Eagle Creek and the Waters of Renewal

Eagle Creek was one of my favorite hikes before the Gorge fire in 2017.

I know other people loved it, too. Of all the beautiful hikes in the Columbia River Gorge, Eagle Creek was one of the most popular, with good reason. Not only was it a comfortable hike through gorgeous forest, but it took you along the creek to a spectacular waterfall and swimming hole. I traversed that trail many times and have enjoyed several epic picnics at the waterfall.

When the Gorge burned for months in 2017, I was devastated. Everyone was devastated.

In an interesting twist of timing, I had hiked that very trail not long before the fire, and had collected some water for ceremony from the creek. I had no idea that would be the last time I visited that sacred place for years to come (the trail is still closed), and that this rejuvenating spring of life and flow would soon be engulfed in flames and choked with ash.

When the fire began, I used some of my collection right away as part of a water blessing ceremony. But after that, the jar of Eagle Creek water stayed closed for over a year. It felt as though the water itself was in shock, and needed to rest and be still.

Sometime last year, the Eagle Creek water started calling to me. It was ready to work again, slowly and gently. I started using it on my altar, and noticed the energy it brought to the container held a profound mastery of Death and Rebirth. The Eagle Creek water held the burning fires of transformation.

At the end of last year, as I was going through my own major Death process, the Eagle Creek water made its presence known even more powerfully, and brought to my healing work a deep sense of surrender, trust and allowing. The Eagle Creek water held the wisdom of letting go, of releasing the unnecessary, of purification.

This morning as I redid my altar and was replacing the water, Eagle Creek water shouted at me with its strength and power. I felt it bursting with life, renewal and creative potential. Eagle Creek is alive and thriving. The burn scars are still there, but aliveness is exploding forth from the purified Earth. This morning, the Eagle Creek water showed me that it held the sacred rage and grief of all those who loved this place. It held the death and sacred destruction of the fires. It held the burning, the release, the purification. But the Eagle Creek water also holds life, renewal, vitality, and resurrection. It holds the aliveness of growing things, of new form, of building new structures. Eagle Creek water offered to support me in cultivating these energies, in my life and in the world.

This was the last of the water that I collected 2 1/2 years ago at one of my favorite places on Earth. As I meditated this morning with my revitalized altar, the powerful energies of Eagle Creek and its rebirth were undeniable.

I am so grateful to this sacred place and to the elements of this place for holding space not only for my own healing and transformation, but for so many people. This place was beloved by many. So many people walked the trail, swam in the pool, enjoyed its magic. So many people grieved as Eagle Creek burned.

I can only hope that as many people are receiving the powerful aliveness and renewal that is emanating from Eagle Creek now. As I embody the wild, untamed, pure life-ness of Eagle Creek and let this rejuvenating force express through me, may it benefit all beings.

If you've been to Eagle Creek, I invite you to tune in to your embodied, wild awareness of that sacred space. What energy do you notice there?

If you've never been to Eagle Creek, I still invite you to tune in to this sacred space. What do you notice in your embodied awareness of this powerful place?

What would be possible for you if you had full, uninhibited access to expressing the most wild, free, untamed, powerful parts of yourself? What would be different in your life, in the lives of your loved ones, and in the world if you were to embody your own, wild nature?

Are you ready to join me in the Embody Wild™ movement? Apply here

Many blessings,

Eagle Creek before the fire (image from Oregon Wild)

Animal Song

ANIMAL SONG: What does it mean to be an Animal Song Carrier?

A person who has been gifted the role of Animal Song Carrier fully embodies the medicine of that Totem. The Animal who chooses to offer its song to you declares in doing so that it gives you permission to access its magic, and that it trusts you to hold its energy and bring it forth into the world. The Animal Guide who invites you to carry its song empowers you with its medicine so that you can, together, co-create alchemy on the Earth plane. The Animal totem, after all, has a purpose and wisdom all its own, and by sharing its song with you, invites you to enact its vision into reality.

Working with Animal Totems is a significant component of my medicine and my discovery of Animal Song began (subconsciously) when I was very young. I have felt a deep connection with animals for as long as I can remember—in fact, my very first memory of this lifetime features the dog that my parents had when I was born (my parents are nowhere in this memory). As a child, when walking in the woods, wild deer would gently step out from between the trees to look at me before moving away into the dappled shadow. I remember visiting a flock of swans and watching them aggressively chase away other children who approached, and yet they allowed me to walk among them and sit peacefully in their midst.

The idea of connecting with animals in the energetic realm always made sense to me. My favorite stories growing up involved talking animals, and I read every book of Native American folk tales I could get my hands on because animals were featured as powerful, intelligent beings with a purpose and wisdom completely separate from human motivations.

I experienced my first Shamanic journey to discover my Spirit Animal when I was 14 years old. The Totem that revealed itself to me made its presence known in my life in a beautiful, supportive way, and I still receive the benefit of her guidance, even 15 years later.

As I deepened my relationship with Animal Guides, I discovered that I had many. I devoted myself to meditating with my guides, learning their medicine and honoring their wisdom. I found that some guides work specifically with certain situations and energies, some are present for short periods and others are lifelong totems.

Eagle is one such governing Totem in my life. In 2012, while offering blessings to a pair of bald eagles, they told me: “Eagle Song is more than the cries of the bird—it is the BEING of an eagle. It is the movement of air over feathers and the flexing of powerful feet and talons. It is observing without being observed. It is intensely knowing your body and valuing every part: there is no waste, only maximum efficiency for flight. But there is a part beyond our physical selves: that which lives between the layers and flies to the sun and back. This, too, is Eagle Song. Our wisdom comes from intimately knowing these parts and uniting them in our Highest Selves. We—and you, too, Child of Earth and Light—are far more than our physical bodies.”

In 2015, I participated in a traditional Native American dance ceremony, during which the Eagles told me that I am an Eagle Song Carrier. It was then that I truly delved into the essence of Animal Song and learned the enormous magic that comes from receiving such a gift. Being a Song Carrier for an Animal Totem is both an honor and a responsibility. By answering the call of the Spirit Animal who entrusts you with its Song, you effectively create a soul contract with that archetype to actualize its energy on the physical plane. You offer yourself as the vessel through which the medicine of this Animal Guide may flow as it works its own brand of magic for the well-being of Earth.

I carry other Animal Songs as well, but Eagle was the first to initiate me into this medicine. As such, I honor this totem through my work, and help others align with the Song of Animal Totems through private sessions, journey work and events featuring a particular Animal Guide.

It is my honor to facilitate another such event this Sunday afternoon (January 29), during which we will connect with Wolf Song. Wolf medicine is very strong in its cycle of power at this time and wishes to share its magic with the Earth plane for the benefit of all. Please join me this weekend to tune in to this powerful wisdom and let us together honor Wolf Song. Event information here.

Image by EntheoNation