Collective Energy

In this new governmental administration, there has been a buzz word. Well actually two buzz words. They are collective and energy. When you put the two together it describes what happens when many many people feel the same way. Another key word to think about. Feel......

Every day when I go to work, I prepare for the day. Both logistically and spiritually. I arrive and meditate on how I would like the day to go. I ask for help from my spirit helpers so that I have the power to do a job well done. I clear the space and raise the vibration of my healing space. I do this whether I have massage or spiritual healing session that day and even if I have facials or waxing clients coming in. In the end I want, that my clients leave my space feeling better than when they came in. No matter the reason they are there.

One day in particular, I decided to draw a card from one of my oracle decks. Usually the card is right on track with where I am at the time. But this time in particular, the card has been a catalyst for my next project. The front of the card read, "I can praise abundance wherever I see it."  Wow, my first thought.....I do that. Then, I read the back of the card.

Ha! Eye opener!

I realized I was contributing to the collective energy that is bringing lack to our lives. I don't know about you, but I have been hearing more and more of my clients talk in a negative way about the very rich. Me included......Its hard to admit it, but this card was a real slap in the face. When I started thinking about it, I realized that I too have a hard time feeling joy for the 1%. I too have been criticizing and pushing against what I really want.

 Upon conversing with a friend at a cafe, you know who you are, I realized that what we need is a way for people to shift. How do we raise our vibration?  How do we attract what we want? How do we get people to start being positive. Just saying be positive isn't going to work. You have to feel it. Ahhh, feel, the other buzz word. How can we feel joy for another's good fortune. Its easy with friends and family. But what about the man in the white house and the CEO's of corporations. What about those people. If what Abraham says is true, then we cut off our nose to spite our face every time we feel a negative emotion regarding another persons abundance. 

So here is a snippet of more to come. A little exercise for The Law of Attraction from the book by Ester and Jerry Hicks, " Ask and it is Given". Its called "Moving up the Emotional Scale". If you are feeling anger, fear, grief, depression, despair or powerlessness this exercise is a great place to start. 

The idea here is to learn to shift your feelings and in turn your vibration. If you are wanting more money, your not going from not having money to having money. You first have to go from feeling insecure to feeling secure, the money can follow. If you are ill and want to be well you must shift from  fear to confidence. The more confident you feel the more wellbeing you have. 

If you want a new car, the universe hears my car sucks, its too small, it uses to much gas, it always breaks down. So you have to shift what you feel about having a new car.  

Your challenge is, first and foremost, know what your current emotion is. What are your thoughts? Are they positive? Are you feeling power-filled or powerless?  If you are feeling powerless find another way of thinking about your dilemma. How can you make the glass half full?

If you would like to learn how to make this shift stay tuned! I will be offering a Law of Attraction Class in Pacifica once a month as part of the Wise Women Sharing series with my colleague Wanda K. Whitaker

Pacifica Law of Attraction 

Wanda K. Whitaker, Hypnotherapist, Visionary Artist, Spiritual Coach

Antoinette Cresci de la Torre, CMT, Shamanic Practitioner, Workshop Facilitator

Oct 16, 23, 30 and Nov 6

7:00PM to 8:30PM

Florie's Book Store, Pacifica, Ca

https://www.facebook.com/events/405649386593608/

When Ancestors Speak

When Ancestors Speak

The wind blows across the sea

Music left behind

Floating

One with water

Lapping

Old Country twice

Two Seas

Go back and back

Blood still red

Grandmother country

We are here in you 

Speak

Mother country

We are here in you 

Speak

Land is one

                                                                   

Antoinette Cresci de la Torre - Copyright,2018

This ancestor mask was a year long project filled with dance, drumming, poetry, sculpture and of course.....Shamanic Journey Work. It was inspired by the poem, which I wrote at the International Women's Drum Camp in 2017. An amazing Poet, Playwright, Multi-Percussionist, Photographer, and Teacher

 by the name of Avotcja taught a short but powerful class. This was one of the catalysts that sent me flying forward on a year long ancestral journey. Blessings to the many women who have touched me this past year and years to come. 

The People Behind Me

What led me here? To this place of talking to my ancestors. I've always known I'm connected. I remember being a little girl up at the Russian River. My aunt had a house in Monte Rio and we would go stay at her house in the summer time. Every day we would make our way down to the river to spend the day. Its not that the river had any more meaning than the ocean or the bay that I grew up near. I think those days at the river were times when I was actually allowed to be present with the water long enough to really go deep with her.

