Sage Advice

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Sage advice

I’ve been getting a great deal of questions about sage, and how to use it to remove negative energy. Sage comes from the Latin word “salvere,” meaning to be saved or to be healed. Since ancient times, sage has been used for many things. The Egyptians used sage for fertility, while in France sage was grown for tea. The Romans used it for digestion issues, the Chinese used it for sore joints and the Native Americans used it in ceremonies.

Simply put, sage clears the bacteria in the air. Sage smoke offers rapid delivery to the brain and efficient absorption to the body. Scientists have observed that sage can clear up to 94 percent of airborne bacteria in a space and disinfect the air. When sage is burned it releases negative ions, which is linked to putting people into positive moods.

Burning sage is one of the oldest and purest methods of cleansing a person, group of people, or a space, and is believed to bring wisdom, clarity and increased spiritual awareness. The practice dates back to prehistoric times and it’s been documented as having been used in every corner of the earth by our ancestors.

I grow my own sage to use in cooking and to make smudge sticks for ceremonies. I avoid mass-market websites to buy smudge sticks because I want to make sure of the intention and cultivation of the sage.

Before you light up, remember to open a door or window to clear out a path for unwanted energy. I use an abalone shell to hold the sage in and then a feather to fan and spread the smoke around the space as it burns. Abalone shells are great because of the shape, they are easy to hold when walking around any space. Set your intention for the ceremony and then after you light the sage let it burn for about 20 seconds and then gently blow out the flame. Then you can start the process of clearing out the energy from the space.

The sage ceremony has a great deal of yang energy so afterward, to evoke a balance, I use the yin property of incense, and I thank the wisdom of the sage for it’s healing properties. Sage is cleansing and sacred and I know it will help to clear any space as well as hearts and minds.

Have any Feng Shui questions? Feel free to contact me at michelle@michellecromer.com and sign up for your Power Color or visit me on Facebook at Michelle Cromer Feng Shui.

Happy Fall Equinox!

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Fall equinoxThese photos were taken in Costa Rica three years ago on the Fall Equinox and they will always remind me of the power of Mother Earth – and the goddess Gaia. Look at how small I am in the bottom right corner of the giant gorgeous tree.

I love the fall – cooler temperatures, cashmere sweaters, hot tea, my birthday, and bugs have returned to hell where they belong. During this time of equal parts of sun and moon, we are being asked to find the balance happening in our exterior world, and also what is occurring within ourselves. Knowing that the duality of light and dark exists in us, the equinox calls us to discover a balance between the two. After the great light of summer, we must learn to welcome the depth and the mystery of fall. This is also a time of endings that have to occur to make way for new beginnings.

Mother Nature begins preparing for a type of death, and we too may feel called to let things go. Because life is a circle, and nothing truly grows unless it dies. I find that there is beauty in new beginnings that start quietly under the darkness of colder months.

As our home planet aligns in this perfect harmony and balance on the Equinox, maybe we can recognize that we are as much the tree as it is us, and we are as much our enemies or the people we admire as they are us, we are all just an independent expression of the same soul.

At this sacred celestial time connect the dark and light; the yin and the yang; the masculine and feminine, because if we allow it, life can truly begin all over again in the fall.

Giving Up Food and Gaining Clarity

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I just completed a three day fast – I didn’t eat ANYTHING, and only drank water and tea for 72 hours. I lost six pounds but gained so much clarity.

Every month in 2019 I’m doing something I’ve never done before because I’m still here. I’m alive. It’s been over two years since I kicked cancer to the curb and I want to make sure that each month of this year I get out of my comfort zone to show my gratitude for this wonderful life of mine.

So fasting was my idea for March. Before I started I asked Barry, who is an orthopedic surgeon, for medical advice. Since we have been together for over twenty years, he knows me better than anyone, so I asked him how long he felt I could make it. He paused, thought about it, and earnestly answered, “Three hours.” So I paused, thought about it, and earnestly said, “Hold my beer, I’ll do it for Three days.” This is the egotistical attitude I had going into this spiritual voyage.

Here’s what happened each day:

  1. DAY ONE: I learned humility. It never got easier. Fasting is brutal as it is lonely. I decided I needed to “humble up” if I was to make it. I determined that life is fragile so it is valuable.
  2. DAY TWO: I remained curious. I routinely examined my life with fresh eyes, and I had time to wonder why I keep knocking on doors that will never open, and if people don’t make an effort to be in my life, why am I trying so hard to be in theirs?
  3. DAY THREE: I developed Empathy for all those that have to go to bed hungry. I’ll never take a meal for granted. I realized that empathy breeds compassion, connection, and love. Empathy is an important precursor for honesty.

THREE-DAY-FAST ZEITGEIST:

Humility is the soul. Curiosity is the mind. Empathy is the heart.

Now, I’m going to go eat. And eat. And EAT!

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Music: The Limitless Calling of the Soul

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Free-Photos / Pixabay

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” — Plato

On a freezing July day, several years ago, in the high Tibetan plateau, I stood in front of the Namtso Lake. At almost 16,000 feet, it is the highest saltwater lake in the world and one of the most sacred and holiest sights in all of Tibet. It was as flat as a mirror. It lay without a ripple as if time itself had been frozen. The vast expanse of the clear sapphire water reflected the crystal sapphire sky and I couldn’t tell where the lake stopped and the sky started. The only sound I could hear was Aretha Franklin belting out, “Pink Cadillac” on my iPod. In the distance, I saw a nomad family with two small children, both sitting in the lotus position. I took out my earplugs and listened as the children soulfully chanted a Buddhist mantra. I slowly moved closer, bowed to the parents, and bent down in front of the children and gestured to see if they wanted to listen to my music. They immediately held out their cherry-red hands, and their little round faces sparkled in wonder.

