Category Archives: Travel

Is an Artichoke Just an Artichoke?

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Four Artichokes © 2009 Charlene Nevill

Answers to our questions come to us in many ways, but most of the time we aren’t listening and we don’t see what’s right in front of us. But lately, I’ve been paying attention to everything that crosses my path looking for signs and omens. So when I opened my front door one morning recently and saw four big artichokes laid out neatly on a piece of newspaper at the base of a street lamp, I had to wonder if Spirit was trying to tell me something. If it had been just one artichoke in the middle of the street or at the edge of the sidewalk, I wouldn’t have noticed. But this was unusual. And it’s the oddity – the thing out of place – that’s meant to grab us and wake us up.

So what could this possibly mean? The edible flower bud of a thistle-like plant in the sunflower family, the artichoke was considered a delicacy and an aphrodisiac by ancient Greeks and Romans and was thought to be effective in securing the birth of boy babies. Other than the Greek connection, I wasn’t feeling that the artichokes had a message for me.

But how about the number four? In many cultures, ceremonies and ritual acts are repeated in fours. In Hinduism, four represents totality, plenitude, and perfection. In Greek mythology, four is the sacred number of Hermes, messenger of the gods. And Hermes is the patron saint of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, helping them have a safe and easy journey. This was beginning to look like a good omen after all! It is believed that the ancient Greeks would sacrifice to Hermes before traveling. Maybe I could sacrifice some artichokes.

 

A Conversation with Source

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To prepare for my trip to Delphi I’ve started doing ‘deep soul writing’. Inspired by Neale Donald Walsch, author of Conversations with God, I decided a while ago that if Walsch could access Source, so could I. But it wasn’t until I read Janet Conner’s book, Writing Down Your Soul, that I actually started doing it. After following Conner’s four steps (show up; open up; listen up; and follow up) and practicing for a few weeks, I asked Source what to expect from my trip and I got answers! As is common with this process, my pen wrote as if possessed.

C: Dear Spirit, PLEASE: (Conner suggests finding your own name for Source and using it along with some kind of an invocation each time you sit down to write.)

“If it is helpful for me to know what happened to me in Delphi, please let me see it.”

S: “It is not time yet.”

C: “What else should I be looking at now to prepare myself for this trip.”

S: “Make yourself as strong as you possibly can. You will be tested mentally, emotionally and physically. Only by preparing will you survive this test.”

C: “After this experience, will I know what my mission is? Will I have access to Source to guide me?”

S: “You know what it is you are to do, but you need clarity, you need strength and confidence. To prepare, continue to absorb the writings and experiences of others who have been tested. Follow their lead and know you will be protected by everyone around you.”

C: “Is there anything else I need to know or to do at this time?”

S: “Be still and let information come. Record all your thoughts and your dreams. Know that the dreams and the voices that have come are leading you along your path.”

This was pretty amazing – a bit ominous, but encouraging nonetheless. I’ve been writing every day since this conversation with what Conner calls The Voice, but nothing else has come through yet, at least not in writing. But when I asked (implored is more like it) the Source for courage to pull the trigger on this trip and for inspiration to start this blog, I got answers of a different sort. More on that tomorrow!

 

All Roads Lead to Greece

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It all started with the oracle cookies. I was Googling around and stumbled upon a chapter from Colette Baron-Reid’s book, Messages From Spirit: The Extraordinary Power of Oracles, Omens, and Signs, in which she describes Aleuromancy, or divination by flour. Intrigued, I read on and learned that the ancient Greeks wrote symbols on pieces of cloth or papyrus and rolled them into dough balls and baked them. The balls were then passed around and questions were asked of the Divine.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the cookies. Colette includes instructions for making a modern version of these confections using a big white bowl, a wooden spoon and a few very specific ingredients. I went back to look over the recipe and a sentence about Apollo and the Delphic Oracle caught my eye. I felt compelled to look up the Oracle immediately, and when I saw the image of the Pythia, I saw myself. I was transfixed.

Priestess of Delphi (1891) John Collier

Priestess of Delphi (1891) John Collier

I immediately did a screen grab of John Collier’s painting and sent it around to five of my closest friends asking them to tell me if they ‘got’ anything from looking at the image. That’s all I said; nothing more. Todd wrote back within five minutes with this: “It’s you, isn’t it?” And a week later when my trusted friend and mentor Angelika finally looked at the image, she started shrieking, “Oh my God! Oh my God!”, and she told me I must go to Delphi, I must go soon, and I must go alone. And as if that wasn’t enough, Dr. Stephanie, a natural clairvoyant and healer, wrote: “Wow! This is a powerful image. I can see you in there––aspects of your strength that were still intact before there was a distortion. Reconnecting with this aspect of yourself will begin to heal the distortion that occurred between then and now.”

I never made the cookies. But I did book my trip to Greece.

The Journey Begins

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I’ve felt a blog coming on for a very long time. I’ve managed to avoid it until now, but at last I feel I have something I want to share.

Let me start by telling you about the Blessing Moon. In Scott Blum’s book, Waiting for Autumn, a homeless man named Richard introduces him to a ritual that involves breathing in the energy of the moon. Our agrarian ancestors called the full moon in July the Blessing Moon because it’s the time of year when the earth begins to yield her bounty. According to Blum’s homeless friend, the Blessing Moon is the perfect time to begin a spiritual journey.

And so it was that I found this story on the very day of the full moon in July. I was entranced with the idea of breathing in the moon and I wanted to experience this ritual myself, perhaps because my own ancestors farmed land in Minnesota and in Norway. That night when the moon began to show itself, I positioned myself on my back porch and watched as it rose slowly over the treetops. When it was in full view, I raised both hands up on either side of my head, palms open, facing the moon just as Richard described to Scott. Then I lifted my head back and squinting at the moon, I breathed in the cold, crisp air.

I wish I could tell you that I experienced instant enlightenment, but of course, it doesn’t happen that way for most of us. I did feel slightly invigorated, though, and I vowed to revisit this practice each month. Since then, I’ve begun a meditation practice, I started a course in hands-on healing, I’ve begun working with my animal spirit guides, I’ve started writing down my soul, and I’ve booked a pilgrimage to Delphi. I have much to tell you about all of these things and more. And I have to tell you that at times I’m terrified! But that’s a good thing, right? As Duane Garrison Elliott, my former boss at Tiffany & Co. used to say,  “Do what terrifies you most––everything else is boring.”

So please join me on my journey. And as we go along, I hope you’ll share your stories with me.