What went right in 2013?

I love this prompt!  So many things went right in 2013 – It truly has been a great year.  The story that keeps bubbling up to the surface and wanting to be told in response to this prompt is the story of Heron Woman and Interplay.

This story actually starts in 2012 when on the way home from my Fall women’s retreat I realized I had been gifted with Heron Medicine.  I sat on this knowledge for a while – it felt like a big gift from spirit.

In March of 2013 I co-facilitated a women’s retreat and at that retreat I claimed the name Heron Woman.  

Heron (from Ted Andrews Animal Speak):

The Great Blue Heron

The great blue heron is considered the king of the marsh, although the short-eared owl has been known to re-adjust a heron’s point of view. It is the tallest of the herons, and when it flies, its head is folded back in a flat S-shaped loop. This reflects the innate wisdom of being able to maneuver through life and control its life circumstances. It reflects a need for those with this totem to follow their own innate wisdom and path of self-determination. You know what is best for you and should follow it, rather than the prompting of others.

Heron – In General

HERON’S MOST SIGNIFICANT ESSENCE: aggressive self-determination and self-reliance
ENERGETIC PRIME TIME – FULL OF POWER: Spring

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Great Blue Heron, Everglades National Park, Unesco World Heritage Site, Florida, USA
Photo by Ethel Davies
Photo for purchase fr. Art.com

Legs enable animals and people to move about on the earth. They are symbols of balance, and they represent an ability to progress and evolve. Also the longer the legs, the deeper the water the heron will feed in. The deeper life can be explored.
The long thin legs of the heron reflect that you don’t need great massive pillars to remain stable, but you must be able to stand on your own. This is especially significant for those with a totem of the great blue heron, as it is a lone hunter.
When it feeds, it stands in the water, reflecting a connection to the earth – while implying the exploration of other dimensions on the earth (water element).
It is important for anyone with a heron totem to explore various activities and dimensions of Earth life. On the surface, this may seem a form of dabbling, but those with heron totems are wonderfully successful at being the traditional ‘Jack of all trades’.
This ability enables them to follow their own path. Most people will never be able to live the way heron people do. It is not a structured way, and does not seem to have stability and security to it. It is, though, just a matter of perspective. There is security in heron medicine, for it gives the ability to do a variety of tasks. It one way does not work, then another will. This, heron people seem to inherently know.
Heron people do no seem to need a lot of people in their life, nor do they feel pressured to keep up with the Joneses, or be traditional in their life roles. The only time they gather in colonies is during the breeding season. They stand out in their uniqueness, and they know how to snatch and take advantage of things and events that the average person would not even bother with.

Within 2 weeks of claiming Heron Woman I was at another Retreat as a participant where I again claimed this sacred medicine and I stated several goals that I wanted to accomplish this year 1 of which included becoming trained to teach Interplay and be mentored by my friend Sheila.  

Now years ago my friend Sheila had asked me to become a leader and due to family, money and time commitments I couldn’t make it work.  She was in the audience when I stated the above goal.  Later she tells me she was thinking, “Now I don’t want to discourage her but how are we going to make this work she’s in Atlanta and I’m in Pittsburgh and we couldn’t make it work when we both lived in Texas!!!”
  

Sheila Interplaying in Norcross at the Performing Arts Center

Within two weeks of this retreat I get an excited call from Sheila who stated, “Guess what?  I received a call from Cynthia Winton-Henry the co-founder of Interplay and she wants to hold a leader’s training in Atlanta and she wants me to lead it!”  The Universe was lining up the dots – all I had to do was connect them 🙂

Well Sheila put me in touch with Jennifer Denning the leader of the Atlanta Interplay group and I was able to join her for a “playdate” on August 24th.  What a great day!  I met Jennifer and Ruth & Tony & several other amazing Atlanta Interplayers (which also led to blogging consistently)

The first Atlanta Interplay event I participated in 🙂


In October we met for the “Secrets” weekend in Atlanta to begin our leader training which will continue in 2014 with the life practice program. 

The “Secrets” Group 🙂


To say that embracing Heron Woman and Interplay is working might be a bit of an understatement.  

Joe (back left in blue) and I (right in maroon)  had the privilege of Playing with Soyinka and the “Race Dance” when she visited Atlanta

Just today we played in Norcross with a small yet fantastic group of people.

So many amazing people and experiences have come into my life this year as I let spirit work in and through me.  I am humbled and grateful.
 

Namaste,

Christine