Replacing Fear with Wisdom (a Journey with Athena)

This month has been an emotionally painful one for many readers and clients. Election Day in the United States has forced the Shadow Side of the American public to center-stage, and it is ugly.

I've struggled with my own shock, disappointment, fear, and anxiety. I've also worked with many others, through healing and mentoring, that are stuck within these painful emotional states as well. No matter what the reasons for people voting the way that they did, there is a palpable sense of Fear, and a knowing that the USA has been profoundly changed by the results of Nov 8th.

As I've worked with clients (both old and new) for shamanic healing, one goddess has stepped forward repeatedly the past few weeks, Athena.

Isabella Rossellini as Athena in Hallmark Entertainment's The Odyssy (1997)

Although Athena is a Warrior goddess, I've noticed that her Wisdom and Healing aspects have been more present for me and my clients (different warrior goddesses have other strong aspects coming through). She has directed me to the profound Soul Loss that much of the country has experienced, and that healing, grounding, and centering are needed in order to continue to move forward. People are floundering under misinformation, shock, grief, hatred, trauma, and blame. Some are trying to focus their energies towards building more solid, loving communities, while others are moved to speak their Truth, using the mediums of social media.

I have continued to work with clients individually, in my small way, to help expand consciousness, ideas, and increase one's love of others (especially other humans). Athena inspired the most recent journeys during the monthly Beginner/Intermediate Shamanic Journey Group, and has permitted me to write about them for all to experience:

Major Theme: How can we ground & center ourselves when our world has been "rocked?"  How can we feel safe enough to journey/leave our bodies, when we don't even feel safe within our bodies?

• First Journey: Ask your Helping Spirit for a dismemberment, in order to release as much malaise, fear, anxiety, etc. as possible. Once your Spirits have re-formed your energetic body, ask for a simple-yet-powerful technique for shielding, and follow with a discussion on how to bring the technique into the physical realm.
• For example, a past client discovered that Water was the element that most easily cleansed her etheric bodies, and that Fire refilled her. However, she learned that a combination of Fire and Earth would bring those protections into the physical realm, and she was guided to wear Obsidian in her pockets (a volcanic stone).
• Second Journey: Ask your Helping Spirit to introduce you to Athena, and gift her with Offerings (wine, olives, incense, etc). Listen to her wisdom, and ask her to help you retrieve any energy or essence that may be trapped over the Washington, D.C. area. Ask for her Divine Healing, to help you feel whole, healed, and ready for the future.
• If you find that it is difficult to communicate with this deity, or that your focus/concentration is low, ask your Helping Spirit to "reset" your flight-or-flight response. This technique, called "Talking the Jaguar out of the Tree," can help ground & center you within your own body, so that you don't feel buffeted by the intense energies and emotions of the USA.

I encourage all readers to do this journey work, whether alone or with groups of friends. If you need help, or someone to drum for you/hold space, I am here, and I will not leave you alone. We need to strengthen our spiritual communities, and our ties with our Spirits, so that we can move forward into whatever future is coming.