Ellen F. Franklin, PhD
It's a rainy day here in Llano, New Mexico welcome moisture in the high desert mountains. The growing dome is thriving with new tomato plants, cucumbers and chili peppers. The fig and lemon trees are covered with new fruit. With the help of Max and our friend Sarah Hayes over 400 onions have been planted in the outside gardens. Pastureland is greening and spring flowers are pushing through the soil. The presence of Venus is felt in the beautiful new life emerging from the soil to the numerous creative installations on our land.
This blog post was in part inspired by our recent trip to Mexico as well as the contribution in this newsletter from Paul and Jude Ponton on the use of Source Points, and of course our beloved Venus who is also featured in this months newsletter. Source Points, Paul and Jude propose can be used to promote growth and transformation and to bring all aspects of our nature into vibrational harmony. A source point also takes us to our original qi and essence, which relate to the Kidneys, which are ruled by Venus, the ruling planet of Taurus and Libra (We entered into the sign of Taurus on April 20th). Source points also help us to dive into the waters of our original qi, the subterranean waters of the cenote, which provided life and sustainability to the Maya.
Donna and I recently returned from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. This trip was part work and part personal renewal. We had an opportunity to visit the Maya ruins of Tulum, Isla Mujeres (Island of Women) and Xe Ha with a cenote tucked away in the back of the site. Cenotes are deep often hidden underground natural swimming holes formed by the collapse of porous limestone bedrock, to create a secret subterranean world of groundwater pools. For the ancient Maya, cenotes provide the only source of fresh water and many cities were built around them for the sole purpose of providing potable water. There is one, now dry, excavated at Tulum. Cenotes were also a place for religious ceremony, providing an entrance to the underworld a sacred place to the Maya.
From our first visit to Tulum in 2007, with a group of Acutonics teachers with us on retreat, we felt a deep female energy pervade the entire site. Perhaps, it is the close proximity to the magical Caribbean waters. But, many of the teachers with us felt a deep connection, some even expressing the belief that we had all been there together doing important work in a past life. There are three famous structures in Tulum: El Castillo, the Temple of the Frescoes, and the Temple of the Descending God. The Temple of the Frescoes was an observatory, and niched figurines of the Maya diving god, also known as Venus can still be found on the façade of the building. Venus is also depicted in the Temple of the Diving God in the central part of the site. Each archeological site we visited in the Yucatan has powerful female energy. However, it was on the south point of Isla Mujeres, the first point touched by the sun each morning in all of Mexico, at the temple of the Maya Goddess Ixchel, that we most felt the presence of Venus. The island was a sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Ixchel, the goddess of love, fertility, and medicine, also known as the goddess of the moon and wife of the sun, with fertility and healing powers. The art installation, adjacent to the ruins, also invokes the creative spirit of Venus.
It is not a surprise to have Venus associated with these ancient Mays sites as she arises from the sea, and was often viewed as a protector of sailors with the ability to calm the waters. The roots of Venus are also found in ancient women centered cultures, traced back to a bas-relief sculpture discovered in France, Venus of Laussel that dates to 19.000 BC. Venus is embodied in the Phoenician goddess Astarte, queen of heaven, the Babylonian Ishtar and the Sumerian goddess Inanna, and in the Yucatan her presence is felt everywhere. In modern times, Venus is primarily associated with the goddess of love however she was also a fertility goddess with strong connections to the Earth and new life as well as embodying a strong and independent warrior.
Venus also has a deep affinity with the Full Moon both archetypal manifestations of the feminine, which nourish and connect us with the deep waters within and without. Remembering the birth of Venus, born from an act of violence, she rises up fully-grown from the sea, which teems with life. Venus embodies many things, love, beauty, creativity and strength. She was also a powerful female warrior. This is an energy that we all need to channel at this time in history. Remaining strong in light of the horrific atrocities that still befall women throughout the world as well as the erosion of hard-fought women’s rights.
