Stone Medicine with Renee
Inspirations!
What is inspiration? Inspiration is the energy that makes us excited to try new things, push our boundaries, and explore the unknown. I am blessed to have loved ones in my life that inspire me to be my true self. I am also blessed to have found inspirational teachers, like my chakra and stone teacher, Cybele (a.k.a. Suzette Rochat).
Cybele taught magic, ritual, and meditation with the Reclaiming Collective from 1984-1997 in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Her Contemplative Arts workshops include Intuitive Practice Through the Body and Seven Gates: a Chakra and Gemstone Journey. Cybele practices Lomi Bodywork and Jin Shin Jyutsu in Santa Rosa and San Francisco. She has worked extensively with survivors of incest and abuse, facilitating Breath and Body Groups for Survivors of Incest and Abuse since 1988. She has been a hands-on healer for 25 years.
Next month, Cybele is offering a workshop on Dreaming Stones. This workshop will cover devotional stonework: stone sensing, bonding, and healing; stone and dream incubation; and group dream-work. The intimate size of the workshop (six students) will allow an in-depth focus on each dream. Cybele has collected gorgeous stones for students to use, including three types of formation stones (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic) and stones of many beautiful colors, chosen for their varied attributes.
Participants will choose their individual stones intuitively in consultation with their Deep Self (sensing the energy), Talking Self (hearing words of stone-lore), and Younger Self (what draws the eye and heart). Each student then keeps their chosen stone. The dreamwork will incorporate Jeremy Taylor's “If it were my dream...” feedback technique to allow participants to listen deeply for gifts and challenges in each student’s dream. This process is akin to mining the dream for precious bits of wisdom and humor. A touchstone of dreamwork is that your responses to another's dream will have meaning for you. The dreamer receives only what resonates. As the group works with all of the dreams, a group tapestry will unfold. The day will include periods of internal processing so that participants may refuel through writing, drawing, moving, or meditating to ground, own, and integrate the work. The final ritual focus will emerge from the day’s dreamwork, closing the circle Between stone and dream. The next Dreaming Stones is in April 2007.
Another amazing journey you can take with Cybele is Seven Gates: A Gemstone and Chakra Journey. This is the intensive program that engendered my passion in Stone Medicine, and it continues to feed my soul.
One Saturday each month, this intensive healing and learning process focuses on the seven chakras - energy centers or vortexes in the body that correspond to the endocrine glands and colors of the rainbow, from the red root to the violet crown, moving through all the layers of life. Each meeting focuses on one chakra; students use two stones that vibrate at a similar frequency as their guides. The meetings take place in sacred space created by Calling Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and the energy of the Center. The Patron-Goddess Iris (Goddess of the Rainbow) will be Invoked at each session to lend direction and keep continuity. Students on any spiritual path who are willing to work in this way are welcome to attend these workshops.
Seven Gates begins with the Spirit of the Fountain, eight sessions working UP the chakras from root to crown, from red to violet, working with 14 stones total. (The eighth meeting focuses on integration.) The next cycle will be May-December 2007.
Should you choose to continue, the second workshop cycle is the Spirit of the Waterfall, working DOWN the chakras, from crown to root and from violet to red - adding 14 more stones to the tribe. The Waterfall cycle closes with an integration weekend, a retreat in Calistoga. After both the Spirit of the Fountain and the Spirit of the Waterfall, students are given an opportunity to Priest/Priestess a Stone for a year, meeting with other Seven-Gates Stone Priests/Priestesses twice per year for one day (in May and November ) for stone-divination and other magical work.
Cybele also offers two further Seven-Gates cycles: Astrology and Tarot, which work with the tribe of 28 stones gathered in the Fountain and Waterfall workshops. In the Star-Cycle (Astrology), participants with their birth charts and focus on the Nodes of the Moon and the Journey of the Soul. The Tarot-Cycle workshop focuses on your Soul, Personality, and Year cards.
Contact Cybele directly regarding price and location for any of these experiences: 415-541-5650 or 707-525-4992.
Thank you for letting me share my inspirations with you.
Blessed be,
Renee Bastet
Stone Priestess
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Stone
of the Month |
Smokey Quartz
Relax and Ground!
Smokey Quartz is a soothing member of the quartz family.
This clear brown stone eases stress, sorrow, and grief. It helps us persevere and accomplish more in life.
Its relaxing effect banishes stress-related illnesses, allowing us to have a strong immune system. Its qualities also encourage us to be pragmatic and forward-thinking.
Smokey Quartz works with the first chakra and the element of Earth. Working with this stone creates a grounded foundation; meditating with this stone can bring clarity and inspiration.
Physically, Smokey Quartz can alleviate pain, particularly for back problems and nervous system disorders.
More Smokey Quartz
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Dreaming Stones Workshop with Cybele
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April 17
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7–10 p.m. |
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April 18
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10 a.m.–7 p.m. |
7 Gates: A Gemstone and Chakra Journey with Cybele
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May-Dec 2007
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One Saturday per month
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Contact Cybele:
415-541-5650 or 707-525-4992
Email Cybele
Friends and Resources of Bastet Jewelry:
Awakening Self
Sacred Well
Astrobarry
Elka Vera
Clandestine Belly Dance
Love Bug Clothing
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