Heart Box & Ouija Warning – Newsletter 10/2016
A very intense year, emotionally racing toward its end at full speed. And yet, it’s not the year itself – but often we – who surround ourselves with such haste. The year, by nature, is slowing down and preparing for winter rest. How beautiful it would be if we could allow ourselves that natural rhythm again: awakening, creating, harvesting, and resting in harmony with nature.
That’s why it’s important to occasionally step out of the hustle, turn inward, tenderly embrace ourselves, and practice forgiving silence. These cooler months are also a great time to reflect – opening up your inner backpack and taking a look at which stones still want to be seen.
The Heart Box
When you experience emotionally intense or traumatic events – where do you feel the pain? The Oneida tribe offers this ancestral explanation:
“When the Creator made man and woman, He made us perfect. Then, when He looked at us, He created a small cavity in the area between our lungs, spine, and heart. He thought about what to do with it. ‘Ah, I know!’ He said. ‘I will place a little Heart Box there for each person. This Heart Box will be the source of a person’s love for others and for Me, the Creator. It will also be the place where people can store their traumas and heavy emotions for a few days before they are ready to pass them on to Me.’
‘Listen closely,’ the Creator continued. ‘What I say now is very important: You are My children and I love you, so I give you Free Will. You have the freedom to choose between the positive and the negative—never let anyone take that from you. But I advise you to focus on the positive and hand the negative over to Me.’
Before long, the Creator noticed that once we put something into the Heart Box, it almost takes dynamite to get it out. It’s our emotional junk—and we cling to it with everything we’ve got, no matter how much harm it does.
We humans tend to hold on to too much baggage -anger, guilt, shame, pain. We internalize the loss of friends and family, or material things like money. The little space the Creator gave us was only meant to temporarily hold pain – just until we’re ready to release it. But instead, we stuff more and more inside, until life teaches us to let go… or we die. Some of us even carry this burden across lifetimes.”
This is an excerpt from the powerful book The Making of a Healer by Russel FourEagles. In later sections, Russel explains how the swelling of the Heart Box can lead to physical problems. With limited space, it begins pressing on the heart, lungs, and spine. To strengthen its “walls,” we steal energy from our body and cells. This may relieve one issue but inevitably causes others.
Thankfully, the Oneida tradition offers a healing way to deal with the contents of the Heart Box:
The Oneida Fire Ceremony
Imagine your Heart Box as an old jukebox filled with 45 RPM singles – each record a difficult emotional experience. The Fire Ceremony is about forgiveness: picking up each record one by one, looking at it, and handing it over to the Creator.
The ritual includes a breathing meditation that helps release what is no longer needed – breathing it into Mother Earth.
I’d like to offer you the opportunity to participate in such a fire ceremony. I plan to hold these regularly at my home, in a small group of up to six people. In keeping with tradition, I offer this free of charge.
One idea is to meet every two months on a Sunday afternoon. The ceremony lasts about 1.5 to 2 hours. If desired, we can share some food or spend a little time together afterwards before heading our separate ways.
It may take several ceremonies to clear your stack. Once you’ve learned the process, you can also perform the ceremony on your own if you wish.
If you’re interested, send me a short email with the subject line “Fire Ceremony” so we can arrange a time.
Ouija – Witch Board
The second part of the horror movie Ouija is coming out soon. You might know this “game,” which was especially popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During a candle-lit séance, people would attempt to contact spirits or the deceased from the afterlife.
Even those who don’t believe in the spirit world often find this “game” oddly intriguing. For anyone considering trying this as a party gag, I offer you these words from Goethe:
“I can’t get rid of the spirits I called.”
Yes – even if you don’t believe in it, you can invite harmful energies into your life and body through this practice. If you know someone who has played with a Ouija board and has since experienced more problems, misfortunes, emotional shifts, or health issues – you know who to call