A Review of the Book and Cards, “Medicine Cards”

I’ve written about love and compassion here quite a bit, so it’s to be expected that I would have to face my own fears and shadow self, and see my own doubts and then, to be honest with myself and you, share them along the way. Though my childhood in this life would not be called easy, I sense that I brought some darkness with me, a darkness that has shown itself as nagging doubts about my self-worth, my spiritual commitment and whether or not I am truly loved by God. In the past, the feeling has come as an overwhelming wave of self-hate. I’m writing about this because this blog is a part of my journey.

Years ago I made a necklace that came into being looking like a simple Native Indian work. It prompted me to pull a box off my bookshelf book called Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams and David Carson, which includes a wisdom-book and a smaller box of Medicine Cards, painted by Angela Werneke, of a variety of animals. Drawing the cards from the deck with a spiritual purpose, I am tapping into Native Indian philosophy and wisdom.

The authors of Medicine Cards explain,

“Our intention, as shamans and healers, is to begin a process for many people who have never understood their connection to Mother Earth and her creatures … [and] of what it means to walk in balance on the Earth Mother. Our dream animals have asked for our assistance in spreading the understanding that all life is sacred.

When calling on the power of an animal, you are asking to be drawn into complete harmony with the strength of that creature’s essence. Gaining understanding from these brothers and sisters of the animal kingdom is a healing process and must be approached with humility and intuitiveness.”

I had used this book before and looked through a bunch of files and I found my notes, dated April 24, 2001. That day, I found my nine Totem Animals (guides that remain the same for a lifetime); used the Pathway Spread to learn about life-lessons patterns; and the Moon Lodge Spread, to learn the state of my personal unconscious, to uncover the lies and self-deceptions I had been using to thwart my spiritual growth. I guess that explains why I didn’t pick up the book again until ten years later. Chicken wasn’t one of the totem animals, but, cluck-cluck, it applies here.

I looked inside the book and found another spread called the Medicine Wheel. ‘Medicine’ in the Native Indian way is defined in the book as:

“Anything that improves one’s connection to the Great Mystery and to all of life…Medicine is also anything that brings personal power, strength, and understanding. It is the constant living of life in a way that brings healing to the Earth Mother and all associates, family, friends, and fellow creatures…it is an all-encompassing ‘way of life,’ for it involves walking on the Earth Mother in perfect harmony with the Universe.”

Wow–walking on the Earth Mother in perfect harmony with the universe. How many of us walk in this manner, giving thanks to the Great Spirit for everything in our lives and to the animals and plants who give their lives to become our food? It is a worthwhile goal, one I hope is not impossible.

The Medicine Wheel spread is used to reflect on the personality and to see how we learn from ourselves, other people and animals. Sounded good to me. After shuffling, I drew five cards and placed them on a table in the four directions, East, South, West and North and one in the center, which is the Sacred Mountain Card. Each direction has its own meaning.

There are two messages for each card, one if the card is right-side up when you pull it out and one if the card is upside-down, which the authors refer to as ‘Contrary.’ My shadow-self doesn’t want to share the cards I drew, but my Higher Self does:

**The first card, East, represents where our spiritual strengths lie and the challenges to seeing clearly in the present situation.

EAST: Moose. Is about not needing approval, and experiencing the joy of a job well done, about the joy in giving encouragement but also in warning. Moose is about a new sense of self and accomplishment. Contrary Message: Ego can ruin a sense of accomplishment. It is about tooting my own horn and failing to be interested in others. It is a need to recognize that everyone is a teacher for everyone else, and there is a need to grow quiet for a while to let wisdom enter my heart.

**Second is South, with the animal guide helping our inner children learn what we need to nurture and to trust ourselves.

SOUTH: Blue Heron. Blue Heron indicates an unawareness of who I am and where I belong. Follow intuition and begin the journey of self-realization. Low self-worth and self-pity means I will never truly understand my true potential. A lack of courage in facing the critical enemy within. See my motives, actions, feelings, dreams, goals, strengths and weakness. Contrary Message: Too much self-reflection can lead to self-obsession. If criticizing self, watch out! It is imprudent to drown the sense of joy that accompanies the journey of self-discovery. Perfection leaves no room for being human. Our most valuable lessons are learned from our mistakes. Balance the desire to change with gentle discernment. Dive deep into feelings and emerge renewed, not judgmental, rigid, and flat, which breaks the spirit. Do not expect to find the many layers of truth and wholeness in one dive. Don’t hold my breath for enlightenment or let the collective feelings of humanity drown me.

