Blogging Shamanic Shifting 2

Shamanic Moon dreams all February

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:10 GMT

Maybe the freeze and thaw cycles of February have churned up more frequent Moon dreams for me. I have visioning Moon crystals, too.

February is the only month that can pass without a Full Moon, but this year Earth's Moon will bid a full good-bye to February on the month's final day. Like every month, February always has Dark Moon moments and there is always the Moon's far-side (or "other side") to consider.

The February 1 announcement that NASA's Constellation project (to return earthlings to the Moon) has been shelved in a drastic direction change to funding private companies to develop space travel (and space tourism) instead, might be stirring up my recent Moon journeying dreams as much as the weather.

Shamans can connect with any phase that the beings, places or flows of the present moment happen to be shifting through. Our Moon's dark, little-known and unseen regions may be shamanic journeyed or dreamed to, as well as the brighter, better known areas. Loopholes and pathways to unimagined possibilities can be conjured amid any current circumstances.

February is also Black History Month, also known as African American History Month, and National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, celebrated with pink ribbons (a color vibration of wonder because it may not exsist). Saint Agatha of Sicily, whose breasts were chopped off during torture sessions (and healed later, by an apparition of Saint Peter) is celebrated on February 5 in many in Christian denominations that follow the western spiritual calendar.

With the souls of saints, activists and researchers who have traveled ahead in spirit, I shall continue my shamanic Moon adventures all month. In my dreams, I shall seek awareness adjustments, healing medicines and surprises hidden in pink rocks.

Have you ever touched Moon rock or Moon meteorite?

Hunting and dancing with shadows on Groundhog Day

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:40 GMT

Image by Barbara L. Hanson via Flickr

Reveling in the present happy holiday synergy of Imbolc, Candlemas (also known as the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple) and Groundhog Day, I lit candles amid clouds and sought the wisdom of dancing shadows. This afternoon my colleague the Tortoise Cat and I saw no signs of our shadows outdoors.

A shamanic journey can head intentionally into the shadows of a life, event or situation, circling around and zeroing in on a period or theme, to shed light on any given present troubles. Shadows may frighten but they signal the undaunted liveliness of Spirit's lights, radiating a new now, re-creating this world's dreams and shapes from the ongoing collapse of open-ended fields of darkness.

Today, back indoors after sweeping snow from the back doorway, I shamanized by a simpler technique, in fun. I played, capered and spun with shadows amid candle lights, then lay down, relaxed on purpose and waited for wise messages and spiritual strength to arise in mind, heart and body.

My experience with ArticleIncome is no-go, so far

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:29 GMT

Image by ZeroOne via Flickr

I signed up for an ArticleIncome.com account on January 6, 2010 and received a notification that my "account is pending."

Then, since the account seemed frozen in pending status, I registered again using a friend&os;s computer and one of my alternative email addresses, just to rule out a glitch. But the same thing happened.

On February 1, I received an email at the first address, with the subject line "IMPORTANT: Regarding Your ArticleIncome Membership - Please Read," from "the new Customer Relations Manager" of ArticleIncome.com.

The email read:

"Hi Elizabeth,

This is an important announcement from ArticleIncome. (Which is why
you are receiving this email even if you specified that you don&os;t
want any newsletters from us.)

My name is Melissa Sencio and I&os;m the new Customer Relations Manager
at ArticleIncome.com. The site and program is now under new management
and hopefully in the coming months you will see a substantial
difference in the value you get out of your membership.

Over the past few weeks, the ArticleIncome Team has spent a lot of
time and energy combating unethical users who open duplicate accounts
to garner points and referral credit, to game the screening system,
and to get back into our system after having been banned.

We have decided that the best way to solve this ornery problem is to
revamp our entire submission and registraton system. Consequently,
ArticleIncome.com will be closing the site for NEW members only.

*Since you are a member nothing else will change other than the
submission policy as detailed below.

======================================================
New Policy - Unique Content Submission Only
======================================================
One major issue we are fighting against is the mass submission of
duplicate content. While currently we accept content that is legally
owned by the submitting member even if duplicate content, we&os;re
planning on limiting content submission to only UNIQUE content.

We feel that accepting higher quality, unique content will only
benefit our network of websites and therefore benefit you as a
member. Our main goal is to get traffic to these sites AND make sure
as many visitors see your articles as possible.

