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she spoke a green language...Nadia Turner

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When I am asked about the spirit of the rainforest where we live, the beautiful Sherbrooke Forest that surrounds our home, I find it so hard to describe. It is very Australian and yet feels like a portal into another world ::: sometimes very Celtic ::: ancient ::: futuristic ::: mythic ::: Otherwordly.  This is a beautiful new piece called 'She spoke a green language' by local forest artisan, Nadia Turner. Thank you Nadia for drawing these beautiful beings that are the essence of the forest.  I love that Nadia paints the spirit in a way that words cannot.

Nadia can be found at www.waywardharper.com and you can purchase prints of Nadia's illustrations and paintings here.

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Black Swan - Following Lilith's Past Life Tracks

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Today I share West's Black Swan Dreaming of her past life Lilith story. These stories are often keys that unlock the door we are craving to open to come home and be with others again, to be whole again in ourselves. Our Lilith stories are our memories of the Wild Feminine and how she became outcast - it is a story we often feel but find it hard to express in words. The Black Swan comes to journey with the Lilith story and it is her gift for story and words that help you to find your own mythic tale and the lyrics to sing back your long lost Wolf Sister.

Thank you West for sharing your heart and words, oceans of love to you and your wild sister as you journey together now. You can read more about these sessions here.

As the journey started I walked into the forest the green light blurred. I looked up, the foliage had disappeared and a thin green membrane was above me, held up by hundreds of solid black tree trunks that disappeared into the murkiness. I started to walk into the forest but as I walked, I moved backward; every step I took dragged me back. Eventually I was blown back and I realized that the forest I was in was actually a dragon’s eye. It was Lilith’s eye. The trees were veins and the green the membrane was her skin. As I realized this I tumbled out and came face to face with her.

Lilith had the most beautiful face. In fact, as I looked upon her I knew that there was no woman who would ever be as beautiful as her. Her features were long and elegant; dark eyes, soft lips and a sharp jaw. She wore a dark blue cloak. However, the longer I looked at her I started to notice her features were morphing; fading in and out. Lilith was a Shapeshifter. Sometimes I could see the bones clearly underneath her features. Her eyes became the eyes of a wolf. She had antlers, a horse’s mane and nose, paws with feathers and wings made of quill arrows – ready to fire at a moments notice. Her legs were that of a lion and her feet were those of an eagle; strong and sharp. Yet underneath all of these morphing animal features, the woman remained; composed and peaceful. I only ever saw the left side of her face, the rest remained in shadow. “That’s just how it is.” she said. “The darkness just is.” she said. “Forget the names of good and evil, forget the names of darkness and light. That is just how it is.”

As we walked she donned a giant wooden mask, half wolf and half horse. The mask was stylized, thick lines and blocks of colour – red, green, white and blue. She wore a cloak made of moss and sticks. She stalked like a shaman steeped with magic; dancing her way through the night. We were crossing a frozen tundra together. We were in the Arctic. There was an ice-wall ahead and the Aurora Borealis danced wild green above our heads.  She whispered that the Aurora Borealis were the ghost of the forests that had been. Suddenly the sky cracked and an ice-water waterfall flowed down; glacial shards piercing the tundra like flesh. The world peeled away. I found myself alone and looking in to a dark pool. The air was painful on my skin. Lilith was looking back at me from in the pool. I wanted to ask where she had gone; how had she got to the other side of the water? I missed her but I was scared. Suddenly, a white paw shot out of the water and dragged me down into the pool. The pool was a portal.

Once again I stood beside Lilith on the tundra however, I knew we were on the other side of the pool; like stepping through the looking glass, I guess. It was daylight now and the air sparkled with the cold. Looking up I saw we had broken the ice-wall. Just our presence changed things. Lilith was a Shapeshifter and Shifter of Shapes; a catalyst for change. Lilith and I walked on through the ice crevices. I marveled at the whites and blues. The next thing I knew I was looking down at a grave; my grave from a past life. The grave was open and it was all bones and dirt and a mess of long black hair. Some of the leather clothing remained but it was stained red. I looked down at the broken and dry bones with curiosity and compassion. Lilith stood beside me in reverent silence but I could sense her silent howls. She wanted me to get going. What was I to get going on? I looked down at the bones of the young girl’s hands, my hands, they were clutching a brilliant ruby red heart. If you caught the heart in the right light you could see a foxes face in the ruby. 