As soon as the children heard my music, they began to giggle in a chaotic way; fits and bursts, loud to soft, nothing and then back to loud. I knew their heartwarming laughs revealed that they had never heard music coming out of such a small device, just as I had never heard such chanting reverberating out of small children. Was their experience of chanting more spiritual than hearing Aretha Franklin? From the light radiating from their eyes, I didn’t think so.

Music is one of our most powerful gateways to connect to our spiritual nature, our divine source, as well as to the universe around us and those other divine beings that inhabit it with us. I know of no other medium that can transport us as immediately, on all levels of our existence, beyond the limits of our intellect and physical body to a higher, often blissful and inexplicable state. Music has the unique ability to transform us independently of our thinking mind, to a place uninhibited by the judgments, doubts or fears.

Humans and our music have existed for ages. The oldest discovered musical instruments in the world (flutes made of bones and mammoth ivory) are over 40,000 years old. But instruments and songs may be far, far older. In his book The Descent Of Man, Charles Darwin wondered whether our language abilities had started with singing and if that was the reason for our pleasure in music. By studying fossils, we can establish that once our ancestors had the horseshoe-shaped hyoid bone in the throat in a similar position to modern humans, they would have had the physical ability to sing as we can. That date is over 530,000 years ago!

I won’t claim that all music is spiritual, or rather, created and intended for the benefit of the human spirit. It would be great if it were. As Eric Clapton said when asked if music is essentially spiritual, “For me, the most trustworthy vehicle for spirituality has always proven to be music.” When music delivers spirituality, the effect on us, our thoughts, our emotions, our subconscious, and even our physical well-being can be quite profound.

Just as music has helped rescue me from some of the lowest points of my life, it has been the blissful soundtrack for many of my most loving memories and the rhythm that continues to propel me forward. For me, spirituality and music will never be separated. The more music continues to awaken my higher aspirations and light the path of my inner journey, the more I am inspired to dive deeply into the realms of the magical unknown. If words are the limited language of my mind, music is the limitless calling of my soul.

Autumn Equinox a Time for Beginnings

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Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash

I love the fall – chilly weather, cashmere sweaters, pumpkin spice lattes, my birthday, bugs have returned to hell where they belong and we have the fall equinox! The fall equinox September 22, 2018, has been celebrated since the time of the Egyptians who built the great Sphinx to point towards the sun on this special day. While many of us have moved away from celebrating this time like our ancestors, it is an important time of balance. During this time of equal parts of sun and moon, we are being asked to find the balance happening in our exterior world, and also what is occurring within ourselves. Knowing that the duality of light and dark exists in us, the equinox calls us to discover a balance between the two. After the great light of summer, we must learn to welcome the depth and the mystery of fall.

The autumnal equinox is the time when the sun makes its golden path across the equator from North to South, and it is this occurrence that causes our day and our night to be equal. The word equinox comes from the Latin, aequi, meaning “equal,” and nox meaning “night.”

At the spring equinox, we were asked to plant seeds, both literally and figuratively, for what we want to reap in the autumn. Now is the time to contemplate and see if we have tended those seeds. Are we able to reap what we have sown with bounty and fruitfulness? Or have we neglected those seeds and are we now looking at how we can make amends?

Although it can be disappointing if we realize the latter is true, equinox makes it easy for us to once again plant the seeds of desire so that they may flourish in the coming months. Because the equinox isn’t only about balance, but also about endings that have to occur to make way for new beginnings. This is actually a wonderful time to start something new, whether it’s a job, educational pursuit, creative endeavor, project or even a relationship. During the coming months we will have long nights and quiet moments with which to nurture these new beginnings so that, come spring, they can bloom radiantly.

While many often see spring as a time of new beginnings, there is something even more extraordinary about starting something new in the fall. It is during this season and the coming winter that we have more time to concentrate and give our hearts to whatever we want to see grow and strengthen over the coming months. I find that there is beauty in new beginnings that start quietly under the darkness of colder months.

So while we are all searching for that balance in our own lives, know that it is never too late to plant new seeds. Because life is a circle, and nothing can truly grow unless it first dies. This doesn’t mean complete and utter endings, but embracing the evolution of change within our hearts, our lives and us. It’s letting go of old ways of thinking and living. It’s reassessing the way in which we look at life so that we can feel free to take on new approaches that would better serve our highest self and the life that we want.
Nothing stays the same forever, what comes next is often times better than we can possibly imagine.

Celebrate the equinox by heading out to the desert or out into the woods for a warming bonfire. I am traveling to Mount Shasta, California with my friends Laurel and Tim. We are using this equinox as the opening of a portal to the next stage of our lives. Join us as we raise a glass, build a fire, write a list of all that we have been blessed with, burn words we would like to let go of, and finally, cleanse with hot Epsom salt baths, a grounding earth element which has a strong quality of cohesion. At this sacred celestial time connect the dark and light; the yin and the yang; the masculine and feminine, because if we allow it, life can truly begin all over again in the fall.

Michelle Cromer