We need to ensure that the best quality content is published on our
sites. This will enable more quality traffic to be driven to your
articles and more money to be made.

We understand that submitting unique content may take longer and
more work. However, in the end your article will most likely receive
more traffic and ultimately more money.

======================================================
Highly Recommended Tool to Make Unique Content - Your Discount Link
======================================================
We would like to recommend a tool that can help you create unique
articles from your already created articles. It is an article
rewriter and spinner tool and it&os;s called "The Best Article Spinner".

This is the only tool we can recommend that produces high quality
unique articles from already written content. We&os;ve secured a
discount for you that is available only for a few days.

Please go here for your discount and to watch the video and see the
powerful features this software offers:

http://www.the-name-of-the-software-was-here.com

If you use this tool to rewrite your articles we&os;re sure you will
get more out of your ArticleIncome Membership."

But when I log in at ArticleIncome, the message is still, "Your account is pending" and I have no further access. Maybe this means my account approval is pending my purchase of the article spinning software ArticleIncome&os;s new management is pushing.

Insisting upon unique content is standard now. However, I cannot understand a website that states it pays for and sells "unique" articles, then peddles article-spinning software to its writers, up front.

Perhaps I am misconstruing this weirdness and my misunderstanding is spiraling out of context. I shall investigate further, if the opportunity arises for me to get to the bottom of the problem and give the place a chance (if my account ever gets activated).

Raising Energy in Ritual intensive, Chicago IL Feb. 6-7

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:26 GMT

Hi Southeastern Wisconsin folks, I apologize for not forwarding this along sooner. I know that a few folks from Milwaukee are planning to come down for this,

My Life123 experience begins

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:26 GMT

Image via CrunchBase

I published a first article on Life123, a content website that purports to be picky about writing quality. My latest quick sampling of articles on the site suggests otherwise.

But it is too soon to tell, because I have yet to return to see how quickly (or if) staff editors are removing the several articles I noticed that did not come close to meeting Life123&os;s editorial guidelines (with incorrect punctuation or misspellings). I skimmed many well written articles while I was browsing there, as well.

Life123 pays contributors up to $20 per article: $5 each for the first 50 and next 500 unique visitors and $10 for the next 500 unique visitors. Contributors may write articles on topics that fit Life123&os;s taxonomy or claim SEO-team-researched titles from a long list.

The Life123 community has four levels: Member, Contributor, Writer and Expert. Life123 encourages publishers at all levels to drive traffic to their own articles, though all are searchable by category and topic on the site.

My one (experimental) article, Choose a Fun Way to Fix Broken Healthy Habits, is up to 14 unique visitors, after minimal efforts to draw readers. (Besides this link, I have posted it only on Twitter and Facebook, so far).

Founded in 2008, Life123.com calls itself "the place to start when you need practical expertise—fast." It is a subsidiary of IAC (Nasdaq: IACI), along with Mindspark.com, Ask.com, Citysearch, Evite, Match.com, ServiceMagic, Bloglines, Zwinky and Excite. Life123 boasts a long list of content partners.

ShamanicShift's Contact and News Portal

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:11 GMT

Greetings! This site is a contact form and shamanic and hypnosis news portal for ShamanicShift, a.k.a. The Rev. Elizabeth, a shamanic minister and consulting hypnotist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

To contact Elizabeth click the CONTACT tab above.

The other tabs lead to news and information about Elizabeth's ministerial, shamanic and hypnosis projects at Shamanic Shift Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Visit Elizabeth's Blogspot or ShamanicShift's FriendFeed to stay in touch.

Or, TWEET with Elizabeth as @ShamanicShift!

News:

Elizabeth is writing a shamanic teaching eBook, Your-Neighborhood-Shaman.net (in progress).

Freelance writing on any topic:

For information about Elizabeth's freelance writing, visit ECP Writes or use this other contact form.

There won't be new posts here, because this is a contact and news portal only.

Posted in Hello Tagged: Milwaukee Wisconsin, Shamanic Shift Center

Suite101 and Demand Studios: Two experiments end...No, they pause

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:06 GMT

In September, 2009, I applied eagerly for freelance writing gigs at Suite101 and Demand Studios. I was thrilled to be accepted by both almost immediately.

I sold several articles to DS and published two articles on Suite101.

