The magic well

A well is currently being pounded into the ground at my little cottage on the lake.  Due to the close proximity of the road behind the cottage, it is being drilled a couple of feet from the corner of the cottage.  Needless to say, the noise and rattling of my dwelling is ridiculous.  After drilling down about 110 feet my Professional Well Guy has still not found water.....pretty strange since I am a few feet from a decent sized body of water.  Apparently that has nothing to do with it. 
Ten years ago, I ran off for 2 years to the mountains of New Hampshire.  I lived in a one room (off the grid) shack on stilts for 6 months while a bunch of Merry Mountain Men built my log cabin.  The well at my new property was drilled first,  because it had to be in front of the cabin.  The drilling rig would be perched in the forest on the side of the mountain.
I had a good friend, named Littlebird, living there at the time, who claimed to have intuitive powers in many areas.  That was cool with me, but I really didn't pay much attention to it, since I didn't have any real need of those kinds of services at the time.....or so I thought. 
Littlebird and I were roaming around on the future site of my cabin one day when she decided to "find" water for me.  I watched in mild amusement as she broke a Y shaped branch off a nearby tree and proceeded to wander around holding on to ends of it in her hands with one end pointed out in front of her.  After several minutes of me struggling to contain my mirth,  the stick seemed to point down to the ground rather forcibly at her feet.  I thought it was a pretty neat trick to make that stick look like it was being pulled by some invisible force down to the ground.  "Yup" she said, "there's your water!"  "Okie dokie," I smirked to myself. 
The Professional Well Guy was scheduled to come soon.  Later that day, a respectable looking, middle-aged man drove up in his pick-up truck to size up the situation and decide the most likely place for the big well-drilling rig that was arriving the next day.  I was hoping my friend would not feel too offended when the Professional Well Guy picked a different spot for the well. He stood there for several minutes and then paced around for a few more.  I could see that he was coming up with some logical and calculated conclusions as to a possible spot to start drilling for water. 

Then to my complete astonishment, he walked over to a tree and broke off a Y shaped branch.  He proceeded to wander around holding it in front of him in the same fashion as my friend had.  Since these two people had never met before, I started to pay attention.  In exactly the same spot that Littlebird had supposedly "found" water earlier in the day, my Professional Well Guy "found" it too.  At that moment it occurred to me that this was going to be my "magic well."  I guess that people think differently in that neck of the woods.  I know that my ability to believe in magic and the power of unseen forces was restored to me in that special place in the forest 10 years ago.

Sage, a Feather, and a Stone

As a mother of 4 grown children, I try with some success not to worry about them when they have problems.  I am fortunate to have children that call me and share their lives, including their hopes and fears with me on a regular basis.  I feel honored to be included in their lives this way, but it can be difficult to be supportive and positive at all times.   Today was one of those days where I needed to "do something" with my anxiety about a particular outcome one of my sons was facing. 

Having been raised a Catholic, I had plenty of ritual in my life over the years.  But at a certain point, it started to feel contrived, and I needed to move on to something that held more meaning for me.  It was the start of my spiritual journey and over several decades, I read about many different spiritual concepts.  One in particular came into my life 10 years ago, because of some lovely friends that practiced a Native American Spirituality.  We shared many wonderful full moon ceremonies, and I even attended a Native American Sundance.  It was an extremely moving experience.  Partly because of these people, I moved to the remote mountains of New Hampshire after a divorce and built a log cabin on the side of a mountain.  I spent a glorious 2 years roaming the forests, painting and enjoying the solitude. 

When I moved back, my Native American friends had all dispersed to different parts of the country.  I felt compelled to continue my spiritual quest and left my Native American period behind me. 

I have saved several precious gifts from my friends during that time.  A beautiful sacred feather, a healing stone that I found at The Sundance Ceremony, my abalone shell for burning sage, along with a small pouch of dried sage, among other lovely mementos.  

Recently I felt compelled to unpack these items, and today felt like the perfect day to hold my own little ceremony.  There is really no special way that a ceremony needs to be performed, so I just did what felt right.  It felt healing to sit by the lake, burn a little sweet smelling sage, wafting some of it out into the universe with a prayer for my son and his journey.  My smooth healing stone rested in my lap. 

This simple little "homemade" ceremony helped disperse my anxieties and enabled me to spend my day in peace.  I just received a phone call that all is well in my son's world. 

Did my ceremony make a difference for him?  I really don't know.  It did sooth my frazzled energy, so that I wasn't sending "worried vibes" his way.  Since I believe we are all connected, then perhaps sage, a feather and a stone did make a difference.

Holding My Candle

For some years now I have used the term "Captured Reflections" as a description for my paintings. Since my subject matter most often centers around women, children and water, I felt it was a nifty way to describe what I was doing.
Lately it has occurred to me that there are other things that I am drawn to, including photography of the lake, clouds and other photos of things that capture my interest.  I also feel a desire to share my thoughts or reflections about life on occasion. Perhaps I might be fortunate to capture and reflect a nugget of insight along the way.
In this world of instant communication, there is much to fuel our fears and sadness.
I hope this blog will be my way of holding a candle instead of cursing the darkness.  If we share our light, I believe that we can make a difference and illuminate that darkness. I hope that you will find something of interest or share a comment if the spirit moves you.