**Third is West, showing the internal solution to present life challenges and what we need to reach our goals.

WEST: Dog. Serving others or humanity in some way. The guardian embodies the loving gentleness of the best friend with the protective energy regarding territory. Delve deeply into my sense of service to others. Have I forgotten that I owe allegiance to my personal truth? Have the opinions of others jaded my loyalty to a friend? Have I ignored someone who is trying to be my friend? Have I been loyal and true to my goals?

**Fourth is North, which integrates the other cards and is the key to walking in wisdom by connecting to our highest purpose and intentions.

NORTH: Antelope. Knowledgeable action. Symbolizes the antenna of the hair, which attaches us to the Great Mystery. Action is the key and the essence of living. Antelope medicine gives strength of mind and heart. Call on antelope when balled up. Antelope sends ingenious solutions. Antelope indicates a higher purpose and forces action for self, family, clan, nation and Mother Earth. It is time—do it now.

**Fifth is the card in the center of the spread; it shows how to see the present as a crossroads of spiritual and physical realities and how they have melded, to show whether or not we are in balance and what to do about it.

CENTER: Deer. Deer is the gentle spirit, filled with love and compassion for all. With love, deer moves the bullies away from the door to the Great Spirit. Creates safety. Contrary Message: Means I’m courting my fears by fighting the internal demons of negative ideas. Need to love myself enough to deeply feel my fears and let them go. The balance to power is the love and compassion of Deer, who teaches unconditional love, accessed from the heart space of the Great Spirit who loves us all.

I really love these cards. With them, for whatever the reasons, I can count on honest guidance from the Divine, even if it’s hard to face. This is a priceless gift and I give my gratitude to Jamie Sams and David Carson, their mentors and all of dear Mother Nature’s Creature-Teachers. Thank you, Friends.

Medicine Cards is a book of sincere and profound wisdom, for all who want to see the truth of our personalities and our spiritual natures; and to make more meaningful relationships with nature.

Fertile Imagination or Reality?

From Michael Brine
wild.brine621@gmail.com

In his book, The Silent Road, by Major Wellesley Tudor Pole, c.1960, he wrote the following as his ‘Forward.’ In view of my more recent revelations relating to Off Worlders (Aliens, if you must!), it seems timely to quote this remarkable man once again, with whom I had the privilege of working, all too briefly, in 1961/62.

Wellesley Tudor Pole circa 1965

“Recognition of the truth or value of the supernatural experiences recorded in this book cannot be communicated by the author to his readers.

Awareness of reality must inevitably be reached interiorly. For this reason I have no desire to bring conviction to those who may regard what I have written as being incredible or the product of a fertile imagination. It is well, however, to remind ourselves occasionally that in almost every field of research the so called fantasies of yesterday often become the facts of today. The horizons of the mind are not fixed: they are expanding ceaselessly. Therefore it is suggested that what I have recorded should be read with a mind free from preconceived ideas or set opinions. The search for Truth is a personal and solitary adventure. All we can do is to share ideas with one another, in the hope that by doing so, the light of understanding may bring us a little nearer to Reality. In the long run it is through silence, and not through speech, that Revelation is received.”

~W.T.P., London, SW1, England, 1960

P.S. – Tudor Pole worked with the King and Churchill during the 2nd WW. It was he who started the Silent Minute in which the whole British Nation would stop at 9:00 each night before the news and send out prayers for peace. After the war, while questioning some of the German Gestapo Officers, one was asked, “Why do you think Germany lost the war?” His reply: “You had something we could not defeat – Your Silent Minute!”

Interesting.

Other sharings and writings by Michael Brine can be found at: www.missionignition.net/btb

Book Review: What To Do When You Can’t Decide, by Meg Lundstrom

Book: What To Do When You Can’t Decide: Useful Tools For Finding The Answers Within (Nonfiction: Self Help)
Author: Meg Lundstrom
Publisher: Sounds True, Boulder, CO.
ISBN: 978-1-59179-816-3
Paperback, 240 Pages, US $14.95

SUMMARY: How to use divining tools for direction and to overcome obstacles, with an emphasis on “now” and taking action. Methods are: kinesiology (muscle testing); pendling (using a pendulum); and chits (casting folded pieces of paper).