It&os;s been a while since I have thought of claiming any titles at DS, although I am still an approved writer there. I am listed at DS under a pseudonym, because errors might get edited into articles once DS owns them. I might go back and grab a few jobs someday.

Who knows if I will suddenly need cash-flow and remember that DS pays up front (via PayPal) twice a week (as well as through revenue share assignments)? There is no minimum number of articles to turn in to stay on their list.

However, this week, with only two articles published on Suite101 after a generous deadline extension in effect, I requested that my contract (to publish at least ten articles every three months as a contributing writer) be terminated. I could not get comfortable at Suite101 and blocked up. I have not figured out why yet.

Suite101 and Demand Studios both are OK to great online writing gigs for many freelancers, but -- for reasons I may never trouble myself to understand -- I have been unable to get myself to produce a significant amount of content for either one of them.

Demand Studios

I became enthused over Demand Studios while perusing FreelanceWritingGigs, a site of freelance gig-inspirations that has partnered with DS.

After glimpsing the inside of DS, I found the detailed Wired article on DS definitive. Unlike many over at DS, I did not read this investigative review as derogatory and was surprised to discover it was received that way.

For favorable reports about DS from freelance writers, read on, here and here, where I was convinced to apply.

DS has been overhauling its system for years, but I arrived during an extra-tumultuous spell. The style guides were revised, then revised again. Twice, articles vanished when I attempted to save a draft.

On one occasion I was shocked to find an article submitted for review as I attempted to save the draft. That one was finished enough to be approved without a rewrite request.

In the DS forum I read scary stories about glitches, absurd and/or rejected re-write requests and unanswered appeals. I chose to let the couple of re-write requests I received lapse and publish those gems elsewhere. I had decided not to expend any more than one hour per piece, for those low but handy upfront payments.

The modest payments, from $3 (for 50 word tips) to $15.00 (for articles) were OK by me, as long as I stayed within the space-time boundaries I set. After all, freelance writing in meat space requires meetings, travel and other 3-D expenses, which cut into the higher rates I get, considerably.

Right before I backed away, DS began rolling out a new image gallery feature and requiring its use instead of uploads. From brand-newness it had too many bugs in it to be useful, but it must be working much better by now.

I have found the DS community to be highly helpful and supportive.

It was the bugs and glitches in the DS platform that drove me to call it quits for a while, though long-term DS writers were vouching in forum discussions that things would surely improve and get better than ever. I do believe them, so I will probably check back, later.

To be continued...

Image via CrunchBase

Suite101

What was it at Suite101 that turned me off?

The blogger whose Suite101 review put a notion in my brain to sign up seems to have gone inactive there as well.

"Turned off" applies only to my writing. I have nothing unfavorable to report about Suite101, nor have I been able to turn up many complaints through web searching.

I did find the Suite101 section and subsection tree a bit tangled and confused from overlapping. I was surprised – not pleasantly – to find that the subsection entitled Shamanism is listed under Mind & Soul > Paganism/Wicca at the discordianism subdomain.

Outdoor and Recreation, focused on activities, still overlaps with the destination focused Travel section. In the forum, many of the section editors have posted particular preferences or peeves, but the Travel editor&os;s list was the only simple, clearly titled, easy to remember example I had found before I took my leave. Her section specific guidelines encouraged and welcomed, and read like a pep talk.

The one copy editor who gave me feedback was nothing more or less than polite. Someone from the main editorial team answered my questions about policies and procedures within a day.

Also, Suite101 Admin informed me I can email a request to be reinstated if and when I hack through the block I was experiencing there.

Though I am not writing for Suite101 now, my articles, profile and membership remain. I continue to earn (Google Adsense) revenue sharing payments from them, though it will take quite a while to reach the $10.00 minimum payout, with so few articles.

While active on Suite101 I published only two articles: The Question of Shamanism Certification and The University of California-Davis Arboretum.

To be continued...

Starhawk in Milwaukee, March 1st 2010

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:29 GMT

Greetings all, I'm very pleased to announce that the Milwaukee Pagan community will be hosting Starhawk on March 1st. The Monday afternoon workshop might be a

HubPages versus Squidoo, an experiment begins

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 16:46 GMT

Image via CrunchBase

Squidoo: I have been using Squidoo as a file system for online references and resources more than a publishing service. My experience, so far: I made Giant Squid status in September, 2009, with 75 lenses.

