Tween Time: Cross-quarters

As the cross-quarter approaches, a doorway in between time and space opens. It happens 4 times a year. Cross-quarters are the mid point between a solstice and equinox.

The time around the end of October and the beginning of November is the mid-point between the Fall Equinox and the Winter Solstice. As a culture here in the U.S., most people celebrate or acknowledge Halloween in various ways. This holiday is a celebration of the cross-quarter.

In the past, I used to facilitate the Sacred Circle Gathering in Ocala National Forest at Camp Ocala. I offered the Gathering for 13 years on the first weekend of November. It was a very profound experience. It consisted of ceremonies to release negativity using smudging, drumming and rattling around the fire circle. We always created Prayer Ties which are small bundles of tobacco strung together. We made 7 bundles based on a Native American tradition. We put our prayers into the tobacco with our intention and then we wore those 7 ties hanging over our left ear for the whole weekend until the closing ceremony as a reminder to maintain prayerfulness.

I also facilitated various experiences throughout the weekend to help people connect with their power animal, trust exercises, meditations and time to play and relax by the lake. The 2 biggest events over the weekend involved building a medicine wheel and the Crystal Grid and Alignment.

The Crystal Grid and Alignment is a powerful guided meditation with 20 - 60 people. It involves creating sacred geometry with the participants laying in a particular one dimensional tetrahedron or merkabah-like formation. I connected the participants by laying gemstones on and around the body. I used my beautiful private collection of gemstones for this experience.

Through sound and guided imagery we expanded the tetrahedron to create a full 3 dimensional seal of Solomon -or a full expansion of the interlocking triangles. The intention for the meditation is to transform and transmute any energies that are no longer needed for the participants. Once achieved we used those transformed vibrations to bring balance, love and an activation of the grids of light and love to the whole planet.

And the weekend was always dedicated to connection with our ancestors - those who have walked on this path before us. It is a time of great power to connect with the wisdom of the elders and the ancient ones.

This year I'll be celebrating the Day of the Dead by offering a special drumming circle at The Crystal Garden on Nov 2 intended to help us to connect with our loved ones who have moved on to another dimension. Growing up Catholic we always acknowledged, All Souls Day and All Saints Day. Now, I connect with the cross-quarter and the time in between to allow for wisdom and messages to stream forth from the Other Side.

When I was on a sacred journey in Mexico, I visited Janitzio. It was my first exposure to the Day of the Dead.

As stated on this website: http://www.inside-mexico.com/janitzio.htm

"Day of the Dead in Janitzio features one of the most magnificent rituals of the rich Mexican culture. This time the celebration takes place in Janitzio, a magical little island in the State of Michoacan, perhaps the single most famous place for witnessing the Day of the Dead commemoration. "

According to Wikipedia:

The Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos or All Souls' Day) is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and by Latin Americans living in the United States and Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. The celebration occurs on November 1st and 2nd in connection with the Catholic holiday of All Saints' Day which occurs on November 1st and All Souls' Day which occurs on November 2nd. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts.

How will you honor your ancestors during this cross-quarter?

Walking the cycles of life

As fall approaches, it makes me mindful of the cycles of life. It's harvest time in the parts of the country where the four seasons are more evident. Living in Florida, it's actually planting season. The tropics are a bit different than the rest of the country. Regardless, the vibration of the fall and harvest time is settling in. We just experience the Corn Moon . . . some call it the Harvest Moon . . . and yet according to my favorite astrology calendar and ephemeris by Jim Maynard, the Harvest Moon is when the moon is in Aries on October 4th. (These calendars are a favorite of most of our customers - but they usually don't arrive until December.)

The celebration of the ever-turning wheel of life can be found in a ceremony from the indigenous people of our country - the Native Americans. Various tribes used the labyrinth-like circle of stones for meditation and prayers. My experiences have shown me that the process of building a medicine wheel is a perfect time for story telling, prayer, singing, meditation and contemplation. It sets the stage for a-ha experiences and the ability to see life from a greater perspective.

During our last phenomenal drumming circle at The Crystal Garden, one of the participants sitting in circle asked me what tribe I'm from or what lineage am I associated with. With my red lipstick in hand, I indicated that although I apprenticed for 2 years under a Peruvian medicine man who followed the lineage of Grandfather Wallace Black Elk, I am an Italian American from Brooklyn of my own tribe - one that I created in 1990 - called the Angelic Warriors Tribe.

I did have the distinct honor of sitting in ceremony over a period of 10 days with Grandfather Wallace Black Elk. We were on a remote mountain about an hour away from Morelia in the state of Michocan, Mexico. Lucky for me that Grandfather was there because that made them speak all the ceremonies in English as well as the native Spanish! Whew! I had a lot of interaction with Grandfather because I was one of the few English speaking people there. I called him for meals, brought him food, helped him in sweat lodges and every second was an extreme honor. I couldn't have planned it if I tried!