We never spent the day at the ocean or the bay. In fact my mother was very afraid for us kids at the ocean. So my yearning to be with her (the sea) was discouraged. I have alway had a very intimate connection with the water element. My father had a business that was right on the San Francisco Bay. He was in the fish business. I always wanted to jump off the pier and be one with her. But that was unheard of. I was told "Nobody swims in the Bay! Its polluted!" Later I found out that lots of people swam in the Bay including my uncle who swam the Golden Gate Bridge. But I'm getting off track.

Our days at the river would start out with me riding in the back seat of my mothers car imagining that this beautiful powerful woman was inside of me and I was going home to the water. I was going home to the greens of it all. I was ancient and I was becoming whole again.

As an adult I brought my own children to the River. I have had this homecoming every year for the last 53 years. And even as an adult I still feel the feeling of coming home once my feet are in the water. As I sit and write this I realize that I was having a shamanic experience. Even at the age of eight the ancestors were calling to me through the water. The spirits have always been with me. I have always had a relationship with them. But didn't realize all the serendipity I experienced over the years was really communication.

When I was 18 my brother gave me a gift. He gave me an all expense paid trip to Hawaii. I knew after that trip I was supposed to be with the Ocean. I spent 2 weeks in the water. Having the same altered state experience I had a a young child. The same coming home feeling. The same healing. On the plane ride back I cried the entire 5 hours back. I was grieving a great loss. I had ingrained in my head that Northern California water wasn't a safe place for me. I had been standing on the shore all my life and now I knew how it felt to merge with the birth waters, the amniotic fluid of grandmother earth. It would take another 30 years to finally work through the brainwashing I had been given as a child and take my relationship to the water to a new level.

My connection with water runs deep. I met a distant cousin a few years back. He was into genealogy. He had my family tree dating back to 1640. I, apparently, come from a long line of fishermen. Every male in my family tree was a fisherman dating back as far as the records go. Water goes beyond me. To go out on the sea and ask the sea to feed your family. To make it your livelihood for generations and generations. This takes deep unwavering faith, fearlessness, and most of all, the ability to call on help. Most of my life has been spent connected to or dancing with the water element. I know now that this has been my ancestors way of communicating with me. Our connection to our ancestors is part of the big picture. They are there for us. We just have to listen with our hearts and with our bodies.   We are all connected, physically, spiritually, vibrationally. When ancestors speak, listen.

I have been working with my ancestors to bring health and abundance to my life and I am now offering the chance to learn how to do it for yourself. I am offering a workshop called

ANCESTRAL HEALING THROUGH MASK MAKING AND EPIGENETICS

A Shamanic Mask Making Experience

Gifts From The Ancestors - A TCM Perspective

To live well is to cultivate The Three Treasures. We are born with these three gifts. These gifts are sent forth from our ancestors so that we may live in harmony.

The Three Treasures are the three main energy centers in our bodies. They are called Jing, Qi and Shen. When the three centers are working harmoniously we are in balance in every way, physically, mental and emotionally and spiritually.  

A main concept in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the Taoist belief that a person is born fully enlivened with the treasures that we are born with. The treasures that we have inherited from our ancestors. They are with us at conception and see us through birth and as we grow in life. 

Jing translates to essence. It is the constitution we receive from our parents at conception. Jing can be strengthened through diet, sleep, exercise and life style. It can also be depleted by poor use of those things. It is stored in the lower dan tien (pelvic bowl)

Qi translates to energy or life force energy. It is also known as Mana, Prada or Ki in different cultures. This is the energy that is most dynamic. A healthy body has constant movement of qi through ou the body. Qi is stored in the middle dan tien (heart area)

Shen translates to spirit. It is the energy that drives our minds. Weak shen can manifest as anxiety or depression or even more serious problems of the mind. Shen can be strengthened with meditation, tai chi, or qi gong. Shen is stored in the upper canteen (mind center. 

Art, Dance and Music can have an effect on all three treasures. The arts integrate all three treasures helping to bring balance. I often ask my clients if they are feeding their creativity. Many people in our culture do not have a creative outlet. 

We are born with these Three Treasures. In our culture we tend to waist these treasures. We eat poorly, don't get enough sleep, and pollute our minds with negative thoughts. We must remember that what we take in has an effect on our constitution. The food we eat effects our bodies, the things we see and hear effect our minds and spirits. And the things we think can have a negative or positive effect on us. 