From all of these lenses I have earned only a couple to a few dollars per month.

The Squidoo community has been friendly and helpful to me and, as a Giant Squid, I receive improvement tips every day by email. Still, I remain unconvinced that time-consuming CSS and html lens tweaking will pay off.

Currently I am coasting on Squidoo while I flow energy toward other projects with more income potential.

I was constructing lenses for fun and future reference, anyway.

Ad-revenue at Squidoo is pooled and shared among lenses ranked higher than #85,000 with higher ranking lenses getting a bigger share. Commissions from modules are shared 50-50 and a limited number of one&os;s own affiliate links can be included (for 100 percent).

There is a complicated provision to receive a share from lensmasters who through an affiliate, and I haven&os;t tried to understand how that works..

Though Squidoo modules are supposed to be simple, the large, diverse array of them can slow, frustrate and daunt a newcomer to the platform. Many have quirks and glitches to work around.

Image via CrunchBase

HubPages: I published my first Hub today. The pub-tool at HubPages is much simpler than Squidoo&os;s, with fewer options, and no apparent way to tweak a hub with code.

Hubbers receive 60 percent of the ad revenue from their own Hubs via individual accounts with Google Adsense, Kontera, Amazon and eBay (for those who merit an eBay affiliate account).

Hubs seem like simplified Lenses to me. Squidoo has modules and HubPages has capsules but the concepts look alike to me.

I will publish more hubs and see how they perform, in fun as well as profit, compared to my lenses.

Freelance writing, my new purpose for this journal

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:41 GMT

Use this contact form to open a conversation about freelance writing.

My writings about shamanic experience, Shamanic Shift Center and related topics are posted on or linked from my blogspot, my shamanic Squidoo lenses or my ebook (in gradual progress) at Your-Neighborhood-Shaman.net.

Use this old contact form for messages about hypnosis consultations, ministerial services or my ever-shifting interpretation of contemporary shamanic ways.

I still collect shamanic links.

I have removed all entries I posted as LJ user "Shamantic!" (before December 22, 2009) because I am changing this journal&os;s purpose.

From now on this blog will be about my freelance writing, freelance writing as a profession and freelancing in general. I may blog information and links for topics I am pondering, researching or keeping for future reference here also.

I am still looking for a look and layout I like.

If you arrived here from a profile link, stand by. More content will appear soon.

Open ritual, Milwaukee

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:00 GMT

Hi all, Just wanted to remind folks that tomorrow's ritual is open. We'll be open at about 6:30 pm for potluck dinner. Thanks all! -shauna *Tending the Clan

Re: File - Welcome to Shamanic Alchemy

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:05 GMT

Hi all, I realized I never posted an intro. My name is Shauna, and I was raised by my hippie parents in Grafton/Cedarburg area north of Milwaukee. My parents

Leadership & Community Building workshop, Nov. 14-15, Milwaukee

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:55 GMT

Greetings all, We're expecting about 20 people at this weekend's class and there's room for more. Some folks have asked me if you have to attend the whole

Where to find me and Shamanic Shift Center besides MySpace

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:11 GMT

Greetings - It's Elizabeth checking in at MySpace, for Shamanic Shift Center! The picture is of The Tortoise Cat, my colleague, enjoying wildlife dreams in our sanctuary's mini-garden next to the eas...

Welcome...But this list isn't active now...Yet....

Tue, 19 May 2009 19:16 GMT

Welcome anyway! I have already advised list members to change their settings to web only (no emails). Because I approve requests to join when they appear to

Happy Spring Holy Days Everyone

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:01 GMT

Hi Everyone, Since this group/circle is mostly dormant I decided to post an update (like I did just before at Shaman Fools) to save it from being deleted and

Happy Passover (continued), Holy Saturday, and Easter (and an update

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:29 GMT

Happy, fun Spring, Everyone, Spring shows and tells it all without the liturgical follies - but it's ALL fun to me. Happy holy days to all! Most of our

Hungry spirals haiku

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:36 GMT

Hungry Spirals Haiku
by Teal Talking Raven

Life's spirals eating

us alive, alive, alive...

Nothing can stop them!

Nom, nom, nom, nach, nach...

delicious...equisite...YUM!

Spring the relentless

Hungriest season,

eat my heart out, why don't cha?!

Yes...I'll die laughing.