Angelic Warriors Tribe met every Wednesday night from around 1990 through 1997-ish. We sat in circle and laughed, cried, ate, sang, did ceremony, sat in meditation, and re-created the wheel. Re-created the wheel?? Huh? Yep - we took Sun Bear's version of the Medicine Wheel and made it our own. Victoria Martin, artist extraordinaire, painted each stone to show the symbolic energy as a tool for teaching and story telling. Now these stones sit in sacred space in the front of portion of one of the classrooms at The Crystal Garden - in the Angel Room.

The stones are river rocks which I collected with my cousin, Maria, in Hermosa, CO. In fact, you just saw pictures of my trip back to Hermosa in an earlier post. There are 36 stones and each stone tells a story. There is an inner circle, 4 portals and pathways and 13 moons.

I'm going to offer a Teachings of the Medicine Wheel event on Saturday, Sept 19 from 1 - 4:30 PM at The Crystal Garden. The cost is low - only $13 - because I want to keep it affordable to experience these teachings.

I'll probably record the experience because I was told by someone whom I really respect that perhaps this is a subject for my next book. Hmmm . . . what shall I call it? Shall I be daring? Sacred Irreverence is the key here . . . Red Lipstick and the Wheel of Life . . . or Brooklyn Girl goes Native - naaaah - OK - Maybe Walking the Cycles of Life: Native Traditions meet NYC.

I'll have to give you a few more installments of what the medicine wheel is all about. So stay tuned.

Words of Wisdom from Papa Bear

My father, Al Lembo, is a wise and spiritual man. He'll be 96 in November. Although he's dancing between the worlds, there are pearls of wisdom that come through him. It's probably because of his dance that he is a wise sage. He was extremely connected with God tonight while I was there.


In a nutshell, his advice was as follows: "Pray for all the good things in your life. Remember them and forget about the rest. Forget about the people who were bad to you. They just didn't know better and they probably didn't mean it anyway. Have memories of all the good things in your life. - and there are many things that are good in your life. If you need guidance, ask God. But you have to ask. It is important to help people. People need to ask for help. Help as many people as you can. And remember all the good things in your life."



Thanks, Dad! We all appreciate the words of wisdom! It's important to listen to the words of wisdom from our elders. They have many years of experience and know the truth. Well, at least I feel that way about my Papa Bear!

Re-Entry after Vacation

I'm back in my office not wanting to work. I've piles of bills to pay for various businesses, catalogs to go through, examiner.com articles to write, more bills to pay, emails to respond to and on and on.

Instead I'll post a photo or 2 of my vacation to Hermosa, Colorado.

We stayed at the Logwood Inn Bed and Breakfast.

I went to see my cousin, Maria, who married the man she's been with for 20 years.

I also had a great visit with my cousin, Judy and her husband Ric, and 2 gorgeous girls. We all went to the Trimble Hots Springs after the wedding. I certainly felt good to sit in the geothermic heated pools filled with minerals.

After the wedding guests left, Vincent and I spent time with Maria and Don at her house on CR 203. Here are some amazing views.

These photos were taken standing at the end of the driveway. The old Feller barn has a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

My favorite time was when Maria and I gathered seeds of all kinds from her amazing garden. Yesterday I planted Holly Hock and Snap Dragon seeds in my front garden. I tried the telepathically explain the change in altitude from 6800 ft down to sea level. I'm holding the vision that the seeds will germinate and become beautiful flowering plants!

Can't I have a couple of months off to garden and rest my weary body, mind and spirit? I'd like to be like this fat squirrel being fed by the handsome young men every morning at the Logwood Inn!

Bird Watching

I'm watching a stellar jay or mountain jay eat breakfast off the post on the log wood porch in front of me. I love blue birds. Most of you know I have a thing for birds. In this moment, the wild birds before me are enjoying the seeds and nuts place out for them by the caretakers of the Logwood Inn.

Yesterday when I was in downtown Durango, I stopped to capture photos of a hummingbird. Because I'm not on my own laptop at the moment, I won't be adding photos with this post. But believe me, you will be inundated with photos in the near future.

It feels so good to be resting, looking at birds - 5 crows just flew by - and breathing deeply. I have to breathe deeply because at this altitude, I often must catch my breath. And, that is really what this trip is all about. It's a combination of visiting with my dear cousin, Maria, for her wedding and "catching my breath" as it's been a very challenging year for me.

I am grateful to have an overall positive attitude and my "Polly-anna" outlook on life. For without it, I'm not sure how I would have enjoyed any of this past year.

I've been listening to my own guided meditation CDs quite a bit in the past week. Meet Your Master Guide, Open Your Heart to Love and Color Meditation: Align Your Chakras are all downloaded into my I-pod for easy listening so I listen to them when I wake up in the middle of the night and on the airplane. I also have downloaded Think Good Thoughts: Positive Affirmations for Everyday Living but I listen to that most often in the car while I'm driving. So, here I thought I made those CDs for everyone else - I guess that's true but I now realize these are for me just as much as they are for everyone else.

Well, mi prima, (means cousin) Maria has just arrived so I'm signing off for now to go play by the river, in her garden, with the birds and with my Vincent!