize what's already in action and move within the matrix to shift energy is an invaluable skill in today's world, and will be increasingly so in the future! We all know, there is no "going back." There is only learning from the past and using that wisdom to guide us into new possibilities and openings. From here, we have to move much more consciously, with much more respect and contemplation into tomorrow's playground of possibility!

There is nothing "too hard" or "too much" for us! Humans have proven that over and over again, we can create ANYTHING we want! What do we want? Really, what do we want? If it's only money, or only stuff, we've missed the essence of life. I think for most people, it's more than that. In the depths of the heart's longing there is a call to help, to serve humanity, to do something that matters in the world, in whatever small or grande way, whether it be feeding our children, or feeding a hungry nation of children. We all have something to offer.

Remembering the grace and the sweetness of community, of family, of sharing the simple pleasures of life, good food, good conversation, fire, starlight, dancing and singing together. For me, that's the essence of life... the essence of love is sharing!

Great gratitude for this night, and this open inspired heart.

Late Night Contemplations

2008-02-22T01:01:00.002-07:00

Laughter
Children's voices
Sweet songs of surrender
Thru the wind in the palms

Grace lives in this place
In each pair of eyes
In each story
In each face

Yemaya rolls gently thru
Oshun's overflow
Embracing Gaia's womb
in the softest most sensual embrace

Air clean
Charged by Pele's breath
Ocean pure
Crystallizing mind of zen

Moonlight above my head
Fire at my feet
Earth trembling
Passion Play

The Earth she is alive here
In every instant heard
She rolls and swirls and screams here
With benevolence and rage

Magic in the shadows
Made by the silver moon
Demons dwelling just beyond
the undulating ironwood's stringy locks

Mystical and omnipresent
This sacredness of life
With the power to seduce me
I welcome Her each night...

Fire light
and voices softly sharing
Illuminate my heart and soul

Deep Nite Delite

2008-02-20T03:32:00.006-07:00

The Midnight hour
Soft
Hpynotic
Entrancing
Casts its seduction on me
And oh, I go so willingly
Into pearly starred sky
and mystic night awaiting..

Embracing me now
The Beloved of beloveds
Dancing in me now
Like the seas swelling surges
Pulsing the swish and sway
of Mama Gaia's big swirly sea hips
Me, I like to take sweet soft sips
Seductive dips and slips into her glorious vast depths..

Always receptive
Always giving
Always emerging with truth
Always captivating
Like the night skies

Deep nite delite..
Sounds of the earth's aliveness..
Water flowing
Critters buzzin
Ocean's breath a comfort beyond illusion

Full moon
Full life
Full heart of love

Pulse of Gaia

2008-02-15T21:50:00.004-07:00

Beneath me
I feel her pulse
Calling to me
Always, eternally..

She is the medicine I take voluntarily
To soothe
To teach
To acknowledge grace
To remember truth

She is always waiting..
Echoing
Loud
Resonant
Seductive rhythms of nite

Calling me inward
to the sanctuary of my self

The outer worlds of distraction
Gone
The chatter of the mind
Gone
The business of the day
Gone

Only the Pulse of Gaia
Resounding in my ears
Thru my body
Nature is my confidant
My eternal ally

Day by day
Side by side
Hand in hand
Step by step
I learn this wisdom way

Rhythms of Yemaya
Entrancing
Evocative
Always present
Big pulsing power of ocean blue
Like the blood in my veins
Like the breath thru my spirit

Effortless
Always returning
to the shores of renewal

The Pulse of Gaia

Techno world forgotten
Cars, traffic, rush rush rush
Forgotten..

As I merge
Again and again
In silent seductive surrender

Take me, Yemaya
Far out to the depths of your eternal blue
Into the heart of the swells
to ride in joyful playfulness
with the dolphins and the whales

The Eternal wisdom keepers...

Pulse of Gaia
Frog songs at night
Bird songs when dawn returns

Always the Pulse of Gaia lives in me

Remembering the wisdom way

Remembering
The Pulse of Gaia

Day by day
Side by side
hand in hand
Groove by groove

Eternally dancing in delite upon her womb

Gaia
Yemaya
Seductive passions of love's truths
I will always succomb... willingly
Joyfully..

Polalu Valley: Hawaii

2008-02-12T22:11:00.008-07:00

Trembling
bone crunching
jowels of hell
With eyes of fire piercing eternity

Eternal Guardians
Always watchful
Always foreboding
Always vengeful

Some place of evil doings
Terror beyond the imaginable
Lives here on this island

Spooky
Cursed
The forbidden land
Protected but wrongly taken

Deep pulsing mother earth
Yoni fat and moist
Dripping most enticing delites
An Eden poisoned.

What stories live here
I feel the bones
I see the blood
I know mine are here too
My blood and bones

Savage beyond the conceivable
A fortress impenetrable by design

Haunted forests
Ironwood dancing
Featherlike in the raging wind
The wind that never sleeps here

He he o a na..
He he o a na...

I come to pay my respects
I come in peace
I go in peace.

Feedback on Rough Draft of Book

2008-02-07T14:23:00.001-07:00

Angel Cheri, I have read a lot of your book. Thanks for sending for feeback, via email. Again I see what a Super weaver you are of the tapestry and a profound messenger.
You deliver & compose powerfully for the community. Thank you for your assistance and for sharing your wisdom & insight.

You cover so many bases. And some amazing & inspirational stories in there. I realize why you couldn't sleep alot of nights, you have had so much to get into words and to realease out of your head. It's great that you have included Tayler & I in your book in the way that you have, and others in our 'tribe' and other 'tribes' That's cool. I see how so much greatness can come from this getting composed and out there. Nicely done.

Very glad you have had this time to upload/download and proceed with what you are up to and what you are here to offer the world and yourself. Thanks for following your intuitions and callings. It is my hope that we can all be supported to follow through with this process that can hugely effect the consciousness & direction of our souls and the planet.

It can be quite subtle but profound in the scope of it all. ay.
Talk w/you later. Hugs ~*
Jen

Excerpt from Chapter 9: Moving thru Chaos: Professional In Service to Community

2008-02-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

Moving thru Chaos &
Professionals In service to the Community Spirit

It seems that there is a missing Link in the Community Music arena that I feel called to mention, and that is the integration of all levels, meaning in particular, those who have dedicated their lives to studying the intriciacies and subtleties of music, those who we call “Professional Musicians.” I personally know of many people who have had all or some part of their original inspiration come from drum circles and/or open community music jams. Some part of the experience opened them up to a part of themselves, or to their own potential, or maybe it exposed them to the magic of rhythm in community and how it feels to create an ecstatic experience with and for others. It was from that place that they got to where they are now being paid to perform, traveling all over the world performing with famous or semi-famous bands or as solo artists, with their own bands, etc. I can speak for myself in that drumming opened me up to discovering I could sing, and improv and make songs, etc. I now have recorded 4 CD’s, have my own band, and have performed all over the country as a solo artist: all of it was inspired by what I experienced in these raw, spontaneous sessions in different communities drumming, dancing and creating together.