Celebrating sea gulls on winds of changes

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 06:24 GMT

We visited Milwaukee again this weekend! Every visit we say it might be our last - mostly because of our older ages.

One of my favorite Milwaukee walking shamanic journeys is to, around, and back from the Milwaukee Art Museum. I usually connect with many favorite bird spirit allies along the way.

The near freezing wind gusted against me mightily but I plodded on because road trips like this are so rare. Chammy had gone to the Milwaukee Public Museum (his favorite) instead, with our friends and neighbors, a much younger, lovely, thoughtful, generous couple we had hitched a ride with.

So my dear Chammy stayed warm while increasing his scientific knowledge while I tramped around in the weather. I have never enjoyed museum exhibits because I long to see 'artifacts' still in sacred use or naturally decaying.

The sky shifted from blue to gray and back again many times. The grasses were half brown, half green. Bright green Tulip and other Spring bulb sprouts had grown to 5-6 inches high already.

We arrived Friday night for the 7pm Shamanic Shift Center circle, then stayed at the Astor Hotel across the street. After coffee and rolls in the hotel's charming little east facing tea room we set out on our separate ways, me bundled up in 3 layers.

Saturday was partly sunny and chill and the clouds had won over the sky by the time we rejoined our friends. Chammy doesn't like Daylight Savings Time but (partly) because of it we had scenic dusky views most of the way home.

Here Spring springs without any troubles

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:50 GMT

Image by Sascha Grant via Flickr

Maybe Spring is the longest season even though it seems to spring up on us! Spring begins before the Vernal Equinox, way back on some secret day during February, as soon as the first warmer, that is warm instead of cold, teaser day dawns, delights, and dusks. As soon as that happy surprise strolling-around-in-shirtsleeves day happens I know Spring is underway, though mostly hidden underground, volcanically bubbling life around and upwards within seeds and roots.

Spring 2009 unfolded in a series of catastrophes for many around the nation and the world, showing how violent and furious life can be. A steady series of economic, financial, and social blows seemed to match an unremitting sequence of large scale or acute Nature traumas - fires, floods, blizzards, earthquakes.

Climate and other earth changes (no matter what the causes) are certainly bringing on worsening ecological distresses and accelerating the extinction of living beings. This energy of troubled elements calls out to me for creative redirection.

Image by nimboo via Flickr

Life for us in this seeming refuge called southeastern Wisconsin stayed comparatively calm and safe but I could feel the blows and shocks from afar reverberating underfoot and within soul. Visits to nearby Milwaukee show me how much even light pollutes earth's ecosystems and severely attenuates humankind's view of the night sky and its inspirational, encouraging, beckoning planets and stars, the ancient life-adventure navigation beacons that used to help us reach beyond all apparent arising limitations.

How do I re-create and resolve these disturbing patterns within myself as a shamanic death and resurrection prayer? I take ordinary-reality action through charitable relief and social change efforts as much as possible then I wait.

I sit and take in as much as I can of what is and breath and dream on it. Then I stroll and imagine on it.

For every scenario of suffering that appears I superimpose and transmit one of this haven's vibrant, beautiful images. Who knows if or how this is effective? If it changes me, it changes the universe by that much, is my conviction, and some days only my 'act as if'.

Randi keep debunking and dowsers keep dowsing!

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 03:08 GMT

Quoting Randi speaks truth! | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine:I?ve already mentioned that my man Randi has started a new video series, but I wanted to call your attention to this week?s in particular. Randi is on his game here, funny and fierce and

We exchanged shamanic Valentine's Day masks

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 03:37 GMT

Image via Wikipedia

Happy V's Day, belated! Valentine's Day is tied to themes of fertility, courtly love, poetry, and martyrdom. Martyrdom?

Two or three or maybe 14 Saint Valentines lived during the Christian haydays, whose energy-flows and life patterns now seem merged. At least the first two Saint Valentines were martyrs to keeping the faith yet no one knows very much about any of them.

Maybe it was the vibrant RED of the Eucharistic vestments and altar trappings on feast days in honor of martyrs against the priest's alb and white linens that linked the martyred Saint Valentines to the theme of lovers joining. Red and white as colors are alchemical lovers.

Red, the color of wine, roses, and desire and white the color of bread, lilies, and snow, dance together yet separately, through this originally Pagan celebration of Spring's earliest dreams and hints of bright flowers and happy birdsongs. Then they flow into our modern Valentine's Day red on white love tokens.

