​Greetings Star Seeds,
 
Kali-Ma, the Hindu goddess of death and rebirth, heralds the end of a cycle and brings about transformation. Change is challenging for humans. Fear of change prevents us from growing, soaring, and shining. Kali-Ma has been my companion in facing some fears around transitions and (en)couraging me to heed the call of Spirit. Like the dark mother and the dark moon time, she offers an invitation into hidden places in our psyche and provides the fierce energy to confront our shadows and turn them into allies with potent healing potential. For me she has midwifed a path toward wholeness, allowing me to embrace truth and welcome a new cycle in my life.
 
It is with great gratitude that I announce a new personal beginning as I transition my work place to Urban Holistic in Potrero Hill, where I will be offering craniosacral treatments, flower essence therapy and Astro-Soma sessions starting in January 2019. I am excited to be part of the Urban Holistic team of skilled practitioners in creating a community and environment that facilitates the journey toward wellness. I share their philosophy of optimum health being the conscious integration of mind, body and spirit and their vision of empowering individuals to elevate their well-being and connect with their innate capacity for healing. The services they offer include physical therapy, massage and acupuncture along with wonderful classes in pilates, tai chi and more. If you choose to become a member, there is a discount on all services! They also have an online booking system through MindBody online app. or you can continue to book directly with me. 

May Mercury’s forward motion provide the motivation and opportunity to make manifest goals and visions that have been in the re-view, re-search, and re-configuration phase during its retrograde period. And may this year of Jupiter in Sagittarius (Nov. 8, 2018-Dec. 2, 2019) bestow good luck and blessings on your endeavors. These energies invite us to go global, seek cross-cultural connections, engage in higher learning and expand spiritual pursuits.
 
Jupiter takes a little over 12 years to make its way around the astrological wheel, spending about 13 months in each sign. The last time Jupiter was in its home sign of the Archer was Nov. 25, 2006- Dec. 18, 2007. Themes that were highlighted during that time could serve as pointers for what may be up for you during this cycle. Remember your interaction and ability to respond to said themes will be different as you engage from a place of wisdom gained from experience and maturity.
 
My greatest wish for you during this time is that you embrace the courage to face any fears that may be keeping you from living to your fullest potential. Find contentment in progress; release perfection. May this coming year be one of optimism and joy. We grow when we are open to learning new things. May we welcome the opportunity to expand our minds and our hearts. May we vibe with our authentic soul song and invoke the frequency of abundance. Give generously. Speak truth. Have more fun. Grieve the losses and be grateful for the entire spectrum of experiences. Be willing to see a higher perspective and be open to the gifts that are offered, even in the really hard stuff. Remember that our personal cycles have beginnings and endings and just like nature’s seasonal changes we were meant to flow with those changes in order to experience cycles of birth, growth, harvest and composting, death and rebirth. It is my belief we need to dance with all these aspects to embrace wholeness.
 
May you be aligned with your soul’s urgings and step into congruency of heart and mind. If your spirit has been whispering (or perhaps screaming) for a shift to help you align, now may be the time to take a risk and make the leap. I appreciate each and every one of you and extend many thanks to my colleagues at the Purple Iris Healing Center where I had my practice for an entire Jupitarian 12 year cycle.
 
With winter solstice blessings and infinite gratitude,

Claudia

​Greetings Star Seeds,
 
I recently returned from the Sonoran desert after a 5-day flower essence residential retreat led by my teacher Cynthia Kemp of Desert Alchemy  This retreat, entitled The Essential is Invisible to the Eye, marked the culmination of a two-month sabbatical where I (un)wound my way from ocean to desert and back again. Twice. I paused my career to allow spaciousness and grace to inform my experience. Consciously and intentionally. There were times of navigating labyrinthian paths of the psyche and moments of unraveling and descending. There were uplifting moments of insight and there were not so subtle invitations to stop and pay attention to the energies of the crossroads. This time offered me a chance to live in nature where the wind and the trees spoke to me and I was still and quiet enough to hear their messages. I was dismembered so that I could re-member who I was. This time gave me the gift of gratitude and embodiment as a life choice.  And it left me with generous material for further pondering and integration as I returned to the deep knowing that my heart is the primary organ of perceiving the invisible.

