A short history regarding the significance of the “Sin Eater” will be given before going into the online Druid Healing Ceremony itself. We will commune with the Shining Ones, give offerings to our Ancestors, discuss how the indigenous Celtic tribes worked with the energies of winter, and seek out healing for our own Yuletide celebrations.
Please ensure that you not only mark “going” on the event, but that you both “like” and “favorite” this Page. A donation of $15 is highly encouraged, but none will be turned away. So excited to share in the communal healing of this time, “see” you soon!
Hello lovely readers, and welcome to the Celtic New Year celebrations! This Samhain season, from 31st October to 5th November, was filled with deep loss, grief, trauma, and a great desire for healing for the North American public. The ceremony below was held for the pagan community on Monday 1st November, and can be watched repeatedly to receive healing from the Spirits.
A supportive healing grid was created with both crystals and sacred woods of the Irish Ogham. The Morrigan also sent guidance with a prophecy of DEFIANCE! This call has been taken up by many healers, seers, and mystics, including the indominable HecateDemeter.
Join Rev. Monika Kojote in a celebration of the Celtic New Year, known as Samhain (sow-wen), at 7pm EST on 1 November, this coming Monday. A short history regarding the significance of this holiday will be given before going into the online Druid Healing Ceremony itself.
Please ensure that you not only mark “going” on the Facebook event, but that you both “like” and “favorite” this Page. All attendees will receive healing, whether or not they attend the LIVE or recorded version. A donation of $15 is highly encouraged, but none will be turned away.
So excited to share the joy of the Spirits, aaaoooo!!!
On Sunday, 10th October, from 1pm EST to 5pm EST, Rev. Monika Kojote will facilitate a self-healing group that digs into the difficulties of progressing through adulthood in the 21st century. A re-classification of the “rites of passage” through human life will be created, and members will honor each other with support during significant periods of their life’s story (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and Trans Inclusive!). Ritual, shamanic healing, spiritual journey, plant medicines, clergy counseling, psychopomp work, and life blessings are just some of the supports given to all members!
(c) Rev. Monika Kojote, 2021
Please join Rev. Monika Kojote and fellow members in working together deeply at the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels for self-healing. This group requires one interview with Rev. Kojote before joining (in order to balance confidentiality & group dynamics), and has two built-in 10 minute breaks (and one 45-minute break). The cost of attendance is $40, and the Zoom password will be given to those who have prepaid their fee.
Harvest blessings to you all, and I hope that today brings balance and grace. The month of September has been filled with grief of loved ones who’ve passed, but our community still gathered together to share in the wonder of the season.
For those who missed the live broadcast, here’s the video on my YouTube channel. We discuss the ancestral and historical aspects of this holy day (within an Indo-European context), as well as how to balance both the harvest energies and the overwhelming emotional energies of the full moon in Pisces. Please enjoy!
For any sort of spiritual intrusion, energy loss, psychic attack, or power drain, the first recommended course of action is working with Salt.
(from Wikicommons, public domain)
Salt, written as NaCl (sodium chloride)*, has numerous healing properties. It is vitally important to our oceans (which make up 75% of this planet), and is representative of the Element of Earth in countless rituals, ceremonies, and religious offerings (Druidry, paganism, etc.). Chemically, it is a balanced and stable compound, and when its chemical bonds break, it releases negatively charged ions. It is part of the mammalian body system, and certain levels must be maintained for heart function, electrolytes, brain chemistry, etc. Magically, it is a great energy neutralizer and banisher, and has been used in House Clearings, Psychopomp rituals, workplace energy-neutralization, and restorative rites.**
Personally, it is one of the best ways that humans can reset and re-balance their own energy fields. Salt baths and salt scrubs are excellent ways in which one can release the tensions and projections of the workday. Many spiritual practitioners also use salt in their own ritual purification baths, both before and after great ceremonies. Salt helps to release built-up energy (whether positively- or negatively-aligned), and can help ground an over-abundance of psychic phenomena.
If you struggle with “leaving work at work (especially if you work from home, i.e., COVID-19 pandemic)” or feeling drained after difficult conversations with loved ones, then try a salt bath or use a salt scrub in the shower. There are many varieties, such as Sea Salt, Himalayan Salt, Hawaiian Black Salt, and regular table salt (without iodine works best), but please make sure that it is sodium chloride (NaCl). It is one of the easiest and most inexpensive ways to restore one’s energetic, etheric, and auric bodies, and can also be good preparation before a Shamanic Healing Ceremony.
*Sodium chloride (NaCl) is organically different from Epsom Salts, which are magnesium sulphate (MgSO4). While epsom salts feel wonderful for muscle pain and spasm, they are a completely different “magickal substance,” used for Auric/Higher Self workings. Sodium chloride is much more effective for the specific uses of neutralizing energies within a home and within a body.
**Note: Salt should NEVER be used in land rituals or land clearings. It damages grass, plants, and soil, and can actually destroy the energetic state of an area (bringing it to “zero” instead of “neutral”; a major distinction).
(originally posted from my previous blog on 30 January 2014)
This is the hardest blog article I’ve ever had to write.