Anyway, this year Chammy and I commemorated and blended all the themes and energy-flows of Valentine's Day by making each other Valentine's Day shamanic masks. Can you imagine that?

Oh, more belated happy day wishes! Happy Friday the 13th, too! This year there will be two more Friday The Thirteenths (in Live Science).

Before I was old enough to know of the common superstitions about unluckiness around the number 13 or Friday, my Grandmother had instructed me that 13 was her special luckiest number and Friday was her extra-lucky day of the week. She never told me why and now, as I remember her, I suppose it may have been for secret reasons, and/or to keep me from being afraid of the number 13 or of anything numbered 13 or of Friday the 13th.

Feed digests for science and religion news stories

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 17:53 GMT

Image by DaylandS -Married 20 Years on Feb 13th via Flickr

Two RSS feed digests you can subscribe to: Unless or until Feed Informer ceases its feed digesting service our circle has a Plus account there. Currently we can digest 100 news sources into 100 RSS feed digests which can show 100 items.

We have not been able to pay up for this wonderful service due to ownership and other changes (from what used to be Feeddigest). The message on the account details page at Feed Informer's website still states that their payment service is being transitioned, and not to worry, that our service will continue. So far we have been unable to connect to find out more. The login that is supposed to allow us to join a support forum won't work and comments left on their blog just get deleted without response.

So the feed digests I am about to tell about here could cease to exist suddenly. In the meanwhile we keep using the service. We also display these feed digests on Shamantic!'s old portal website, here. The URLs to subscribe are below. (You can substitute 'atom' for 'rss' if you prefer the atom version.)

Chammy curates a feed digest of science news and blogging -
http://app.feed.informer.com/digest3/SOW9YQK6N7.rss
So far this digest draws from 35 sources.

I curate a feed digest of religious and spiritual news and blogging -
http://app.feed.informer.com/digest3/ISZJ4VGZ9R.rss
So far my digest only draws from 11 sources.

Update 2/15 - I have about doubled the number of feeds included in mine.

I wrote a wings poem while celebrating birds and trees

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:16 GMT

Image by Sergey Yeliseev via Flickr

New NOW Wings

A Free Verse Poem
by Chammy

Wholly, Holey, Holy
HEAVEN as Earth,

Multi-holi-dimensional rainbow incarnate,
seamless, stretched thin, garment - of
LIFE, the universe, and this fool,

Gravitationally distorted, wildly warped, expanding container,
nevertheless, the best for making LIGHT
of anything,

Wrap around me, rapt, in this cosmic fun!

Refine and purify me
with each uncoiling weirder, wispier, wickeder
spacetime moment,

While impossible, unauthorized,
ultra-shiny, extra-blazing new now-WINGS unfurl

on my feet,
on my heart,
on my head!

Also: For me, this is the month and season for celebrating birds of all kinds. They are springing into singing every morning. And to go with celebrating the birds of earth, another New Year is happening.

Tree New Year! The New Year of Trees, or Tu Bishvat is Monday, February 9th, 2009. This is a Jewish holiday so it begins at sundown, Sunday, February 8th.

Comet Lulin is visible! The green Comet Lulin now on approach for a fly-by can be viewed with naked eyes under the darkest, clearest night skies. Lulin will pass closest to Earth (0.41 AU - 38 million miles) on February 24th. Lulin's green color is from cyanogen (CN) and diatomic carbon (C2) glowing in sunlight.

*More...Update...A Penumbral Lunar Eclipse!* The first of four penumbral lunar eclipses in 2009 happens Monday, February 9th. It will be visible in the western United States at 6:38am (Pacific Time, or 1438 GMT), and many other places, but not here where the moon will have set.

Wow...That is tomorrow early morning, already, as I add this! Healer Diana Allen shares a more astrological perspective of it.

Healworld and Prayer-Request Twttrstrm Shout-Outs

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 10:27 GMT

Image by Shamanic Shift via Flickr

Where would you like Twitter Healers to send healing? Go here to shout-out your answer. There is also a module for voting for the next featured location. Our circle participates with the Twitter Healers every day sending healing energy-flow towards the location chosen for the day during shamanic dreaming, journeying, and prayer-shifting periods. When we give healing attention to one place it radiates over the net to all places and the whole world.