Flower essences were a constant support on my journey. They accompanied me during the transitions and assisted me in feeling all the emotions with discernment, clarity and presence. My most consistent, compassionate, and wisest teachers, flower essences have been mentors of expanding perception and perspective. For me, they are alchemists of the heart, roadmaps of consciousness and midwives of the soul.

​Even after two decades of co-creating flower essences and using them personally and professionally, I am awed each time I consciously attune with a flower and open to its wisdom. Flower essences provide opportunities for personal growth, evolution and healing root causes of disharmony in mind, body, and spirit. They do so in divine perfect timing and never force anything to happen that isn’t in alignment with one’s soul evolution. I know of no other system that works so gently yet powerfully and effectively on so many levels with zero side effects, other than bringing in the light of awareness and the ability to deeply know oneself. When we welcome profound presence to an experience or an emotion or a trauma, transformation becomes possible. In my experience they are like a guide who holds open a door to infinite knowing and offers a vista into personal divinity. It is always our choice to walk through that door. In surrendering to the heart of nature, we are able to be still and know. Flower essences encourage living a more conscious life, with joy as a template. I think of flower essences as a portal into our own sacredness. They are truly the gift of Grace in a bottle!
 
Working in reciprocity with nature via flower essences is like immersing yourself into deeper levels of intimacy with a new friend or suddenly discovering a quality you hadn't noticed before in someone you have known for a lifetime. It doesn’t mean that quality didn’t exist before, but it may have been invisible to you until there was an opening to perceive it from a lens of expanded consciousness. There is a richness and profoundness to their healing that takes time, attention and participation. Similarly, to know ourselves more intimately requires attention, desire and devotion. Flower essences can shift us into alignment and harmonize the sticky places within us. They bring light to the shadows by moving us toward resonance with whatever vibration we wish to inhabit.  

​ 
Using flower essence therapy for personal evolution requires a clear intention: What do you wish to shift in yourself ? It also calls for a focused and dedicated practice. It takes personal participation and work. But it’s the most important job we have! This can look like any of the following: noticing, observing, journaling, taking time, being present, witnessing the discomfort and feeling the emotions it brings up. Working with a trusted friend or practitioner that can be a clear mirror and help you track shifts is invaluable.  Finally, invoking spiritual/universal assistance allows the Divine to help support us with our process and joins our personal will to universal energy. It is a three way relationship between myself, my higher self, and nature. And it is powerful alchemy!
 
Healing happens one step at a time. Celebrate the small victories. We can't heal every layer at once. Flower essences are a vibrational therapy system for healing that works in accordance with your soul design and supports the blooms that are wanting to emerge. Grace is the ability to surrender to the perfection of what is. 

Greetings Star Seeds,

​The astrological weather of the moment supports finding balance between the opposing energies of the Taurus full moon on October 24th and the sun entering Scorpio on October 23rd. How can we connect in a grounded, embodied way with the beauty that surrounds us on this Earthly plane, while also attending to the intensity that is beckoning us to transform our personal and collective experiences so that we can emerge from the depths with new insights for a better future? How can we engage our senses and step into flow while holding priorities based in peace and love and allow ourselves to feel all the complicated emotions swirling around in the muck, pulling us into uncomfortable spirals?
 
Alchemy is not for the faint of heart. It takes work and energy to rise like the phoenix from the ashes of that which needs to be composted. It takes faith and perseverance to dive into the dark mysteries, the unseen world of spirit. What or who do you desire to become more intimate with during this time? What shadow parts can you invite to the table and douse with love and acceptance? It can be both immensely challenging and healing to dance with these hidden places, go deeper into matters that create uneasiness, be passionate about what really matters. Doing so has the potential for radical change.

With the Sun, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter  in Scorpio, we can expect that our intimate relationships, communications and our desire to learn and teach will move into levels of greater magnitude and expansiveness. Our emotional spectrum may expand with the potential for true metamorphosis. Consider connecting with the Earth in order to ground and integrate amidst  transformative energies. What needs to be burned away in order to more fully engage with and accept your truth and wholeness? What if we invoked the Scorpionic energies of transformation for sexual healing around themes of trauma and abuse of the collective Divine Feminine and Gaia?