A lot of my friends and colleagues who have left the Community Music scene to go into professional music talk about Chaos as a part of what pushed them out and away from wanting to participate in community music making. I can understand, as I am often challenged by it in my work and every time it comes up I have to find a creative way to accept it, honor it and move thru it. Chaos is a real part of the human experience, and how we deal with it or run from it is also worthy of examination. If we all just run from the chaos instead of working to bring order and harmony back from the edge of insanity, then the finer teachings that music has to offer will never be fully transmitted. If all those who master elements of Music (in any form) continue to abandon the chaos out of frustration, fear or not knowing how to move thru it, then how can this movement continue to evolve? And, how does that foster strength in community, or teach anyone anything? It may be a bit of a stretch here to say this, but it bears some metaphorical resemblance to ditching out on a child because they are too difficult to discipline. The wild, free abandonment that happens sometimes in Music Making is like the mentality of an undisciplined child who is just so lost in themselves and the experience of life that they can’t see past themselves!

I feel that those who have attained higher levels of proficiency and skill could greatly serve their communities by participating and helping to create solutions, modeling different aspects of musicality, and sharing what they’ve learned instead of just ditching their roots completely.

or running away because it’s too hard. This is not in any way to say that they shouldn’t step out into their professional callings and become the best they can be in their chosen expression! I just feel called to offer the possibility that by occasionally showing up and holding space in their communities on a more roots level, they can provide a source of deep inspiration, and set an example for what’s possible!

In my research, I found an example of this kind of thing in Hungary in the táncház movement. “This model involved strong cooperation between musicology experts and enthusiastic amateurs, resulting in a strong vocational foundation and a very high professional level. The involvement of experts meant an effort to understand and revive folk traditions in their full complexity. The movement revived broader folk traditions. Started in the 1970s, tanchaz soon became a massive movement creating an alternative leisure activity for youths apart from discos and music clubs—or one could say that it created a new kind of music club. The tanchaz movement spread to ethnic Hungarian communities around the world.” (Rolk hungary)

Inspiring a movement is a pretty exciting concept to me personally! I’m in! Imagine what could be inspired if the Professionals of Music actually returned to their roots on occasion and offered themselves in service to the community in a way that wasn’t about “Watch me perform” but was instead about, “Come on, let’s do this together!” The entire group would benefit, and that musician would receive so much love and gratitude for their sharing, and so much respect from their community of Music Making Lovers. I have a strong network of “Professional Musicians” whom I invite regularly to my community sessions in Boulder. Very few of them have ever come, not yet. I will continue to hold this vision in my heart that one day they’ll show up and together we can inspire and show possibilities that have yet to be fully experienced for many people, and maybe even start off a Revolution of music that I’ve been dreaming about for years, that is truly “For the people, By the people,” where everyone is empowered to express and to participate equally, where there are strong models of cooperation, listening, communication, dialogue, dynamics, play and mutual respect interwoven into the fabric of the Groove!

Raining the Tears of the World

2008-02-02T18:37:00.001-07:00

God is dumping the seas upon our heads
Days and days of rain
Relentless
Like a flood pouring from the skies.

This island is drenched
Saturated
Soaked
Like I would be
Were it not for this screened
Roofed sanctuary

The rain comes thru
In little spatters
Spits on me and this screen

Sweet sounds
Water makes
Smacking big green tropical leaves
Thumping a constant drone
Like the raging seas
Smacking again and again
Into black, volcanic rock

It is night again
The Cokee’s sing still
With sheets of water pouring upon them
Still they sing
Finding each other
Thru the eternal watering

Rhythm songs
Frogs are masters
Echoeing above it all
They pierce the night
Melodies divine
Rhythm rhapsody ride

I love to listen
All night long
Sometimes it’s hard to sleep
I want to hear it all
To absorb it
To make it part of me

This place
Pure, Free, Abundant in Life
I want to merge with it
So I stay present thru the night
Listening in my dreams

The rain always comes again here
Breathing moments before it falls again
All night long
All day long
The rain is my solid companion

Barely above the wind and rain
The ocean roars
Loud in my ears, I breathe to it
In and out with the surf
Rhythmical
Always present
Always powerful
Wild, white water
Cascading against black rocks
I see it in here
From my bed
I see it
As part of me now

God is weeping the tears for a million lives lived
For those whose lands are filled with terror
Whose eyes may never see
The beauty that I know
In every moment
In every day

Even here
With the rain falling
Hard, fast and constant

Still
There is beauty beyond beauty

Excerpt from Chapter 1: The Lost Connection

2008-01-29T22:45:00.001-07:00

Symptoms of a Lost Connection

“Outside of our skin
We can begin again
To Merge
To Touch
To Know Another as we can Know Self…
Reaching Out
Reaching In
I Begin Again….”
Cheri Shanti, 2002m

One of the truths of our time is this hunger, deep in people all over the planet for coming together into relationship with each other.”
-Mary Caroline Richards

It seems more and more when I share with my friends and family, there is this underlying feeling of being “overwhelmed” in life. Life is “crazy” or “too much,” or “I can’t keep up,” just seem to be normal every day phrases I hear everywhere I go. In the grocery store, on the phone with people I know, walking by someone on the streets, or in the café, I hear it everywhere. Life is moving fast, technology has us frying our brains with cell phones, computers, TV screens and constant bombardment from wireless frequencies in every café, home and public building, and the demands on our wallets are increasing faster by far than the wage increases. The media is filling us with images of death, destruction and global devastation and rarely reports anything positive that inspires us. Our world is at war, the future for our children is intense and scary, global warming is imminent and many of us seriously wonder if our government is indeed a democracy “By the people for the people.” The people are, for the most part, so overwhelmed by trying to survive that few notice or have the energy left to care, much less be active in trying to change things. Plenty of people feel and live in the reality of “Me against the world” in their minds and feel the effects of isolation and “individualism” to it’s extreme.