My psychiatric client died. In fact, she died on Yule, around 3am (December 20, 2013).
Stalina Collins, 2012, in memoriam
She struggled with schizophrenia her whole life, which affected her ability to cope with the ravages of her pancreatic cancer diagnosis, and the very limited prognosis that was told to her by doctors. Of all the worries, paranoid delusions, uncertainties, and frustrations that she had to deal with, her greatest fear was of being alone, and dying alone.
I worked with this beautiful soul every day for a solid year: I got to know her very well, and worked very hard to keep her body healthy so that she could talk with me about her life (and keep her mind healthy). Near the end, I called her every day at the hospital, went in on weekends during medical emergencies, visited at least twice a week, and spoke to over 20+ doctors & nurses in order to make sure that they respected her wishes, and treated her like a smart, independent woman who could advocate for herself. Many times, her paranoid delusions would cause her to lash out in anger and fear, but I always tried to make myself available to counsel her through it, and to help her say what she really meant.
As much as I was able to, I wanted her to feel like she was supported, and that she was not alone.
A week before she died, she stopped eating, stopped drinking fluids, and stopped taking her medications. She wasn’t able to talk, or even verbalize any grunts. But because of our shared therapeutic relationship, I could easily pick up on her wishes, as she rolled her eyes (she desperately wanted to smoke a cigarette!) or adjusted her body towards me when I responded to give her a quick hug.
She had already received last rites from a Catholic priest, but as she was unable to verbally pray anymore, the visits had drastically reduced. During one of my visits, I witnessed the incredible fear in her eyes (I had not visited for ~4 days), and immediately reminded her that I was there, and that I would not leave her alone. I brought a ceramic figurine of an angel, and placed it near her bed, while I pulled up a chair and sat on the other side. She needed comfort, and although she disliked physical touch (many schizophrenic clients do, it’s too much stimulation and can immediately trigger violent voices), I asked her if she wanted me to hold her hand during the time I was there. She nodded faintly, and I held it.
As we sat there, I was told quite clearly by my Spirits to begin talking with her about death.
Now this may seem abrupt or cruel, but I was guided by my instincts and the Spirits not to talk about the process of death (because that is a mystery to all who have not died), but to talk about what happens after. Shamanic journeys are often called “little deaths” because the journeys occur outside of space and time, and visiting Ancestors, Mighty Dead, etc. can sometimes be as simple as asking to speak with Them.**
So I started talking. I moved from holding her hand to stroking her hair (she loved to get her hair done, and would completely zone out in a meditative state as someone brushed her hair). She quickly felt calmer, her rapid breathing balanced out, and she closed her eyes. I spoke of what my Spirits have shown me about the reconciliation and rehabilitation of the Soul after death. I spoke of the love of her family members, who have all gone to death before her, and how they would be with her, to welcome her home. I spoke of Helping Spirits, Angels, and all the Others that would be with her to direct her to her next phase. And I promised her that at her moment of death, if she was scared and alone, that I myself would come and link her to her loved ones.
Well, the moment came. She died at 3:20am on December 20th. And I was paralyzed with grief.
Psychopomp work (within Catholicism) is best done within three days of a person’s death, and although I planned out each evening to journey to her, I was frozen. I could not pick up my rattle. I ended up making a supportive crystal grid for her, with Smoky Quartz, sticks of Yew, Chiastolite (crossroads stone), and others. I spoke out loud to her, and told her of my love for her and my joy for the end of her suffering.
But I could not Journey, and I could not rattle.
A week passed by. I started to catch my breath a bit. And WHAM– two by four, courtesy of Brigid, great goddess of healing. My skin exploded into a giant rash– itchy, inflamed, and it would not go away!
Like a true coyote, I could not figure out what had happened. It took me another two days before I finally heard Her strongly in my head– “You did not keep your promise. If you are gonna do this Work (shamanism), do what you say!”
I was deeply embarrassed and disappointed in myself. I have some shadow work regarding death (even though I know quite a lot about it, I am still processing my father’s death, and all of the self-exploration that entails), and it had completely overtaken me.
I immediately set up my altar space in my room, grabbed my rattle, grounded & centered, and journeyed. Coyote popped up immediately, gave me a hug, steadied me, and away we ran.
He took me to the exact moment of her death in the hospital. She was waiting for me.
I burst into tears.
Again, I was so disappointed in myself, but I also was thankful that I was making up for it now. Coyote reminded me that space & time are really wonky, and I realized that even though it took me over a week to get it together, I was with her at her moment of death, and I was fulfilling my promise to her right now!
She looked at me, and had the most delightfully confused look on her face. “Monika?” she whispered. “Yep,” I replied, “I told you that I’d be here for you. And although everyone faces death alone, you are not alone at all, and everyone’s waiting for you.” At that moment, the ceramic angel by her bedside grew, and became huge, ethereal, and glowing. I bowed, and asked if I needed to do anything (such as soul retrieval, etc.) for my dear client. The Angel gave me the impression that It could handle everything for her, and that I was there to both bear witness and to honor her.
