Lesley’s Blog

I could feel the spirits of the full moon so clearly during the past few nights. The snow is like a white blanket that sparkles and glistens in the chilly reflective light of the moon. The arctic air added a new dimension to the night. Snow crunches under my feet as I walk, branches snap and crackle when the icy wind stirs them. The full moon is times of vivid dreams, a time to let the flow of Mother Nature’s forces surround me. I feel that primal canine instinct rise up within me and I lift my face to the moon. Then I howl a high pitch heart wrenching sound that vibrates through me. I hear another howl, throaty and as eerie as the night to my left it’s Malloki my mastiff. She has joined me in this ancient ritual of greeting and honoring the full moon.

January has been a twofold for me. I’ve had to gear up to take reservations for the campground and the rest of my time is spent doing journey work, writing and expanding my Shamanic knowledge. The first part of the month I was reading a new book by Drunvalo Melchizedek, a spiritual teacher that I have worked with. The book was a mixture of information I have learned in his workshops and other new experiences he has had since leading groups of people from around the world on different spiritual trips. As I read about the places and ceremonies that were performed in the last several years I found myself transported to those times becoming part of all that took place. When I became engrossed with the spiritual energies a shift happened within my own being. Shortly after finishing the book, I became ill as a way to shed old beliefs making way for new ones to integrate.

This past Sunday, I attend a monthly sweat lodge held at Spirit Hollow. My intention was to cleanse and let go any energy I no longer needed. The sweat lodge is an ancient tradition found all over the world. The lodge at spirit Hollow was fashioned after the Lakota lodges with young saplings forming the structure. The coverings for the lodge are many wool blankets with the second layer canvas tarps.

Early in the day, the firetender selects the rock that will be used to heat the sweat lodge. Carefully and mindfully the rocks are placed in the fire pit, next the wood for the fire follows in much the same way. When the fire is lit the firetender will stay with it to feed it and keep it company. A bit after noon the fire and lodge are ready for the sweat to begin.

Sunday was a very cold day with temperatures in the low teens and a wind chill factor making it below 0. The only thing I bring into a lodge is a towel, energy drink and I wear a bathing suit. To enter the lodge you walk all the way around it to a small door low to the ground. On my hands and knees I paid honor to my ancestors before crawling in. Once inside I make my way around the center pit which will hold the hot rocks. When everyone has entered the door is closed and you are embraced in the warmth and feel of Mother Earth, the sweat begins.

When the lodge ended, early evening had fallen, the wind had died down some and the almost full moon peeked through the trees illuminating the area. I did not feel the cold as I dressed. In fact, I only took notice of it as I stood fully dressed gazing at the moon.

No two sweat lodges are alike nor are the experiences of the participants. Each person comes for their own spiritual, mental, and emotional growth. For me it helped to clarity to thoughts and ideas that I had been working with.

The teachings of the sweat lodge followed as they often do into the next week. Each night the moon shone brighter and became rounder. My dreams were as vivid and clear as the moonlight and I awoke in the morning still feeling the effects of the dream world. My cats feel the effects of the moonlight and prowled the bedroom at night showing their restlessness and desires to be outside. What holds them back from venturing out in the moonlit night?  Snow covered yards, bitter cold and no way to get in after the lights go out.

I like partaking in the animal ritual of honoring the full moon when the night is clear and the light is at its brightest. My mastiff also finds great joy in this activity as she faces the moon to howl much the same way her canine ancestor did. My Great Dane on the other hand turns her head side to side trying to figure out what we are singing about. She never evens tries to sing. Only I know the truth. Late in the night when we were all sound asleep I awake to the low high pitched sound of a spooky howl. I looked to my side and see the mastiff asleep on her dog bed. Then I raise my head up higher to look at the end of the bed where my Great Dane sleeps and there she was curled up on her dog bed, eyes glazed over as if still sleeping and head raised slightly going “Hoooooowwll……!”