Depression, anxiety, and what I personally have begun to call “Overwhelm Syndrome” are increasingly common in all ages of people today and create an increased feeling of “aloneness” in those who suffer from it. The World Health Organization says that depression is among the leading causes of disability worldwide, an estimated 5.8% of men and 9.5% of women world-wide will experience a depressive episode in any given year, and an estimated 121 million people world-wide currently suffer from depression. It is estimated that between 10-25% of children suffer from one or more mental illness today. Approximately 18.8 million American adults have depression and more than 19 million American adults have an anxiety disorder according to the National Institutes of Mental Health. One of the most commonly shared experiences in those suffering from depression, anxiety and overwhelm is the feeling of being “lonely,” or isolated, or the feeling of not fitting in with the way the “world is.” Breathing Space of Scotland says, “This comes with living in a world where certain "ways of being" have come to be expected. You might feel isolated if you cannot celebrate or show part of your identity.” In addition, a lack of opportunities to "get involved or “participate” contributes greatly to a sense of worthlessness, aloneness and isolation.

"All the lonely people, where do they all come from?" I just had to quote a well-known Beatles song. I share this feeling of being perplexed at the sheer volume of people who are dealing with feelings of intense loneliness and depression in America. I personally know dozens of people, with seemingly normal and fulfilling lives, who are taking medication for depression. These are only people I know PERSONALLY. I can only imagine what the statistics are for this country as a whole.

Twenty years ago, I rarely heard of depression. Now it is an American pandemic. I believe this phenomenon is a product of our society and overall mindset. We are conditioned from childhood to be fiercely individualistic and self-centered in order to survive. We are taught that the basis of a meaningful life is personal achievement. In many other societies the welfare of the whole community is the focal point, and cooperation is the means to the end. In American society, the success of the individual is most important, and competition is the means to the end. Deep and meaningful relationships (love) with other people are second at best on the list of our priorities. They are often never wholeheartedly sought and or given the extraordinary amount of time and effort we expend towards personal achievement. If they are developed, many often fade from neglect.
Loneliness and feelings of isolation are widespread in our society for a reason: We ARE lonely and isolated, if not physcially then emotionally. Our hearts won't lie to us, they hurt for a reason. They are being deprived of the most meaningful thing in this life at the expense of the most meaningless.”
Neville Palmer

As Neville makes clear, we don’t need a psychologist or sociologist to tell us that the modern world’s way of life has taken a toll on the human experience. We can all find examples of it’s effects in our lives if we look around even a little, or maybe, if you’re like me, I only have to look in the mirror some days to see it. We have lost, for the most part, a sense of community and of “belonging” to something greater than ourselves in the rush for survival and independence.

The good news is that depression, anxiety, community deterioration, lack of social participation and all of the conditions of modern culture, are able to be transformed on all levels with attention and intention. In my experience, it is the human connection that heals beyond any pill, drug, or procedure. It is the human connection that we have lost and it is the human connection that must be re-connected to move us forward.

Sinking In: Nature's Truths Remembered

2008-01-25T03:03:00.001-07:00

Firelight dancing beneath starry skies
Sweet orange disc rises above the swirling sea
Moonlight dancing now in me

Sinking into this way of being
So familiar
So effortless

So close to nature
The way God meant us to be
Eating the Fruit on the trees and fish from the sea
Serenaded by the rhythms of nature all around and within me

Sinking into this place
Inspiration returning
Re-learning myself
Sweetness in this life

We need so little, really, and have so much that distracts us from this truth.
Good food, a modest shelter, community, music, love, sun, clean air and safe haven to lay our heads..

All the rest it seems to me is some kind of candy..
Eye candy
Ear candy
Techno candy
Like sugar it rots us inside leaving us wanting more, unfulfilled and searching for the next fix..

Nature teaches us perfect grace, balance and harmony.
No false illusions, only truth.

Tonite, after firelight, moonlight and ocean breezes
A nice hot shower was like luxury, unnecessary, but so appreciated and such a magical experience
with tiki torches as my light and sweet silver moon peeking in on me above the bananna leaves and bamboo

Blessed are we who get to experience these ways
To remember that which is true and real
And to forget that that leads us astray

I give thanks

Sinking into sweetness.. again and again.

returning to remember
The simple ways of life feed me fully

Excerpt from the Upcoming Book: #1

2008-01-24T00:15:00.001-07:00

Vibrations within
Cells dance beneath this skin
Myriads of orgasmic pulses create me
I am Life, moving in Harmony
I am Unity.
Spirals of perfect light
Cascading within my inner sight
I am Rhythm
I am the Cosmic Pulse in form.

I feel the Dum Dum of my heart beating, sending fluid, red, vibrant and nutrient rich thru the tunnels of veins and arteries that give color and life to the cells as they dance and tumble thru my blood.

I hear the sounds of my own body just being and I am amazed at the quiet symphony that I am on the inside.
I am even more amazed that not only can all of this be going on inside, all the time, thru each breath, but I can also experience and even create a whole other rhythmical reality on the other side of my skin. I can experience layers upon layers upon layers of vibratory awareness from the inside, out.

Going deeper still, I can go into the spaces between those beats of my heart and connect there with a silence so deep and far reaching it returns again to the One source of Creation, the Void, the Nothingness from which all is birthed thru a tremor in the cosmos. There, at the Source, I can receive inspiration for creativity. There, in the stillness before the spark of creativity, the inside world and the outside world merge, and breathe together, sharing the awareness of each other’s gifts and possibilities in divine rapturous union. There, in the stillness, in the quiet sanctuary of my own being lies all the potential of the universe waiting to be birthed thru my own unique expression.

Vibrations within
Cells dance beneath this skin
Myriads of orgasmic pulses create me
I am Life, moving in Harmony.

Muse Reflections

2008-01-20T22:07:00.002-07:00

Once again I am humbled by the omnipotence of grace and sweetness in my life... such constant reminders, when I allow myself to SEE and FEEL the TRUTH of what is....

This past Muse: Prayers for Peace... brought tears of grace and gratitude... deeply moved and deeply touched... I remain in the afterglow of grace....