I looked behind me, rows of Polar Bear Clan people and polar bears stood watching from afar. Some turned their faces away. A great sadness resonated through the crowd, only the bears stood strong. This Wildling girl had been of the Polar Bear Clan. There had come a time where in order for the clan to survive, to assimilate to the new ways, the Clan had needed to freeze and hide the magic. The girl was furious. I was furious. Lilith was furious. How dare they deny us? I ran. I took the magic with me. I dug my own grave with blooded hands. I froze myself along with the magic. I would not breathe without the magic. So, there I lay for thousands of years, talking to the dirt about death. I listened to the poetry of the fallen hearts rumbling in the soil. Gods came and went. I learned how nothing ever ends, just transforms. All transformations are magic. All transformations are sacred. Dirt is sacred for it transforms, and magic never leaves us, it just waits...

I snapped back out of my old life. Once again I was looking down at the bones. Lilith and I started to breathe life in to the skeleton of my old self. The wilding started to take form, wrapped in furs and weapons. We helped her stand, her eyes frantic. I held her tight, I kissed her bloodied knuckles, her blood was my blood, was Lilith’s blood. I and lent the wildling my warmth. A pack of wild beasts huddled around us; their fur keeping us safe. Lilith leaned in and with her bite, the Wilding was healed – the shock of pain telling her: “You are alive, even in death, you live on.”

Once she was warm I looked down to discover my abdomen was cut wide open and I was bleeding black. I was bleeding Lilith’s blood. This is where Lilith raged through. I was bound to this beautiful Wildling Girl with black dripping seaweed that came from this wound. The Wildling raged and tugged, she wanted to be free to run. I was in pain and my chest ached. I was guided to turn to Lilith for a sharp tool to cut the seaweed binds. However, Lilith handed me a duckling. The duckling ate the seaweed and grew into a large adult black duck. The duck waddled around my wounds, healed them and then waddled off… just doing what a duck does. “Beasts just are as they are.” Lilith said. “Never, never underestimate their medicine, no matter the form… no matter.”

Once I was healed I came face to face with my Wildling Self. Lilith watched over us as we stepped into one another and merged – becoming one. In the background was my Polar Bear Clan, they just watched. I loved my Polar Bear Clan but I could never return. I was too different. I needed to find my own clan. I needed to run wild. I needed balance of togetherness and aloneness. I could not pledge to any person. However, the Polar Bear Clan had promised to always protect me from a distance. Their protection and power echoed down through history affording me great strength and safety. I was marked with the paw. This taught me about forgiveness, letting go, and love.  

I had a sudden feeling of being home. My whole body relaxed... she was home. We were home; the medicine of death, of threshold and transformation, wildness, and creation shining brilliant in my heart, Lilith at my side ready to return. And so the next journey begins – to know my medicine, to honour it well, and to be with others when the time is right while taking the time to hibernate with my beasts, the bones, and the soil when needed… and to run thresholds…  to celebrate the my darkness, to realize and embrace myself and embrace Lilith.
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New Forest Space for Sacred Familiar

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Hello dreamers we have now opened our new space in Kallista surrounded by the green wonder of Sherbrooke Forest. Ancestral Medicine sessions will open on Monday at the New Moon Solar Eclipse. Hope to see you soon. We also offer sessions by Skype and telephone for our faraway friends. Green love to you all for your weekend wanderings, Julia and Tony x

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Heart of Violet Leaf

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Violets were mentioned frequently by Homer and Virgil. They were used by the Athenians 'to moderate anger,' to procure sleep and 'to comfort and strengthen the heart.' Pliny prescribes a liniment of Violet root and vinegar for gout and disorder of the spleen, and states that a garland or chaplet of Violets worn about the head will dispel the fumes of wine and prevent headache and dizziness. The ancient Britons used the flowers as a cosmetic, and in a Celtic poem they are recommended to be employed steeped in goats' milk to increase female beauty, and in the Anglo-Saxon translation of the Herbarium of Apuleius (tenth century), the herb V. purpureum is recommended 'for new wounds and eke for old' and for 'hardness of the maw.' via www.botanical.com


My biggest plant teacher this week has been the humble Violet Leaf. In an effort to 'get myself back' after losing our familiar, Rory I have been striving and pushing and not surprisingly, exhausting myself. Grief is such a mystery, sometimes such a huge and deep cup of emotion and I am learning how to gently float up from the bottom without a constant companion who was walked beside me in my work and life for the last 16 years.

At the Full Moon Eclipse I realised I have been keeping my mind busy but it was now time to really open my heart to feel what has been lying beneath the grief. I was scared - what if it was a fathomless well of pain? How could I 'operate' in that space? At the same time I knew avoiding it was like trying to take a 'shortcut' to skip the deepest part of the forest.