To cultivate these treasures is to practice right relationship physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. This is done through exercise, diet, herbs, and energy practices such as Meditation, Yoga, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong etc. When we are in balance we are in good health mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.


Exercise:
We think 1000's of thoughts every day. Are your thoughts positive? If they are thoughts of worry or judgement they may be hurting your over all balance. 

Catch yourself in thought. Ask this question. I how is this thought serving me?  If it is not serving you in a positive way replace it with a thought of gratitude. 

This sounds easy, but this is something that may take practice. We often go straight to whats wrong in life instead of whats right. The next time a friend asks how you are, tell them something positive and see how the energy lifts in the conversation that follows. 

For feeding the Three Treasures, you are invited to join me in a workshop offered by                    Wise Women Sharing 

click on the link below for more information

Ancestral Healing Through Mask Making and Epigenetics - A Shamanic Mask Making Experience.

Facilitated by Antoinette Cresci de la Torre and Wanda K Whitaker

Preparing for your Shamanic Mask Making Experience

I have had a few people ask how they can prepare for the workshop I am presenting in the spring. I believe, to have a productive journey, you must be able to ground and stay grounded. Journeying is traveling to non ordinary reality in an altered state of consciousness. This in itself can feel like you are not grounded.

Grounding energetically protects us and helps to keep our energy flowing smoothly and unobstructed. Grounding helps to keep us in our power, in our bodies and present. It enables us to focus our energy and helps us to hear our intuition. Grounding secures your energy to planet earth It gives you a vehicle to release unwanted energy that you are storing in your body. It can increase your physical and emotional stability. Enables you to connect with spirit with more ease. 

How do you know if you are not grounded? A person’s energy is not focused. They have a hard time staying on task. They loose things easily and sometimes act hyper. But most of all, when you are not grounded it is easier to absorb negative energy. When you are not grounded, entering a room full of people with a lot of activity can be overwhelming. 

Often times you may walk into a room and realize that the energy is not comforting. Maybe there is an argument in progress, maybe there are just a lot of people, and there are too many different energies in the room. Grounding a room will help with all of these situations. You can bring harmony to the room or area by grounding it. Grounding a room will also assist in shifting the energy so that meditation, journeying or healing work may be more effectively done.Learning techniques to help you ground can benefit you in many ways. 

Techniques for Grounding Yourself

Heaven and Earth Connection

Begin by bringing your awareness to your breath. Breath in, filling all three lobes of your lungs with air or heavenly chi. As you continue to breath, bring your breath all the way down to your diaphragm noticing your diaphragm pressing down as you inhale. Continuing your breath awareness draw your breath all the way down to the pelvic bowl, or lower dan tien.  Standing with your pelvic bowl level draw the chi down filling your pelvic bowl. Nourishing your ocean of chi, your energetic reserves. As you continue with breath, notice your pelvis softening and expanding. Bringing the energy all the way down and out the perineum, down into the earth creating your earth connection, your grounding cord. This cord connects to your root chakra (CV1) and reaches all the way down into the center of the earth. Creating your earth connection. With your next outward breath, release any energy that does not serve you. Using your energetic cord that was created with your breath, release any negative thought, physical pain, or emotions that do not serve you. Release them out through your grounding cord using it like a funnel. On an inward breath draw earth energy up through the soles of your feet and the ethereal cord you just created, Again drawing energy into the lower dan tien. Continue drawing earth energy all the up the spinal column filling the cranium with energy. Notice the cranial bones relaxing and the cranial sutures softening. As you continue to breath, notice space forming at the top of your head allowing your energy to leave through your crown chakra (GV20), reaching all the way into the heavens. On the next inward breath draw again, heavenly chi in through the top of your head bringing it all the way down to the pelvic bowl. You now have a heaven and earth connection and are grounded through the earth.  

Drinking Water

Drinking water is a fast way to ground yourself, especially after receiving healing work, meditation or exercise.

Breathing

To ground quickly, Bring your awareness to your breath. A couple of deep breaths will bring you right down to earth. Often times during stress we begin shallow breathing and become ungrounded. This is also a great way to stop mind chatter. 

Grounding A Room

Stand or sit quietly. Bring your awareness to your breath. As you breath consciously in and out drawing fresh heavenly chi all the way down to the lowest lobe of your lungs bring your awareness to the room. 