 
As All Hallows approaches, the veils become thinner and there is an opportunity to reach out and call upon our ancestors and the Spirit world for assistance and guidance during turbulent times. These loved ones can be tribal, familial, or ancestral. They can be soul families of affinity or spirits of the land you caretake. Who do you feel a connection with on the other side? Call on your angels, ascended masters, your beloved cat, the gone befores. Remember to thank and honor them for their help and support by creating an altar with personal offerings of gratitude or setting a place for them at your table.

​Cooking my grandmother’s recipes is something that I am inspired to do during these nesting times which makes me feel connected to her and my matrilineal line. I can sense their presence strongly stirring the pot from the beyond and adding spices, stories, and love to the mix. In turn I offer essences, local herbs, and prayers. These meals always feel like magical rituals which weave a tapestry across time, space and dimensions. Is there a personal ritual you feel called to during this time? What are some ways you live in reciprocity with the Earth and connect with the Ancestors or your lineage? How can you balance Spirit and Matter in your life and find joy and beauty in doing so? 

isolated, alone or disconnected. Its intention is  to assist in grounding the 4th/heart chakra and our 1st/root chakra with the Earth and has been reported to provide support in feeling at home on this planet, healing spiritual homesickness ​and fostering actions that arise from the heart centered space of love.

​​I wish you a blessed season of connection across time and space.

With infinite love and gratitude,

​Claudia

​
​Greetings Star Seeds!
 
​For our world and our systems to move towards balance requires our participation. It also entails developing a practice. The voice of the victim, of the disempowered self, would like us to believe that our voice doesn’t matter, and that our actions aren’t enough. As individuals and as a collective, we must be courageous and usher ourselves to step into our empowerment and leadership as sovereign, Divine beings. When we relinquish responsibility for our choices and turn a blind eye to being co-creators of our situations, we sabotage our authority.  Too often we buy into the illusion that our leaders, teachers, or parents will take care of us. This mindset not only leads to the abdication of our power, but results in a cycle of blame. This disempowers everyone. It is neither generative, evolved, nor productive and it keeps us caught in the matrix.

If we are unhappy with any aspect of our personal life, or the way things are playing out in the world, consider it an invitation to reclaim our empowerment. Transformation and healing depends on accepting responsibility, feeling the emotions, moving through them so that they can be released rather than becoming lodged in our cells and tissues and manifest into dis-ease, and honing the courage to take action. It’s time to put on our big girl/boy pants and activate our source wisdom and articulate our internal knowing, even when it is uncomfortable or feels awkward, so that we can be part of the shifting tide toward wellness and healing. It does take work and practice. Get quiet and listen to the Wise Self within. She teaches us through whispers, the wind, dreamtime, insights, and intuition. 

As we move into Libra season and the Autumnal Equinox, where day and night are of equal length, the universe offers us an opportunity to shift towards balance and be supported by the Earth’s cycles and the season. We have valued the realm of the mind at the expense of our heart, which is a powerful portal, for far too long and the scales are beckoning us toward a more harmonious experience. The heart math institute states:

​“The heart is the most powerful source of electromagnetic energy in the human body, producing the largest rhythmic electromagnetic field of any of the body’s organs. The heart’s electrical field is about 60 times greater in amplitude than the electrical activity generated by the brain. This field, measured in the form of an electrocardiogram (ECG), can be detected anywhere on the surface of the body. Furthermore, the magnetic field produced by the heart is more than 100 times greater in strength than the field generated by the brain and can be detected up to 3 feet away from the body, in all directions.” www.heartmath.org.

Congruency between the mind and heart is required to bring us into wholeness. Modern life has divorced us from embodying our internal knowing, our wise self, our wisdom keeper, our connection to Source energy and what our hearts know to be true and we are unraveling at record speed. The health of our own bodies reflects the health of the environment, the animal kingdom, nature, and the planet. We are not separate from one another. Our collective health depends upon us stepping up and following through with care and compassion for ourselves and others. We are being called to a whole-hearted existence. 