Soft burning fire light
Dancing candles
Deep haunting voices of every human expression
Joy, Grief, Passion, Searching, Yearning, Knowing, Ancient Songs
My own hands on Skin pulsing rhythms I never knew I knew
My own voice met by the voices of others
Passion making the Spine Tingle
Moments of Silence & Hearing the Breath of Each other...
More Voices Emanating from the Ethers
A Man swaying back and forth, hands lifted,
His voice that of an ancient angel lifted into the room
A woman echoing my own song, playing joyfully with the shared spirit...
Acknowledging Reflection For both of us
Two Young Girls Sitting by the Altar... one with a feather, one with sage.. staring intently into the candles..
Carrying the Prayers of Peace for all of us
Learning this Sacred Way to Share with their own Generation....
A Generation who will need them to Carry the Torch

Deep Respect Emanating from every pair of eyes:
We are timeless and beyond words in our hearts...
Two Lovers in the corner, fingers touching, embracing softly for a moment...
They are wrapped in the Arms of Sonic Bliss created by 15 Beings United in Expressive Alchemy
Tears of Gratitude hitting the floor beneath me while my body is Bowed in Deep Honoring at the Altar of Our Intentions
Ancient Crystals & Stones Absorbing Our energy: charged by our hearts..

Profound Presence of the Grace Of NOW always present
Humbled to Offer SOMETHING beyond my SELF
Humbled to Participate and Witness...
Looking around the Circle at the Joyful Openings of Each being present

Somehow we know each other better
We are More than we were Alone...
We are Unified in Intent and in ACCEPTANCE and Willingness to HONOR each other fully thru Musical Expression
Thru Witnessing
Thru Being

The Truth of our Selves

I thank you... mystical musers... I thank you from the depths of my heart and soul for allowing your SELF to shine and for gracing me with the opportunity to serve and hold the space for you to reveal and shine your self.....

Hawaii Rhythms of Truth

2008-01-20T17:08:00.002-07:00

Rhythms of truth
Sing thru the sea
Sing thru the wind
Sing thru me

Life itself
Is simple

It asks
For nothing

It gives
All of itself

Here in Heaven
I Am Remembering life

As a way of being
Like the whales
Like the palms
Like the birds

Effortless
Simply being

These are the Rhythms of Truth

Slow
Soft
Sweet
Always present

Essence is Truth
All else is Illusion

Slowing Down

2008-01-17T01:29:00.002-07:00

Sweet sounds of night here on the magical island of Kauai: palms blowing in the soft breeze, ocean roaring and crickets and chickens singing sweet lullabies to me all night.

Slowing down is such the beautiful part of life. I've been here only 2 days, but feel like I've been here weeks. A day seems so long when it's not full of running about in the mind and body. This way of life that has been created, chasing the dollar, working to pay rent and bills, driving around incessantly from here to there, it has stolen so much from our lives, created such a neurotic frenzy in our minds of constant business. Slowing down gives the space to reflect, to open to the spirits of the land, and the deeper truths that we can be so blind to in our busy bodied embodiements.

I am so grateful for this time, and so cherishing the opportunity to just be. To garden, to put my hands in the soil, to feel the ancestral spirits of this land making contact with me in moments of stillness, to stare at the sea with no need of "going" anywhere or "doing" anything, to be UNAVAILABLE by cell phone.. WOW.. now that's a nice feeling, I must say! I am very much enjoying that!

Such a joy to experience the slowing down inside where time seems to be stretched, where time is NATURAL time, and not about the next appointment or the next "to do" item on the always increasing list. Such a joy to just feel soft and slow in each moment, no need to push, promote or do.

I am so grateful for this time..

Slowing down is such a remembrance of REAL life, REAL time, where the days are just days and the nights are sweet, deep nurturings serenaded by nature and spirit world.

All I Know is In the Groove

2008-01-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

All I really know is when the groove is on
I AM

It’s another shade of being

Edges melt
Clarity increases
Senses enhanced

I AM Love

I see my lovers in everyone
I am touched by grace

In the groove
Live is living itself in me
My essence pulses deep and true
I am found there again
Innocent and pure

All I really know
Is when the groove is on
I AM

The Blessing of Music

2007-12-28T23:48:00.000-07:00

Everywhere there is music for me.

The wind now blowing outside, like a sweet melancholy song to my heart.

The stillness inbetween gusts like space between beats.

The sound of my heart beating, my own inner space music moving thru this body.

And in these moments, as in so many others, I am blasted by the blessing that music is in our lives, especially for those of us who play music every day.

A few days ago, I was performing at the Mile High Church in Denver for the Xmas Candlelight Services. At some point during one of the 6 services I performed in, my heart just completely melted, and I had to really work to not shed tears up there in front of 1000 people. Realizing the gift that I so often take for granted as just who I am humbled me so deeply, and touched me so profoundly that no words can express the feeling inside.

Music is such a natural expression, yet for many it is a spectacle to behold. For those of us who know the merging that happens when we are present with our hearts and the Muse, it is almost unfathomable to not seek to recreate that experience as often as possible, but many have never experienced the bliss of being part of that creation that makes music happen.

I suppose that's what makes me so passionate about my work, sharing music with non-musicians, normal every day folk who just never knew they had it in them, as well as musicians. To see someone light up with the joy, the beauty, and the experience of creating music with others is one of the biggest joys I've known in this life...then to see that being get hooked and make it part of their life is a whole other level.

At the Mile High show, one of my students, Serenity Chambers, was there performing with me. Serenity started playing only 2 months ago as a beginner in one of my women's classes. Seeing her standing so strong, in such power, and holding the energy on stage with me and the choir behind her was a testament to what is possible when someone is given the space to explore, learn and be held in their potentiality. She rocked, didn't miss a beat, and anchored the energy so sweetly and gracefully, and I felt so honored, so blessed, so inspired...and so humbled by grace once again.

THe Blessings of music are so many.. being part of the creation, part of the music is one of the deepest and truest joys I can imagine in this life. As always, I give deep thanks, deep gratitude for this gift and that I can share it in the ways that I do and those yet to come.

Sweet Windy Night Blessings..

AWAKEN THE VISION NOW

2007-12-03T21:29:00.001-07:00

For many of us, considering our "future" seems a mixed experience of excitement for the possibilities of changes, and dread for the seemingly undeniable realities of the times of transition between the current situation and the "possibilities."

Everywhere now, in practically every paper, magazine, and media outlet the stories are shouting at us. For many of us, we've been aware that this was an undeniable scenario for a decade or more: global warming, wars, water shortages, peak oil production, dissolution of communities, global devastation of natural resources, etc.

I can remember pretty clearly the day I tried to open up discussion about global warming with my father. He laughed and said it could never happen, some lame brain trying to scare people, some radical environmentalists ranting... It's funny to me on some level, but now he writes to me talking about it so matter of factly, because now the "papers" and TV say it, so now it's actually real, whereas before it was just the wild ranting of his idealistic young daughter. :)

Some part of me, as that young idealist, never wanted to believe it would happen in my lifetime, I wanted my father to be right that maybe it was just a bunch of hoo haa. I never wanted to fully accept, though I knew in my heart, that the world I knew as a child would not be one I could offer to any child of my own if I were to choose to have one.