As children we invoked Venus with the rhyme, “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.” Perhaps, we can all take a few moments to reflect on what we most wish for and to gain a deeper understanding of what sustains us during this challenging time. Channeling the powerful generative energy of Venus we can craft a beautiful light filled future.
Memory Palaces 21: Cenote
From: Unintended Sutras, by Donna Carey
I am away in Mexico writing about memory palaces:
things we construct in our heads, clues, metaphors,
pieces of string, breadcrumbs to spark a deeper remembrance
of the cathedrals built inside us by people and things
we meet up with, places we travel.
Smells, dreams, lines, circles, events right in front of us,
or in remote recesses that we put away,
rush through the colander of brain’s awareness;
some stay and some sift, like water washing up
the sand and rocks in the mind of the sea
to help reveal the secret places.
Yesterday, I visited a cenote:
the Mayans here in the Yucatan found places
they named dzonots, sacred holes; the Spanish call then cenotes,
locations to find cool fresh water
and gain entrance to the underworld of the spirit,
formed when rainwater carved tunnels
and ceilings collapsed, opening up caves to the surface.
Cenotes link to cave systems that interconnect
to even deeper subterranean water,
like the sea caves in Wisconsin
and the ones we pry open ourselves though our own cataclysms,
joining things that had no way to link up—
not because they shouldn’t, but because they couldn’t.
Our brains and spirits need that cool fresh water
running through, creating entrance to the palaces
we have forgotten.
Upcoming Activities Not to Be Missed
Don’t miss the profile in this newsletter on Acutonics Level IV Student, John Rosan AKA Tone who provided this month’s astrological perspective with treatment ideas to support our journey throughout the month of May.
We also hope you will take the time to review the upcoming events including the list of classes being offered by our esteemed faculty. I am very excited to be heading to San Antonio later this month to attend the 19th Annual Energy Psychology Conference where I will be presenting a new one-day seminar on May 18, Acutonics® The Eight Extraordinary Vessels a Gateway to Emotional Health and Consciousness. The course provides an in-depth exploration of the energetic pathway for each vessel as well as the use and selection of the appropriate vessels for the treatment of a wide range of psychological and psycho-emotional pain and trauma. Mary Burke-Kelly and Janet DeVallauris will be assisting me at the conference. If you still need clinic hours please be in touch with Mary who is scheduling booth staff for us at this exceptional conference. (See more details here).
Donna Carey and I will be launching a new group toward certification, with Acutonics Level I June 1st-7th here at the Mothership. There are still a few spots in this class so don’t hesitate to registers if this is of interest to you. We will not be teaching this class again in 2017. We have also made the decision to not host electives in July and will only be offering the Level I & II Intensive and the Level III & IV Intensive September 7th-14th, 2017.
Acutonics Camp, Mt. Shasta, CA
Thursday – Monday, July 27th-July 31st, 2017
Katie Mink and Laurie Herron have just announced their dates for this years Camp Acutonics, which is held on their beautiful land in Mt. Shasta, CA. Camp is open to anyone who has taken Acutonics Level I. Students can go for all 5 days or for a shorter time. This is an amazing opportunity, to study with two great teachers Katie Mink, LAc and Laurie Herron as well as a number or terrific guest teachers!
Camp provides an in-depth exploration of All things Acutonics: Deepen your understanding of the foundations of Acutonics, obtain personal mentoring, expand your knowledge and refine your intuitive skills, as you explore energy flow, the shamanic, as well as Chinese Medicine. There are numerous opportunities to hone your approach to the integration of sound vibration into a clinical setting. There will also be time to explore the use of crystals, and the role that nature can play as your personal university. There is also plenty of time to enjoy summer in the mountains, including the beautiful lakes that are close to camp. Acutonics Camp is designed in three ways: Attend to receive clinic hours, fulfill an elective requirement or attend just to learn and play, paying just a day rate for the time that you are there.
To Find out more please contact Katie & Laurie:
westcoastacutonics.com, (925)849-6006, westcoastacutonics@gmail.com