Imagine the four corners of the room become redwood trees. Imagine these beautiful trees growing a root system deep into the earth, bringing weight to the room. 

As you continue to breath, imagine a trellis connecting the trees to one another. Replacing the walls with a trellis covered in beautiful climbing roses. 

Now imagine the floor below you turning to earth, and the ceiling above you turning to sky. 

You have now grounded your room and are standing one with nature. 

By practicing this you will have a more productive journey. You will be less likely to fall asleep and you will remember more of what happened during your journey.

Slide Show of the process

An Interview with Wanda K Whitaker and Antoinette Cresci de la Torre

Listen!

Please join us for an information interview about our up coming workshop. 

Ann Bauden, Soul Collage Facilitator will be interviewing Wanda K. Whitaker and Antoinette Cresci de la Torre on the benefits of ancestral healing, epigenetics, shamanism, and the mask making process.

Ancestral Vision

Honoring the ancestors is a lost practice. Our ancestors send us forth with wounds and gifts. This is an exploration of how we can begin the process of healing and learn to use the gifts we have been given.

The Ancient Ones

Lets first get an idea of what exactly an ancestor is. Our relatives are people that are still living. Those that have crossed over are our ancestors. We have our blood, DNA ancestors, but what about our soul ancestors?  What about the people who were our relatives in another life time. We have our body, blood, DNA ancestors and then we have our soul, spirit, past life ancestors. And yet still, what about the people that we have a soul agreement with that parent us in this life? The people that adopted us. Those relatives.... we can even have ancestors from those people. 

We are all related. What comes to mind when you hear that? For me it means not just humans. It includes animals, plants, creepy crawlers and star beings. These are all our relatives. These are also our ancestors. From a science perspective, we emerged from the sea by following the plant life on to land. From a spirit perspective, if we can have a soul family in human form, why not in plant or animal form? Why not in rock or star form? 

In traditional societies, how we are connected is very important. Even in what we in America call "The Old Country". In my Sicilian heritage when I meet someone who's family came from Sicily the first thing we establish is rapport.  We want to know if we are related and if so how? Its a connection that is important to us. But sadly, we as a culture have forgotten our brothers and sisters the four legged beings, the plant beings, the rock beings and so forth. This is not as important to us anymore. When honoring our ancestors, they are included. We have been in contact with all of the elements and all of the beings on grandmother earth since the beginning of time. And we are the dreams of our ancestors. We carry both the DNA link to the past and the Spirit link to the past. 

When we came through our mothers we brought with us all of the pain and grief that was experienced for life times. But we also brought the gifts and talents and inner knowing too. Have you ever watched a small child and thought, wow, this kid remembers!  We are learned into forgetting. But our memories can be jogged and we can heal the past for future generations. Spirit and healing goes beyond time and space. One of the gifts we come through with is our intuition. This is an inner knowing. 

When I was a child my mother had a pair of earrings. I adored those earrings. They were silver and I coveted them. She kept them in her jewelry box. I would take them out and hold them up to my ears. I had to have them. She never wore them, they stayed safely in her jewelry box. One day when I was about 15 she gave them to me. They had been a gift from my God Father. He had been a merchant marine and he brought them back for her from Egypt. Forty years later, I still have them and I wear them at least once a week. Way back then, I was having memories but didn't know it. Whether it was a DNA memory from my ancestors before they arrived on Sicily or if it was a Soul memory of a past life.  I have always had a connection to North Africa. Even as a teen who knew nothing of the Continent of Africa much less the countries or cultures there.  Fast forward a few years. I was working at a health food store in San Francisco. The owner of the store had a yoga and belly dance studio upstairs and the employees could take one free class a week. I chose belly dancing. The first time I heard the middle eastern music I felt like I had come home. Another memory. I continued to dance and learn about the cultures in North Africa especially Egypt over the years. There have been many more ah ha moments over the years. My point is when we are exposed to another culture and it resonates with us, it could be an ancestor is sending a gift. 

These gifts awaken our memories on either a spirit or cellular level. Don't ignore it. Maybe this is an awakening for a spiritual practice you didn't know you had access to. Many modern people are resonating with traditional and indigenous spiritual practices. I believe this is our ancestors waking us up. They are guiding us to carry the medicine forward. They are guiding us to use this medicine to heal the patterns that do not serve us anymore. We can do this for future generations. The ancients are calling us to wake up. 

She Comes Through Me