Becoming a ‘hollow bone’ is the ability to become the empty vessel that Spirit works through.

By releasing all of our self-limiting beliefs, fears, doubts, apprehensions and resistance to the flow of Life, we shift our ego and rational mind to begin to work with the divine power of the universe.

Embracing the hollow bone state, becoming the hollow bone, the empty reed, is to assist in healing ourselves and our communities and in our journey work, our spiritual practices and meditations, our creative endeavours and vision quests. This is a life-long process of releasing resistance to the universal flow of energy, welcoming Spirit and becoming a conduit for the work of the Divine.

Frank Fools Crow was a revered Lakota Holy Man who taught that you must become like a “hollow bone” to be a great healer. He believed that to become a conduit for the source of all creation fulfills the destiny of the human spirit: to sustain the order of existence.

Becoming a Hollow Bone (Frank Fools Crow)

Close your eyes and breathe slowly and deeply. Let your abdomen rise and fall as you breathe. Inhale for a count of four, hold for a count of four, and then exhale for a count of four. Do this seven times.

Focus on the breath as it enters the nose and fills your lungs, and then gently exhale any tension you might feel, clearing the energy channels of your body.

Release all of your worldly concerns, doubts, and fears,allowing them to drift off on the air of the wind, on the breath of life. Feel yourself relaxing with each breath.

When you are fully relaxed, ask the “Higher Powers” to remove any blockages that prevent you from functioning as a hollow bone.

Repeat the affirmation, “I choose to be a clean, hollow bone.” Visualize yourself as a hollow bone or tube that is all shiny on the inside and empty. The cleaner the bone, the more energy you can channel through it, and the faster it will flow.

Now begin drumming a steady tempo of about 3 beats per second and imagine the power of spirit flowing through you. You may feel it, see it, sense it, or simply imagine it. As you focus on it, it will occur, for all energy follows thought. If your mind wanders, bring the focus of your attention back to the beat of the drum.

Drumming opens portals to the spirit world, draws spirit in, and opens you up to receive it.

Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower – Camus

The Wheel turns. The air is crisp and the sun shines softly with the clear white light that can only mean fall. It is a blessing for us in the Pacific Northwest as we move into our rainy season, when every ray is precious now.

We must now look to our own inner light. The pure sustaining light of Gratitude. Thanksgiving is connected to the harvest festivals and the second harvest is in, time to give thanks for all of our bounty. To celebrate life, family and community and all of the hard work that it took to complete another cycle of the Wheel of the Year. To look within at our inner harvest to see what it is that we have reaped.

Mother Nature goes into a deep sleep these cold fall and winter months. The trees are singing their winter song, freely giving their leaves and remind us to let go of what we no longer need. Plants, animals and insects go to ground, dormant for the season until the first snowdrop, our harbinger of Spring, bursts forth with the song of a new Spring.                                                       

What seeds will you plant?   What will you reap? What will your song be?    Life does not simply happen, it responds.

As we gather in Thanksgiving this one day of the year, I sit in deep gratitude that Earth Mother and her children, and my own children, have taught me to give thanks continually and abundantly. To walk in gratitude, mindfulness and respect. Gratitude for all living beings, for the natural forces and the elements, gratitude for Spirit, who has show us that we are one Spirit, one mind, one heart beating with the pulse of Earth Mother.                                              

Blessings on this Thanksgiving. May all that you cherish bring you great joy.

Mar uh Tha mo chridhe – as my heart is

Heathir

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings,
turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” 
―William Arthur Ward