Just before he died, Rory sent me an image to show me where he wanted to be buried - under a carpet of violets. He had always loved to lie in the violets on hot days. And so it was there that I was sitting when I let myself stop and feel. What arose was not violent or even very painful, it was a mournful howl like a wolf mother. It was a huge release and relief to let it out. I had to empty out my heart and soon it began to fill again. As my heart kept emptying, it kept opening. So that soon I could feel a space where the pain used to be and something else beginning to flow and fill it.  I began to notice the gentle scent of Violet Leaf all around me. Such a comforting smell - damp and earthy and sweet. I began to notice I was sitting in what looked like a sea of hearts. The heart shaped leaf of the Violet has often been used to create tinctures and essences to bring peace and sleep and was also known as a flower associated with death.

I harvested some of the soft fuzzy green hearts around me to create an essence, placed some of the leaves in my bath that night and then gathered another handful to dry inside. The smell of drying Violet Leaves has woven through our whole house like a loving vine. It is the scent that woke me this morning. The green fertile earth is the best healer for loss and teaches us so much about the natural cycle of birth, death and rebirth. For all those feeling grief today I send you a green hug from Violet. If you have any growing nearby, place some leaves beside your bed - a green blanket for your heart x

Rory our Sacred Familiar Returns to the Mother

Our dear soul brother and familiar, Rory passed through the threshold on tuesday to return to Earth Mother. We shared 16 beautiful years together and many of those were spent in ceremony and healings. Rory was the inspiration for us working under the name Sacred Familiar.

Sweetest soul, thank you for bringing your medicine to our lives and for the boundless love of your huge lion-heart. Bright blessings on your journey into the green heart of the Earth.

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New Medicine Dolls

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Owl and Elm Forest Dweller medicine doll
a doll for finding the new path
Barn Owl Feathers, Elm Tree plant medicine
Heart of Mountain Ash Tree Resin
Celtic Sea Salt
Owl and Tree of Life golden talisman

Dragonfly and Mugwort medicine doll
a doll for assisting with change and transition
King Parrot Feathers, Dragonfly talisman
Mugwort plant medicine

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Spirit Dolls for the HomeBirth Medicine Tree

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Last week I sent two beautiful mamma dolls to be with the Birthkeeper Medicine Tribes gathering this weekend at the Homebirth Australia Conference. I was so happy to weave dolls for the midwives, doulas, healers and educators who together are bringing back the Ancestral Medicine of holding sacred space to birth without fear in our own homes and communities again. 
I felt grateful to have the opportunity to provide dolls for this birthing tribe and it was a small way that I could thank the many midwives and doulas who have visited me in the forest for Ancestral Medicine sessions. It was in fact, the plight of a midwife being treated unfairly in regards to a homebirth that inspired me to become more public with Ancestral Medicine work 3 years ago. A homebirth may not be for everyone but the fact that there are groups who want this ancient and natural practice eradicated and heavily controlled by outside authorities, spurred me on to step out of the shadows and approach the midwifery community. And so Swan Blessing actually began as a service to clear past life trauma of being persecuted as a witch, healer, herbalist, teacher of plant medicines for midwives and doulas so that they would not feel fear in their sacred work of holding space for birth. And now I see people from all works of life - artisans, teachers, mothers and fathers - all coming to reclaim their memory of Ancestral Medicine again. I call it simply Grandmother Medicine because up until just 2 generations ago, these knowings and wisdoms of Birth and Death and everything in between was passed in the family and taught with great love and trust. 
It has been my honour to come to know so many birthkeepers over the last 3 years particularly my sisters at the School of Shamanic Midwifery. These women and men who are brave, honest and funny and so very very wise. How lucky we are that these guardians are back to hold space for our birthing again. 
Paying homage to the sacred birth process I am showing here, for the first time, some of the ways the dolls begin their lives. Here are photos of the dolls birthing themselves with gumnut hearts filled with mountain ash resin in full flow. The wee baby in the papoose was made from an oak acorn. They have a mandala of herbs and plant medicine in their tummies including: Motherwort (known as Lion's Tail), Myrrh, Moss, Wattle and Mapacho Tobacco for protection. 
Love to all who gather this weekend at the Homebirth Australia Conference, blessings on the connection back to your Ancestral Medicine trees and the new fruit waiting to blossom. Thank you for all you do for us and our children and their children to come. 
Womb medicine - Gumnuts filled with Mountain Ash resin 

Oak Acorn and pure Merino Wool 

Plant Medicine Mandala to go inside the dolls
HawkWoman Medicine Doll
Snakeskin over her pregnant belly and Hawk Feather wand
Guided Medicine Doll for New Mamma and Baby