Some part of me still wants to deny it. It hurts sometimes way too much to really open myself to what I see as possible outcomes for future generations & this planet. I recently did a group visioning excercise with several people, looking into the future and seeing what was there. I will tell you that for a long time no one spoke. When they did, I am convinced that they were speaking more from imagination than from the truth of what they really saw; because it was too hard to speak what we really saw. Several of us shared after that this was indeed our experience, and I don't doubt that others also saw the bleakness and the scarcity, the polluted waters, the dead vehicles piled up everywhere with no gas to move them, the grocery stores empty and returning to nature, and barren trees.

I suppose on some level, every generation must feel this. Yet it seems in the past 30-50 years some of the most devastating effects to this planet and our people have been unfolding and the impacts are just now beginning to be really tangible and evident. So much so that there is it seems no recourse, no real easy way out of our current situations, except to see them thru, do the work and prepare ourselves for the worst, and pray for and hold space and intention consciously for the best possible outcome.

Our world is moving so fast and the realities facing us aren't going to just go away without being attended to. Our current situation has most people working so hard to barely survive that the average person has no time or energy to consider planning for the future of even themselves, much less our communities and our nation, and even our world. Many of these people feel a sense of powerlessness, a sense of "what can I do?" And then are so exhausted mentally and emotionally at the end of their work day that they just want to zone out and collapse into sleep.

Many of us can relate to that, probably almost everyone. I am calling it "Overwhelm Syndrome" these days as I'm seeing it, and hearing about it from every direction, and every age group, even the youth. I think on some level we all know that feeling: that the ride is just not totally in our control and we just have to hang on and try to make it to the finish line, any extra output or requirements just seem like way too much to bear. Helping our neighbors, shoot, even talking to them, contributing to our youth, volunteering, growing our own food, going to local council meetings to effect change, etc., that's all just far too much to add to the daily load for most people in this country. And I can say, with all honesty, that I understand, get it, feel that way a lot and totally have compassion for the experience. Fully.

I write to process my own thoughts, I write to remind myself of truths I know inside and I write to inspire and offer reflection. I write because it's something that I know may touch or open a doorway for another being to see possibility or feel connected in some way. I write because we share experiences, and when we write them for others to read it validates our experiences and reminds us that we are never alone in our experiences.

And tonite I write to invite the sharing of ACTIVATION of VISION!

Somewhere, deep within all of us who feel the pressure of this world and are affected by the scourging of the planet, and the depletion of it's resources, from oil to healthy soil to grow food in, somewhere there is a spark of possibility, a vision of a better way, a better world for our children, an easier way, more opportunity at health and harmony. I'm inviting you to VISION this future within yourself, write it down in detail, let it fly, imagine it, dream it and then share this with as many people as you can! AWAKEN THE VISION WITHIN and you may find that you are so NOT alone in what you see as a future possibility. The Entire Renaissance happened from less than 50,000 people. That's not a huge number.

Human beings are creatures of invention and the possibilities are infinite when we truly step up and become engaged in the creative process thru intelligent and focused dialogue, sharing, networking and communication. I'm not saying it's the easiest thing in the world, nor necessarily quick as true community dialogue and creativity is a process, and a lengthy one at times. However, there are solutions available to ANY and ALL of the crisis we are dealing with, and it is crucial in this time that we begin to focalize and learn to work together to create local systems that WORK EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY. Systems of how to grow food for every family, how to support our local businesses and keep on keeping on if and when the greater system burps, hiccups or pukes on it's own foulness. There are probably already groups or events happening near you to plug in to. Find them, and be supported and be one of the contributors to bringing this forth for all of us.

If you haven't already: START NOW! Little steps lead to a long journey and a destination. If you don't take the first step, to VISION, then you can't take the next TO ACT. I know you're tired, and overwhelmed.. welcome to the club. But it's time for all of us to really take a step, then another one, and put this vision into ACTION so that our children and their children have a future here that is sustainable and intelligently contemplated to consider their well being.

There are indeed many beings awakening in this time to the stark reality with a committed passion to bring forth alternatives. Seek them out and be with them. Be with us! :)

Free Flowing: A Sharing of the Heart

2007-12-03T13:12:00.000-07:00

Being someone that has been an active participant as well as someone that has sat on the sidelines witnessing what occurs, I've seen beautiful things come together within community musical sharing groups that are almost difficult to put into words and is something that almost needs to be felt as a personal experience.

What I do know and can say at this point is that it seems that in the moment music making brings out a precious and mysterious quality and essence. I wonder if I might be a mess if I didn't have the music, dancing, drumming outlet available on a consistent basis for myself. And for me just being able to 'get out of my head' has been such a relief & necessary part of keeping my balance & peace in times of stress & responsiblities on so many levels.

There is no need for head thinking here. It is all a free flowing in the moment space. Never quite knowing what to expect and what will show up, there have been times that I have been in awe. I am happy to have my expectations blown apart.
And just when I think it's the best, I've come to see that it can get even better.

I enjoy the in the moment playfulness that happens. Everyone is there, in thier own space but in the space together too. And they are not anywhere else in thier minds, just right there together to create, to play, to express, to be creative and without any effort. This sort of energy seems to transcend all the other stuff, and quite quickly. I so honor and respect this place to see this happening and to be a part of it's experience.

It's also cool what I have noticed with the time, it does seem to fly. Just like the saying goes... "time flys when you are having fun." This does seem to be the case.

What I've realized again being in The Magical Mystical Muse, is how amazingly profound the opportunity is when an individual or commmunity is in a space of safety, love, support, creativity, spirituality and nurturance... it allows like a launchpad for sweet things to open up and come forth. It is of innocent, healing & inspirational quality. So very essential, especially in our current times. It is something that I wish I could experience in my everyday life. Once you have felt it, you will know what I mean, and to those that have, I'm sure they would agree.

Being in-sync, in-the moment, in-tune in some unspoken way, is so very powerful.

Cheri Shanti has so graciously helped facilitate this to bring together what is somewhat mystical & magical in nature. I think anyone desiring such an element in their soul would appreciate the time & essence of The Muse. It helps to bring forth some awesome stuff that might otherwise not get tapped into... I think it is connected to our higher & ligher beings.