It became very bright in that hospital room, and although I wasn’t permitted to perceive any images within the glow, the emotions I felt were overwhelming. I was moved to sing, and Handel’s Messiah Chorus popped into my head (instincts work so well in journey space!). As I sang “He Shall Feed His Flock,” I could feel the moment my client received healing from her schizophrenia. I could feel the moment that she reunited with her mother and sister and father. And I could feel the moment that she fully left the Middle World for her own perception of Heaven.
I am still working through my own grief for her, mixed with emotions from my father’s passing (not too long ago). But I am so thankful to Brigid and Coyote for helping me to push through my own blockages, to fulfill my promise to her. And I am thankful for all of my Helping Spirits, especially the numerous psychopomps that I work with (Coyote, Manannan mac Lir, Odin, Freya, Hermes, and others) for teaching me about this important work (although Brigid was instrumental in my two-by-four moment, I don’t usually associate her with psychopomp work).
Hail the Gods, and Hail the Mighty Dead!
** DO NOT DO THIS WITHOUT TRAINING. And not just training from Spirits, but training from human teachers. There is great danger in visiting the Dead without a guide, or training, etc. It is very easy for spirits to masquerade as an Ancestor in order to manipulate you. You MUST have good judgement for this type of work, and excellent interpersonal boundaries. Remember: All That Is Dead Is Not Wise.
(originally posted on 12 October 2018, from my previous blog)
At least 3 or 4 times a month, I’m asked to evaluate the skill level and effectiveness of other healers, shamans, and alternative practitioners. As our nation begins to accept more magical & spiritual forms of healing, the general public needs a way to evaluate the practitioners they work with.
I maintain the hope that many of us do this work for our communities in order to help others with a high level of professionalism and ethics. But, just as there are predatory & manipulative persons in every occupation, the healing community also has its predators, manipulators, thieves, sexual offenders, untrained practitioners, and other types of disingenuous folks.
Many clients seek out healers that are complete strangers to them. Alternative healing communities function on reputation, but it can be difficult to know a healer’s reputation without testimonials and reviews. Here are a few questions that have helped me evaluate other practitioners when I am seeking out my own healing, and when referring clients to additional treatment team members:
Do they allow the client to make the choice for healing, or do they try to mandate/manipulate/”trick” them into services?
This directly addresses the healer’s ability to educate the client, but not force the client, into services. Clients must be ready, willing, and able to change, and if a practitioner attempts to force any of those three areas in order to “get a booking” the healing won’t work.
Ethical & fully informed consent for treatment should be the MANDATORY standard of their practice.
What is their training, how long, and with whom?
There is a lot of confusion regarding what is cultural appropriation & what is cultural exchange. A healer working outside of their ancestral culture should be able to speak to the training they have received in that culture, and refer back to their teachers (similar to how citations work within an academic paper). Many of those trained in technique-heavy programs are missing the cultural context in which the magical technology originated, and so their effectiveness will not be the same. This is especially true of shamanic healing, which is based on relationships with Spirits, not just techniques from different cultures. Depending on the type of healing modality, training in a wide variety of mediums is best, but books and online lectures do not replace the direct supervision of a human teacher.
Within the United States, many folks begin training and working in the field of alternative healing practices to lend support to their families and friends as a part-time job, or a career change later in life. Those who have attended schooling & worked in fields unrelated to health & human services will have a greater difficulty transitioning to this type of work. It is not impossible, but working for humans, animals, and the spiritual community involves additional training beyond what most shamanic schools present.
What greater spiritual work are they doing for the Community and/or World at large?
It’s 2018 (now 2021), and at least within the United States, there are HUGE SHIFTS happening at the micro and macro level of the populace. Many spiritual healers have discovered the trend of being Called to more advanced work on behalf of the planet (climate change, politics, healing the trauma of the world, replanting ayahuasca vines that have been overfarmed due to drug-seeking behaviors, etc). This Work is almost always unpaid and can possibly be the greatest work of a shaman’s life.
If the healer you are researching doesn’t work for the Spirits in this way, then they either haven’t reached that point in their training, or they are only interested in the monetary value of their work. This can lead to the dreaded cult of personality/guru syndrome that affects most unethical/manipulative persons within the healing communities.
All of us are called to this Work in different ways, and are in different places in our training. The world is shifting, and more healers are discovering their magics. Hopefully, these questions will help you to evaluate your practitioners just as carefully as you evaluate your doctors, therapists, and dentists.
Many of us here in the U.S. struggle with the process of becoming a fully realized, healthy, integrated adult. Within spiritual and shamanic cultures, both community celebration & ritual are used to energetically honor the movement of time. Adulthood, creation of a family, adoption of a pet, marriage, divorce, midlife challenges, physical body changes, mental health concerns, elderhood, births, deaths… all of these different experiences evolve our souls. This working group will provide a safe space to all genders for discovering Who They Are (LGBTIA+ inclusive).
from Wikicommons, public license
The Zoom link will be posted the day before to those that mark “going” on this event on Facebook. And yes, I too grumble often about that social media platform, but the ability to create events for a wide audience can’t be matched (yet)… Please join me for a FREE information session on Wednesday, June 30th, at 7pm EST!
Kojote & Kroh Shamanism 