Let us harness the transformative potential of the full moon in confident and action-oriented Aries energy on Sept. 24th by taking a stand. Start with where you are. Make a commitment to changing a negative thought and refocusing it to something positive. What we give attention to expands. Make sustainable choices. Choose to believe that your voice matters. Listen to someone that is suffering. Put down your device and connect face to face, heart to heart. Give your full attention to the present moment. Pick up trash in your neighborhood or at the ocean. Refuse to settle for riding a wave into a downward spiral. Even the smallest action has great potential for change. Reflect and be thankful, even through the overwhelm, even when we are afraid. All our emotions are valid! Our thoughts, actions and intentions have a ripple effect. What is essential is often invisible to the eye. Make a practice of affirmation, prayer, meditation, visualization, sending loving kindness. What we do and think resonates outward and those that we come into contact with will have the opportunity to connect with an auric field, a heart-space and vibration that is a calmer, softer and emanates the frequency of love. When we commit to healing our own shadows, we open portals for healing ourselves and the world. The personal is definitely political.
 
Thank you for your light! May it continue to shine brightly especially in the face of adversity. We are powerful beings beyond what we realize and we can make a difference. Each and every one of us is a beacon of light and together we can create a new blueprint for a shared experience that can bring us into balance!
 
With infinite love and gratitude,
Claudia

Greetings Star Seeds!
 
This is a potent time for visioning and imbuing our daily lives with some practical magic. The sun’s entrance into Virgo on August 23rd is accompanied by the light of the Pisces full moon which will shine her blessings upon us on Sunday Aug 26th. Full moons are portal times which bless us with opportunities to release and let go. They are times of completion before a new lunar cycle begins again. Virgo, symbolized by the Virgin, is a mutable earth sign ruled by Mercury. It offers us the gifts of practicality, precision, analysis, integration and organization. Think systems and practices that can support us in our daily lives.

Neptune ruled Pisces, a mutable water sign, is Virgo's axis and bestows upon us connection to the invisible realms. It is the place of dreams, visions, ancestors, intuition, psychic energy and mystery. The symbol of the two intertwined fishes reminds us we are in flow with the oneness of the universe, lest we get homesick for the beyond. Together this union of the sun and moon in mutable signs holds the energies of adaptability and change. As we move into shifting tides and summer winds down, making way for autumn, and back to school days, both Mars and Mercury have turned direct, allowing for some forward momentum in our lives.
 
I offer some ways to honor the energy of this time. As always, please take what resonates.

1. Start a dream journal.
2. Let go of judgement and criticism and develop a practice of compassion toward self and others. Include nature and animals as well as other humans!
3. Honor a fantasy or dream and apply a practical approach. Ground your visions into daily actionable tasks.
4. Grieve the losses. Let your emotions flow.
5. Observe any tendencies toward perfectionism or escapism. Practice this contemplation with compassion instead of judgment.
6. Write an affirmation to release an addiction, suffering or victim energy and ask your angelic helpers for support.
7. Donate to organizations that support clean water, healthier oceans and saving whales and dolphins.
8. Connect with your ancestors for guidance. Ask them for help with spiritual solutions to practical problems and practical solutions to spiritual problems.
9. Be present to signs from the Divine. Don’t limit the form or shape they will arrive in.
10. Use your intuition. Pay attention to your gut instincts (Virgo rules the abdomen).
11. Visit Mama Ocean, offer her a blessing. Put your feet in the salt water and imagine you are being bathed in starlight. (Pisces rules the feet).
12. Put your crystals in the full moonlight for cleansing.
13. And my favorite…Get into the zone with a moon bath.

 
I am honored to welcome the words and practical magic of Mistress Samantita to my blog. Stay tuned for future collaborations and co-creative offerings in Earth based practices for healing.
 
Mistress Samantita Moon Bath Ritual

You can get as elaborate as you need to in creating a ritual moon bath. Or you can skip all of it except for the intention.  Here are a few ideas to inspire you. Take only the ones you need...
 
For an herbal moon bath you can collect herbs from your own wisdom and/or ancestry. (My favorite from Mesoamerica are basil, rosemary, sage, and ruda.*) Always thank any plant you invite to work with you. Bring a pot of water to boil. Bundle your herbs with string or lovingly remove the leaves from the stem. Take water off the stove and place the herbs in the water. Sing to the pot of herbs, say your intention, or simply thank Pachamama for her gifts. Cover the herbs for a few minutes or a couple hours. I sometimes let them steep in the moonlight the night before. If you do not wish to bathe with the herbs themselves you can strain them out with a cheese cloth or a sieve.

You can take the painstaking step of collecting rainwater, river water, ocean water. Or simply take a moment to give thanks to the water filling up your tub. 
 