I would also say that it is as if we are able to break through this thick fog of our daily mundane world and trancend to a higher playing field - so to speak.
I feel so many people don't have an outlet that they can safely co-creatively express themselves, that it, very unfortunately, gets bottled up inside and perhaps for a lifetime... Yikes.

I have a dream that one day this stuff will be happening all over.

Jenny Sustello, Boulder, CO

Gratitude Day.. Letting the Love Flow

2007-11-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

On November 24, Cheri Shanti, Rhythm Harvest & The Mandala Community Center hosted an all day mini Retreat day for the Boulder Community. The intention for the day was to offer a space for community sharing on a deeper level than what our often too busy lives allow us time and space for and to share our Gratitude for Life together. The entire event was offered free to encourage participation and was very well attended, with over 40 people coming throughout the course of the day and night. While there were many events throughout the day, inclulding, yoga, meditation, a sound healing meditation with crystal bowls, a potluck and an open mic, the highlights of the day were the Community Sharing Circle, and the Magical Mystical Muse Experience.

The Community Sharing Circle provided an opportunity for participants to share an attitude of Gratitude and to network their skills and professions with each other. Gratitude was expressed for :
-“elevated states of consciousness in the Boulder Community
-“meaningful work”
-“moments of tears, toe remember you’re alive”
-“positive role models for our children”
-“communities that are like links in a chain, each connecting with the other.”
-“music circles, ceremonies and friends.”
-“the opportunity to breathe and to wake up each day to start anew.”
-“gatherings like this one and for the freedom to gather like this.”
And much much more. The tenderness and connection between each being present made for a really sweet and heart warming experience for all. All ages were present, from 10-75, each person really listening and respecting what the others had to offer and share.

People came from Denver, Paonia and the greater Boulder Community to share in this day of community celebration. The Crystal Bowl Meditation, led by Cheri Shanti, was a popular and profound experience, and followed by a wonderful Potluck Feast.

From 7-9 PM there was an open mic and about 15 people shared songs, poems and stories. Singing along was encouraged, and the talent was outstanding. Noella Rosara got everyone grooving with her “Rocked by the waves of the Belly of the Ocean” song, and Ethan, Well and Djero grooved a unique acoustic trio on the spot, and Cheri Shanti offered songs off her CD, Visions of Reality.

At 9 PM, the Magical Mystical Muse Ceremony of Gratitude was opened with close to 40 people in the circle. Drums, rattles, and voices merged in a wild and rapturous expression of celebration for this life and carried the group into a fully participatory experience of music, song, dance, improv and creative play. Costumed beings emerged in capes, face paints and big smiles to juice up the vibe and added an element of playfulness, mystery and intrigue to the experience.

At 1 AM, the Ceremony was closed, and all left with big smiles on their faces, love in their hearts and a sharing of souls that will keep them connected throughout time.

Compassion for our Elders

2007-11-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

Aah.. today one from the heart. From that place of deep sadness and compassion unending for the seemingly always present "generation gap" that our culture has created for us. Yet another paradigm shift we are actively engaging in today.

I find it no minor tragedy, in this culture, that the elders are so alienated from the youth, and a major tragedy that they have such a one sided perception of such a diverse and broad subset of the population. There is so much wisdom, so much knowledge and so many resources that the elderly contain and can offer to the world, and there is just such a huge gap between those who are "retiring" and those who are still active. In a culture that only expresses value for staying "young & beautiful" they are pushed out, and have grown up with the awareness that it was coming and so resigned themselves to it.

And the sad thing to me is that my parent's generation, the 60-70 year olds are so "accostomed" to this way of being, that they are actually fully participating unconsciously, in this isolationism. A lot of them put their parents in nursiing homes, not knowing what else to do, nor having the "time and energy" required to help out or be present, living in different states, etc. So on some weird level, many of them actually participated in the creation of this way and so they fully expect it to be their reality too. Certainly not each individual, there are most definitly exceptions! And I sincerely pray for more of them!

However, it appears that many people in that age group just won't participate in any kind of active productive/positive involvement with the youth, their children or what's really going on in the world. To me, that is a tragedy for our time, especially for those of us in the growing subset of the population who do actually value the wisdom of our elders and would like to have them more involved in our world and daily lives. Interestingly our numbers are growing! Over 30% of the population now, world wide, is concerned about the elderly and WANTS them to be actively involved. This shows me that when we get older, we will probably stay more involved and participate in creative solutions to our world WITH our children. Now there's a concept I am thrilled to support and live to experience!

I am so grateful for the shift coming, and still my heart grieves for the lost generation of elders of whom my parents belong to.

Here's a generation that lived thru some pretty big stuff, huge technology advances, TV, internet, wow, and on a global conflict level they've seen too much war, constant war. They, whether they choose to fully realize it or not, were huge pieces of creating the current crisis that we are involved in on every level. Of course, there is no blame in this, every generation creates some insanity for their children to unravel and comb out, and I am not in any way convinced that there is/was mal intent. People simply do what seems "right" at the time, often not thinking far enough into the future to see the possibilities for devastation.

In their time, money became GOD and we are still living with that. This money obsession, "security" obsession has poisoned the well of loving human relationships deeply. There is little concern, for people like my father, for following the higher good of one's life's purpose, for art, for creativity, for the EXPERIENCE of life: what a silly waste of time... All that seems to matter is the almighty $, insurance, bills, and some like called "security," that supposedly comes from having a high payiing corporate job. The main goal of life is to make as much money as you can, hoarde it and hold on to it at all costs. Many of them survived the depression and are terrified now of being "without." PROGRESS was the name of the game, the big constsant push irrespective to the effects on the earth, to future generations or your own well being.

How old is George Bush? Right in that age group, denying the real situations, focusing ONLY on power, money and a wasted resource that is peaked out and done, leaving the youth of today a pretty HUGE world crisis, on almost every level: energy, food, war, poverty, high land prices, and high taxes.

The American dream is crumbling right before our eyes, and on some level, this elder generation must feel some of the weight of that, whether they choose to acknowledge it or not. They did some good, a lot of good and made headway on some really amazing technologies; and they made a lot of very careless decisions that are now destroying our ecosystems and any possibility of a life like they had as youth where there was still some real untouched nature and clean waters, safe streets, etc.

We are ALL responsible, each one of us at some level, yet I wonder if that generation, the 60-70 year olds, feel the weight of this more than any others as it was they who were really active during these crucial times, they who raised the generation that, in their eyes, atleast according to my father, is a generation wasted. Now that's a burden to bear. To feel even disappointed in your own children must feel horrible as a self reflection. Tragic, truly tragic. And I feel for them, deeply, those who choose to continue to carry that burden into their aging years, especially those who respond to their own creations and children with such bitterness and hostility.

