Newsletter #7 from Alchemical Healing Arts & Sharlyn Hidalgo February 2012

I know it isn’t spring yet but I sure am looking forward to it. The sky is cloudy today and the rain falls in a soft drizzle. I am looking forward to seeing the sun again! Right now we are under the influence of the Nuin Ash Tree. Its portal falls from February 21st until March 20th. We are also under the influence of Pisces. There are many planets and asteroids that fall in the sign of Pisces at this time this year: Neptune, the moon, the sun, Pallas Athena (the daughter archetype, wisdom) , Chiron (the wounded healer) , Mercury, and Vesta (the sister archetype, service). Neptune has just entered her home sign, and she will be in Pisces until 2025. So that in itself is a double measure of Pisces. You could say that it is raining Pisces! Pisces is a water sign after all. Pisces is all about spirit, community, forgiveness, oneness, love, and compassion. Its darker side speaks to fears, escapism, and addiction processes.

Pisces is certainly emphasized for all of us right now. Don’t be too hard on yourself if your head is in the clouds and it is hard to stay focused on tasks or details. We are clearly being influenced by Piscean energy, and it is easier to communicate with the subtle realms. Many of us feel more psychic and impressionable, and many are receiving cosmic downloads of all kinds. Try to make some time for a relaxing bath, or a good read, or a gentle walk in nature. It is a good time to listen to music and to create something. Rest and quite time is a good remedy for that feeling of being too sensitive and perhaps overwhelmed by the energies of others. Pay attention to your dreams and write them down if you can. We can all feel that we are changing and that we are becoming more united, more global, and more cosmic. Unity consciousness is bringing more of us together who desire peace and are willing to work on ourselves, rather than blame or hate others. And yet we are still willing to hold those who choose to defraud or harm the public good accountable. We are uniting together for the good of all.

The message of the Ash tree is similar to the message of Pisces. It was the 3 Meliae, the nymphs of creative feminine wisdom, who gave Odin the Norse god the gift of the runes after he hung from the world tree for 9 days; this was his dark night of the soul. Their message being all dark nights of the soul eventually end, and great gifts are promised if we can "just hang in there" (please excuse the pun.) We will gain a more soulful connection to life that. We gain more compassion, understanding, and often are given the gift of healing.

If we all can sit under the metaphoric world tree, we can connect to every single being on the planet and every single living plant and animal. We can feel the unity of life under this tree that loves and supports us. We are enlivened by the subtle life force energy. We are imbued with the wisdom of nature, and awed by the incalculable complexity and beauty of all existence on our planet. We can’t help but feel gratitude for this gift, and for its amazing diversity. Just thinking that every snow flake is made of a different intricate and delicate design is enough to blow your mind, but then think of the whole web of existence. Take a moment to sit under your own sacred tree at the center of your heart. Take a moment to meditate on the holly ground within yourself. Allow the balm of your own central tree of love, compassion, and understanding to infuse you; allow her to listen to you and to answer you.

This seems an appropriate place to share a thought from my book The Healing Power of Trees. "Never think you are one tiny, inconsequential speck of life without power and purpose. When you turn away from lies and hurtful, self-hating programming ad begin to live from your inner fire and inspiration, you affect everything in this world including other people. Ash offers you a guide for how to accomplish this." (80) For those of you who have my book, it is a great time to reread the Ash chapter. The guidance that she offers, simply put, is that if we but can accept the difficulties and problems in our lives as teachers, we stop resisting their lessons. It is often the challenges that we are faced with that force us to look more deeply inside, and to make a deeper connection with spirit. This is just the way we are, and this is just the way life in this dimension seems to be. When things go wrong, we are encouraged to ask for help, and we just may listen to that small wise voice within, which is our true guide. We all have one for sure.

"When you feel alone, isolated, or overwhelmed, call forth Ash’s energy. Imagine yourself sitting under her tall umbrella of branches and leaves, with your back leaning against her firm trunk. Feel her strong roots connecting you to the earth, feel the trunk supporting your body and feel her branches and leaves stretching up to sky and the cosmos. You were made this way too, and this tree will connect you to a body sense of knowing that you are part of the whole and that you are never alone.

When you feel fate is going in the wrong direction, travel to your central tree and invite the three fates to sit in counsel with you. Tell them your concerns and negotiate strategies for new outcomes. Be open to their counsel as they are the representatives of your own wisdom, intuition, and knowing." (86, 87) Blesses be to the power and teaching of the Ash and her portal.

As for myself right now, I am working on the final edits of my new book entitled Mohamed Nazmy: Love is my Religion, The Mysteries of Egypt, Spiritual Travel, and a Vision for Peace. I hope to have it competed in March. As many of you know, I have been working on this for over a year and a half and I will be so excited to share it with you when it is complete. Mohamed owns Quest Travel in Egypt and he runs the spiritual tours for many famous new thought teachers and authors. He has become such a powerful catalyst and mentor in my life and I credit this to his open hearted love, his humor and laughter, and his joy of sharing Egypt. And then at the end of April I will travel to Egypt and lead my first tour there. So I am very excited and enthralled with these two big projects. Even so, at my heart I am a Celtic girl, and nature, the British Isles, and the trees are my loves.

When I return at the end of May I am thinking of offering an individualized apprenticeship program so that I can act as a mentor for a few people who want to study the Celtic mysteries in depth and take on the practice. I would also help you apply these teachings to your daily life, your challenges, and your aspirations. I will include information about the Wheel of the Year, teach you the ceremonies and rituals associated with the holidays, and share the tree teachings so that you too can teach others about this rich heritage. So if you are interested in an apprenticeship, let me know. I believe we would need to work once a month for an hour or so, with homework in between, for a year, with a final ceremony at the end. I am thinking of working via skype which makes it very easy for you if you do not live in the area.

I will be doing a talk on the spring trees on May 30th, Wednesday, at 7 pm at the East/West Bookshop in Seattle. I will just be home from Egypt, and will share a bit about the trip as well. So if you live in the area I would love to have you come.

So I send you blessing for the end of winter, and the beginning of spring on the 21st of March when we begin the teachings of the Hawthorn Tree. It isn’t that far away. The crocuses and the daffodils are shooting up out of the ground already. May the muses bring you light and laughter and encourage you to play. Make music, draw pictures, build fairy houses, have some light hearted fun…. Keep your heart as light as a feather and don’t believe the thoughts that take you places you don’t want to go.

I have enjoyed sitting under the cosmic tree with you where there is so much love, acceptance, and spaciousness; there’s room for us all and for all the fauna and flora too! Nature is alive and my, what a world of wonder we have been gifted. Keep the magic alive no matter what!
Blessings, Sharlyn Louise