What topics, peoples, situations, events, and individuals would you add to our circle's prayer-shift list for daily shamanizing? Our Twttrstrm shout-out is here. Our prayer-list is here. Please join in, whether you tell about it or not!

Calming vitalizing road trip along Wisconsin Hwy 18

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:35 GMT

Image by Heyes via Flickr Road Journey: I'm blogging from Shamanic Shift Center in Milwaukee tonight! Chammy and I will be staying at the Astor Hotel across the street, nothing fancy. But we are both too old to bed down on the floor anymore, I hate to admit.

It is rare to be here in Milwaukee and even rarer to be able to attend the Friday night circle in person. We are among those who join in, in Spirit, every week through non-ordinary reality.

We traveled here with neighbors who are visiting relatives and shopping. I was very happy that we drove along Hwy 18 most of the way so I could peer through the tree branches for glimpses of Red-Tail Hawks, Barn Owls, and Crows.

The drive was calming and vitalizing. I blurred my eyes and tilted my head sideways as I gazed out the car window. I spotted several raptors perched in barren branches, none circling or soaring, and many crows, some perched but many more climbing and diving, as if for fun.

We shall be returning to our hideout tomorrow night. Now already we are amid deciding between visiting the Milwaukee Public Museum and the Milwaukee Art Museum for a challenging excursion tomorrow. But we may go sight-seeing from a Yellow Cab instead if we can reconnect with our regular driver.

A young lady named Ann who drove up from Chicago was here for her first visit to the Friday night Shamanic Shift Center circle, but not her first shamanic journey. Tonight the circle's overall intention was catalyzing more emerging beautiful, crystaline pockets of order from chaos of all shapes, sizes, forms, and kinds throughout the world.

Update: Due to the hospitality of another circle companion (who did not attend the circle) we have overnight accomodations in an extra bedroom. And we are turning in early! Elizabeth was simmering vegetable, rice, and bean soup during the circle which was delicious for summer with sourdough bread.

Celebrating sunspots as the days glow lighter

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:22 GMT

Image via Wikipedia
This blog is still about seeking and finding beings and wonders to celebrate. I celebrate both natual and human wrought wonders.

Today I visited SpaceWeather.com, usually my first stop on the web, and found, natually, a new cause for celebrating. I had just been expressing my appreciation to our sun as I took my daily walk, outside again, noticing the longer day, basking in the warmer temperature.

Then I read that a new Solar Cycle 24 sunspot was born two weeks ago over the sun's eastern horizon. NASA has been watching it though the STEREO mission, through the ultraviolet telescopic lenses of two identical spacecraft orbiting opposite each other. Now NASA is showing the world this weirdly green (and hey, that's OK by me) amazing little movie of it.

So today in my shamanizing I'm celebrating these wonders of space weather and rocket science! (When I was a child all of rocket science was still in the dreaming stages of life.)

Blogging Shamanic Shifting 2

Shamanic Moon dreams all February

Hunting and dancing with shadows on Groundhog Day

My experience with ArticleIncome is no-go, so far

Raising Energy in Ritual intensive, Chicago IL Feb. 6-7

My Life123 experience begins

ShamanicShift's Contact and News Portal

Suite101 and Demand Studios: Two experiments end...No, they pause

Starhawk in Milwaukee, March 1st 2010

HubPages versus Squidoo, an experiment begins

Freelance writing, my new purpose for this journal

Open ritual, Milwaukee

Re: File - Welcome to Shamanic Alchemy

Leadership &amp; Community Building workshop, Nov. 14-15, Milwaukee

Where to find me and Shamanic Shift Center besides MySpace

Welcome...But this list isn't active now...Yet....

Happy Spring Holy Days Everyone

Happy Passover (continued), Holy Saturday, and Easter (and an update

Hungry spirals haiku

Celebrating sea gulls on winds of changes

Here Spring springs without any troubles

Randi keep debunking and dowsers keep dowsing!

We exchanged shamanic Valentine's Day masks

Feed digests for science and religion news stories

I wrote a wings poem while celebrating birds and trees

Healworld and Prayer-Request Twttrstrm Shout-Outs

Calming vitalizing road trip along Wisconsin Hwy 18

Celebrating sunspots as the days glow lighter

Leadership & Community Building workshop, Nov. 14-15, Milwaukee