Light candles. Gather your sacred crystals to add into your bath tub. Add vibrational essences, essential oils or your steeped herbal water. You can burn incense.
Some of my favorites are copal, piñon, or sage. Or you can simply bring your favorite robe and a glass of cold water to drink. 

​It isn’t a ritual moon bath with out your heartfelt intentions. So now that you are ready to bathe, take a moment to welcome your self to the moment, welcome your guides, create sacred space. Let yourself speak your truth: your intention. As you bathe allow the medicine of your own making do its magic. 

Bless this scared moment of respite. Allow Sister Moon to whisper to you what you most need in the moment.

​When you feel fully restored, exit your bath. Some traditions say to not dry yourself and allow the water to soak in. Other traditions say to wrap yourself in a cloth and sit for a moment. This is integration. Sit in stillness or choose movement. You can journal or listen quietly to the moon. Give yourself what your soul craves most. 
 
Finally, there are many ways to dispose of your water. You can simply release down the drain. You can save a jar of your bath water and offer some to a tree or a house plant. You can take it to the crossroads and throw over your shoulders but don’t look back. Whatever you do, do it with reverence as you have completed a ritual moon bath and returned the energies back to Pachamama. 
 
*These herbs should not be used if pregnant or nursing. 
 
With infinite love, gratitude and full moon blessings,
Claudia and Mistress Samantita (Instagram @misstresssamantita)
 

Greetings Star Seeds,

Transformation can often feel like a crisis. When something ego motivated is on its way out, it usually makes the most noise. As we become more conscious and aware, our energy shifts and evolves. We are called to transcend the pull to fall into behaviors and reactions that no longer serve us and that are based in a past version of who we were. The antidote to ego-driven resistance is to invoke grace and surrender to the universal flow. To be receptive to what comes, without attachment to the form it comes in. During this upcoming eclipse season we have an opportunity to up-level our relationships, with families, friends, Gaia, animal companions, nature and ourselves. We can re-write the story and offer the old scripts that keep us stuck in templates of woundedness and fear to the Divine for healing and transformation. 

The new moon in Cancer coincides with a partial solar eclipse on the night of July 12th.  The fact that we won’t see it here in the Northern Hemisphere doesn’t mean it will have any less of an impact. New moons herald potential for new beginnings and eclipses are portals of timelessness and possibilities. Cancer is the sign of the mother, home, family, intuition. We can use this energy to reflect on our emotional well-being and connect with our internal landscape for insights around transmuting the no longer resonant ways of being that are not generative or self-loving. Ponder on what it means to feel at home, in your body, with your feelings, on the Earth. How can we nurture ourselves when fears surface? How can we integrate and ground into a place of calm, present presence for others?

With Pluto in Capricorn opposite the eclipse, we may be served up some shadow work. Contemplate the theme of power in your life. Are their areas where you use, abuse, or abdicate it? What does right use of power look like? Move into the heart space and consider that suffering may be a sign that we are being called as individuals and collectively to step into a place of unity and away from illusions of separation. Thank the pain and send it on its way.

On July 27th, a total lunar eclipse in Aquarius is followed by another solar eclipse on August 11th coinciding with the Leo new moon. Leo and Aquarius are consensus oriented. Leo sparks our leadership qualities and Aquarius highlights friendships and community. Consider collaborating with others around innovative ways to use your gifts for the good of the whole. With a healthy dose of detachment, Aquarius can keep a cool head and offer the Cancerian parts of us a broader perspective. Ride this eclipse season by honoring self-care practices, nourishing your vital connections and daring to shine your light brightly for the good of the collective. Experiment and see what wants to be birthed. As the saying goes: Be the change you want to see in the world. Bless the rest and let it go.

We have two essences to help navigate the changes during this summer's journey and beyond:

 Remember Who You Are.

This essence encourages the letting go of the masks we wear, the parts of our identity that no longer fit so that we can step into the truth of who we are.

 Be in Heart

This essence is an invitation to allow the light to shine on the corners of ourselves that we keep in the realm of shadow. It can be a wonderful support in the letting go process and keep us heart-centered. Both can be wonderful allies in bringing us back to the frequency of our heart and helping us move into flow and unity and away from struggle and opposition.

For more musings on eclipses check out the audio here.