STYLE: Conversational, Thorough
CONTENT: Informative, Practical
CONSCIOUSNESS: Divining bypasses the dictates of the mind and emotions; taps the profound depths of the unconscious mind (God, the universe, higher self, angels, etc.) to help us be in the right place at the right time; puts us on a spiritual path in which our blocks and beliefs surface for transformation.

Interested in the subject of inner guidance, I was surprised when I began reading What To Do When You Can’t Decide and realized it was about dowsing methods, such as using pendulums to help make decisions. I am intuitive and somewhat skeptical about such methods, but the author’s convincing focus on getting calm, clear, open and neutral to tap the higher self for learning the truth, convinced me to read on and give it a try. Lundstrum stresses that divining should be taken seriously and treated with reverence. She recommends using it when we:

Have a genuine dilemma
To diagnose ailments and find a healing path
Need a ‘friend’ to talk things over
To move beyond repeating behavior patterns that are not for our highest good
For a dose of courage
To sort information
To explore the unknown

The use of divining puts us in a receptive state (yin) for opening to guidance that meets our deepest needs and highest good–from which we gain peace of mind. With the confidence gained from receptivity, we use our willpower (yang) to manifest an outcome without the ego.

She advises keeping a journal of questions asked, guidance received and the outcome. Sometimes the guidance feels ‘wrong,’ but we received it because we needed to take that journey. In the end she says we will see that the guidance is almost always correct. Sometimes we don’t receive an answer because we need to use our intuition instead.

Lundstrom gives detailed instructions on the use of kinesiology, pendling and throwing chits, beginning with learning the signals for yes, no, not now or restart. She says divining will not work if we’re not open to it, and a good portion of the book is focused on techniques for becoming quiet, connected and neutral so the answers received are accurate. Before divining, ask, Is my mind engaged? My heart open? My body feeling sensations? Is now a good time to ask this question? Should I ask this question? If not, she recommends trying again later. If an answer feels ‘off,’ ask later using different words, or another divining tool. If unsure about divining, ask for a synchronicity, a dream, an inner shift.

Muscle testing and using the pendulum relay information from the unconscious mind via slight neuromuscular movements and can be easily affected by our thoughts, emotions and desires for specific outcomes. Throwing small pieces of folded paper (chits) is straightforward and more a ritual that can be used when feeling too emotional to use muscle testing or a pendulum. Though we must build our trust to be guided by the use of chits, emotions make the chits more accurate.

Muscle testing demands self-honesty, focus and precision in execution. We ask a question and the body is either weak or strong. I have an illness that affects my muscles (stiffness, pain, fatigue) and it was interesting to me that fatigue and pain affect the outcome when using muscle testing. (I received no input when using my muscles.) Kinesiology is effective when making choices, purchases, choosing courses, books and finding a professional who is competent and will work for our highest good.

Pendling should be used in a quiet place when in a focused, neutral state of being. It is especially good for finding a health practitioner, using maps to locate the best geographic areas for healing, safety, finding a spiritual path and for travel; the best foods and vitamins for our bodies, finding lost objects and diagnosing car problems. It can be used when making need-based financial questions, but doesn’t work with greed.

To use the chits, place a sacred item or a candle in front of you. Write options on same sized pieces of paper (including the outcomes you don’t want) and others like wait, wrong question and do not use chits for this question. Then fold them exactly the same, get deeply connected and throw them in front of you. The one landing closest to the sacred object is your answer. Or you can close your eyes, toss them, reach out and pick one up—then open your eyes. We must be willing to follow the guidance in order to receive accurate answers.

Lundstrom does an excellent job explaining all the dos and don’ts and how the divining processes work. It can seem a bit repetitive when reading the whole book because the instructions for becoming quiet, connected and neutral are repeated in the chapters for each of the three processes. This book is for those who are serious about using divination and following the guidance received. She also offers a good troubleshooting guide. The pendulum did move for me, but not strongly; this could have been caused by my skepticism or my health problems. I will have to spend more time becoming quiet, connected and neutral to try again.:)

Pam, Notes Along the Path