Gratefully, I have met as many elders that are joyful and amazing, yet to see it in my own family touches me and brings me to tears of compassion and sorrow.

Here are my father's exact verbadim words on how he sees the 20-30 year olds, and his one and only daughter:

"As for "you folks" guess you have not seen any of the TV specials or articles reviewing the 20 and 30 year old generations and the challenges they pose to industry gov and military. You are a self centered narcissistic group that some consider an alien life form. You discount things American, and conventional, tend to accept the unconventional right or wrong so long as it is convenient or satisfying and don't have strong personal relationships or work ethics. Rather it's about me, be happy, how great I am, and learn all about me on my blog. Amazes me. Frustrates me. Think it's only me? Watch some of the specials and below are a few lines from some of the articles I've read recently."

And so it is clear to me, the confusion and one sidedness to the above attack. My prayer and intention is to have first, compassion for these elders who are being fed total propaganda by our government run media, who, of course, wants to keep us separate and disconnected from each other. People like my father are not willing to participate with the culture anymore, in his own words, "I'm done, it's your mess." Understandably, he's tired and supposedly has no energy to help the current situation, though there's plenty of energy to complain it seems! LOL... typical!

I just see the need for compassion deeply as there are a lot of angry old people in the world who refuse to consider situations and or subsets of the population truly objectively, but want to believe what is convienet to keep them isolated and angry. We can reach out to these people and share love with them thru our compassioinate listening and exampliar beingness.

Imagine if my father did a search on the good works that the 20-30 year olds are doing: he might find out that it is this group who is working hard to find solutions to the crisis we have, working in groups to plan out ways to grow our food, find alternate fuel sources, help our elders be more assimilated, stop wasting resources, working to help the youth, providing alternatives to drinking and drugs, and getting active in local communities to help foster a more local economy that can actually survive a recession when it comes. He might find that there are far more beings in this subset who are concerned with the welfare of the planet than they are with how pretty they are. He might find that his TV is telling him lies all the time, that in fact the govt is controlling the very information that he is fed... imagine that...??

Or even better, imagine if he actually came and witnessed objectively the life of someone in that age group, like me, his daughter. He would find strong community and personal relationships, a strong committed group of beings who are working to find solutions and not sitting around watching TV all night. He would find intelligent, wise concerned beings who do more than talk, but ACT with conscious consideration and full integrity. He would find beauty, joy and awareness that everything is more than it seems. He certainly would find a picture very different than the one his TV and "articles" are painting for him in his chair in Florida, isolated from the actual real people he's hearing about. He'd find a whole new way of being that is centered around love and truth. And he'd likely still go home thinking he was a failure as a father because I don't have a 401K or a new car and a corporate job. He'd likely have a hard time seeing any value in what I know to be "real" life: Community, love, connection, music and going to bed every night feeling like I'm living a life of meaningfulness.

Again.. the need for compassion. These people don't understand the higher truths of life, at least not totally consciously. Somewhere in there they get it, I really think everyone does, but the programming of years of a way of being, and being "right" is difficult for the conscious mind to deny very deeply, and so it may refuse anything different, particularly as the mind ages it can (but not always) become more inflexible and rigid. And they just weren't gifted the same tools that are available now to us and so again, the call is for compassion. To love them regardless, to honor them regardless.. AND to stand strong as examples of evolution and possibility.

So, I invite us to educate our elders, show them the truth of who we are. Many will refuse to see or acknowledge, they would rather stay angry and feel that they failed. Many will continue to believe the hype, but some, some will come around and see the bigger reality.

Love your elders.
Honor them.

They gave us much wisdom and many lessons to learn from on every level. They have taught us much to continue on with, and MUCH to leave behind and for BOTH we must be grateful.

"

Streamside Muse

2007-11-01T19:45:00.000-06:00

Sweetness of cool autumn nite envelopes me
Another place of home has me singing the song of silent contemplation..
Here by the Fall River
I am slower
I am softer
I am more receptive to the truths of life

Away from the distractions
I am only with myself
All I can hear is this river running thru me
All I can feel is stillness, deep and cherished

And in the quietness my heart rejoices
Here there is no expectation
No ringing cell phone
No need to do
No need at all
Here for this nite alone in sweetness with firelight and river song
I AM only This...

Nothing is wrong...
Nothing is bad...
All in my life is love..

Yet retreat, even for just one night, is profoundly simple and wildly blissful.

I enjoy the stillness deeply
As I do the wildness of rhythmic ectasy and the pounding of feet on this blessed earth
The balance is necessary and in our modern world so often neglected for "duty" or "responsibility"

Realizing the pressures are

Reflections on the passionate being I am
Passionate about stillness
As I am passionate about sound explorations
As I am passionate about Love
As I am passionate about Sensuality
As I am passionate about Life...

As I AM..
In Love
Always

Deep Medicine Muse

2007-11-01T00:03:00.000-06:00

I know I'm home here.

My hands lightly dancing across skin strung across a barrel of wood.
My feet move seamlessly in time to the Pulse of Life flowing thru the room.
My voice is carrying the song of my life today, amazement, tiredness, joy and frustration all embodied in the depth of my soul's sharing.

And around me bodies are moving, rattles are pulsing, other voices are singing their truths and the Muse is most definitly ON! One woman is whispering quietly to herself, praying thru tears, another woman, sitting behind me is playing a djembe with passion and power, a man I've shared many circles with plays his saxaphone like some ailing creature lost in the wild, and somehow, in the midst of this, I am home.

Somehow it is more than just an experience, more than just music making, it is Deep Medicine for my very being. Here I can be the real me, fully and with no social constraints on what is "cool" or "acceptable" or even "normal." And even better, I get to share that with others, I get to be witnessed, but even more, I get to witness my community deeply thru their songs, their dance, their stories, their dialogue or monologue. So, here I am home.

I can feel their songs in my bones, as I feel my own and together the sounds weave into a surreal kaleidoscopic soundscape of the experience we call LIFE. Intentionally we offered our vessels this night as portals for the cleansing of all and the song of one is the song of many who have yet to find their voices.

Frustration, fear, laughter, gratitude, awe, love, anger, tiredness and confusion.. it's all RIGHT HERE, in this room with me as I am bent over my drums, my hair creating a veil for me on this night of veils parting, my feet dancing, my fingers lightly creating sweet deep grooves with my heart.

Being one with this experience is being one with life.

At the end of the night, the silence, the stillness, is tangible, thick and no one wants to break it. We've shared stories, belly laughter, danced, drummed, counseled each other and consoled each other thru prose and poetry in magical honest dialogue, arm in arm circling the candles we call fire. And we know each other in a more real way, we felt each other's fears, rejoiced together at our victories and laughed at our ridiculous minds, screamed at time together for the illusion it's created...

Deep Medicine Muse... No where else I'd have rather been on this night when the Veil is Thin...

Gratitude for the True Mystic Musers on this Night of Nights...

Sweetness of Being

2007-10-25T00:05:00.000-06:00

Another amazing night of music, drumming, dancing, sweating the stress out of the bones of my being! This medicine of community music is, for me, far more than anything else can give me. It's real, it's tangible, it's hands moving, eyes seeing, feet pounding, body shaking, soul resurrecting truth beyond anything else.

And the amazingness of REAL people, not hpyed up on a stage, not separated by the over amplification of electronics, but sharing the floor together, all at the same level of being. Witnessing, and being witnessed. Singing and BEING the song, dancing and BEING the dance, Praying and BEING the prayer.

The sweetness of being, such a deep and profound truth of human experience that we, with our modern culture, dj's and over amplified sounds have forgotten as a mass.

I give thanks to those who are keeping this way of being alive. Those who still play music together for the love of community and sharing, for the experience of depth that it offers and the undeniable bond that it forms between us as humans on this swirling planet earth. Compassion for our stumblings, for our untrained voices more beautiful than any trained one to my ears often, for our unique ways of moving and grooving.

I give thanks to you, Musers of Life, for continuing this journey of truth and prayerful celebration on Planet Earth thru music, dance and song. Thank you!

Re-Connecting the Roots: Music Making for Building Community

2007-10-20T12:23:00.000-06:00

Before bars, nightclubs, and techno there was the art of Making Music together as a community. Drummers, with hands on skin, played all night long with dancers sweating, singing, chanting and grooving for ceremonies, celebrations and even the “normal” days in between. People gathered where the music was, and celebrated the human experience together humbly as a participatory experience where everyone was part of the magic. Each person’s contribution was part of creating something greater for everyone and everyone was invited to be active in the dance, in the music, in the experience.

It wasn’t just the young 20 somethings that came out, but the whole community was drawn together, grandmas, the kids, brothers, sisters, friends, the whole tribe came together to be a part of something that broke the mundane and gave allowance for something deeper and more meaningful to come thru. Some may call it “entertainment” now, but the roots of music culture is community based and much more of a Participatory Experience than a Spectator Sport. It was people singing together, sharing stories and life experiences thru the dance, thru the songs, thru stories, and people witnessing each other in life.

If we really look into this, it’s easy to see that the whole foundation of bars, nightclubs and the techno tribal “trance” experiences that modern day culture is expressing is really an ancient community experience. It is an attempt to re-create an experience, a feeling, a space and possibly community that is very much part of human history, and a practical rarity in today’s world. It is creating an entire culture of half deaf alcoholics who really in their heart of hearts are seeking connection and community sharings, altered states of consciousness and share a love of music, trance and dance.

Making music together has shifted from a community sharing to a profession that has alienated the larger community from a very real and basic human experience. It has become a lost art form, something “scary” for non-musicians or “ordinary” people. In that shift, we have lost something very valuable and indescribable. We’ve lost an inclusiveness, an openness and a willingness to “play” with each other, and in that, there has been a loss of intimacy and connection. The musical experience is dictated by the performer or DJ, more or less, and the opportunity to experience true group expression thru chanting, and story telling is more or less non-existant in the vast majority of bars, nightclubs or music venues.

And I’m certainly not saying that this is a “bad” thing or that it’s wrong on any level. I love to go see a good show, and get blasted by some thumpin bass once in a while, maybe have a drink and get a little funky to the DJ. I am also a professional performer as well, so I understand the necessity of people showing up to listen to a band that has worked hard to create an experience for the audience.

However, in my 20 years of exploring music, music making & community I can say that I would never want to sacrifice the experience of 20-500 people making music together for a show at a bar. NO WAY! There is something much more profound for me, much more transcendant and more connected to the human experience and far more transformational that is experienced naturally when a group of people, musicians or not, open themselves to expression, and make music together, sing, dance and become their divine essence thru the Magical Mystical Muse that truly flows thru each one of us. It is indescribably the closest I’ve ever felt to God thru the human form, and the truest experience I’ve known, thru the Yoga, Spiritual Studies, teachers, the Meditations, and all of it.

I feel that I speak for many, particularly many people I personally know, when I say that there are many of us seeking a deeper connection and a more intimate experience than what the “scene” offers us; a healthy alternative to bars, alcohol vibrations and deafening music that literally shatters eardrums, auric fields and our cell walls, an environment of co-creative self expression to dance, trance, pray, share our stories and experiences and celebrate the human experience in all it’s amazing facets.

Cheri “Shanti” Lunn runs a weekly Community Music Making Jam, The Magical Mystical Muse Experience, in Boulder, CO every Wednesday night @ Mandala Community Center. She is the creatress and lead vocalist of the band “Muse of Turiya” and a prolific musician, and community builder. For more info see www.rhythmharvest.com

My Open Opened Heart

2007-10-12T16:18:00.001-06:00

I can't help it, late at night after this medicine of Music Making, my heart is just so open and full with love and inspiration, my body is tired and full, and I want to share it, spread it around and ignite passion in the hearts of others to PLAY TOGETHER in this healthy and positive way.

Generations of beings, from 60-10 years old are sharing space together, praying around candles and sharing the depths of the human experience thru this practice. Voices carrying, real human voices, not altered, reverbed and fixed up to sound "perfect" but real true voices of all facets of human expression: sadness, fear, exhaustion, stress, joy, goofiness, play, prayer.. it's all showing up every week in the practice of The Muse...

And I am so honored to have been asked this coming weekend to participate in an event @ CU that is promoting awareness of community sharings, talking circles, music making and the arts as an alternative to our youth to bars, fights and street violence. I am so touched...

And I am so tired.. sleep comes to me so much easier after a night like this when my heart is just wide open with love and compassion and the experience of witnessing and being witnessed in a creative, unique, shamanistic way with other beings of profound love...

Thank you to those who participate in this practice of mindfullness, this mediation of the soul, and this way of being together that goes beyond any other experience I've ever known in this life... the most real, tangible and profound sharings I've ever known..

Thank you.. from the bottom of my heart.