When I turned 50 all I knew is that I was walking towards something that was new, fresh and exciting. I had always wanted to go to Ireland and was just waiting for the perfect time, place and folks to go with.

Then, in a Celtic shamanism training I met Andrew. We became friends, ended up teaching together, and was taking a small group on a pilgrimage to the land of my ancestors. I was so excited!!

I have two dear friends who also teach polarity therapy who live in Cork. I wanted to go a week early, visit them and get to see Cork, since this was where my ancestor, John O’Leonard, sailed to American and settled in Easton, Md., during the potato famine.

A few days before I left I had just ended a long love relationship and was really arriving with much pain, and sorrow in my heart.
Interesting, that the day I arrived I started bleeding. It had been the first time in a year. Needless to say, I did not expect this and it was almost like my womb was letting go…was dying.

The last day I was in Cork my friends took me on a lovely ride trough the hills with all the lavender. OMG!! What beauty!I could almost see my ancestors walking the hills.

We came across a grotto of Mary and there was a sign for this special lake below us.

Many years ago a woman had been drowned in the lake. The story went, that she was thought to have been a witch, so they drowned her.
We both knew that at that time, many who were in the healing arts ( herbalist, midwives, etc), where treated this way.For me, being a healer, it felt like we had been guided to this place.

So, we walked down the winding path, between the lavender and the incredibly green of the hills and came upon the most amazing glazier lake.
It was totally still. Deep, with a crystal clear reflection of the sky.

I sat for a long time, thinking of the woman whose life ended here, wondering all the questions about what really happened and what she must have felt like. The betrayal, the terror and the final moment, the last breath.

Then, I started to feel the presence of her.

I stood up, and made an offering of tobacco and lavender. In my silence I simply listened to what she could offer me at the place I was.
She whispered to me….” Rose, this is the Lake of Forgiveness.”

I will never forget her.

I am enclosing some picture of this magical place.

From my heart to yours.

The Lake of Forgiveness

All are welcome, you need to RVSP.

Bring food to share, women wear a skirt to honor the sacred hoop.

So, I wrapped it up and it sat in my closet for quite a few years until my first Medicine teacher came to town to teach a weekend on The Medicine Wheel. The brother who had gifted me with the pipe said, hey Rose, you need to get this “awakened.” So I did.

Little did I know that she would use this opportunity to teach me and the entire group about the Pipe.

In the Medicine Wheel, which is one of the most ancient forms of divination and healing, the North is the direction of Transformation  ( I will write a whole piece on the Medicine Wheel later). In the North is where we connect to Spirit and Wisdom.  It is here, the earth element, where we find our deep roots to our ansestors. It is here in this place that we remember to pray.

Many years ago when the people where suffering ( like NOW), two men were out hunting. They saw a woman dressed all in white approaching them. She asked these warriors to go back to the people and prepare the tribe, for she had a gift to share. These men knew she was sacred ( wakan) and someone of power.

When she came, she  shared with the people the sacred Pipe. She said that if the people prayed and used the Pipe for healing, the people would heal and live.

When you open the bundle, there is a stem and a bowl. The stem represents the male energy of the Creator and the bowl is the sacred feminine. When they come together, they create the energy of the Universe and Sacred Union.

When she left, leaving the bundle with the people, she walked to the North and before their eyes, she changed into a White Buffalo and then a White Buffalo Calf, thus giving her the name, ” The White Buffalo Calf Woman.”

So, back to my story.

So after the workshop, my life continues to shift and change as my 25 yr. marraige ended and suddenly, I was a single Mom, heartbroken and broke.

I ended up moving from Virginia to Maryland , so my private practice slowly ended.

I found myself meeting the dark night of the soul. And, I heard a voice that said, ” Take out the Pipe.”

For months I sat with it, prayed and kept the bundle next to me as I slept, esp. the nights I cried myself to sleep with heartache, worry and grief.

The Pipe brought me solice. I could feel healing around me.

I was being guided by the spirit of the Pipe.

The main message I kept getting was….forgive.

Then, that summer, I went out to South Dakota to support a friend who was Sundancing and the elders asked me to dance for my life and my son.

THAT was when I REALLY started to understand the spiritual power of the Pipe ( chanupa).

That first year I Sundanced I had a breakthrough. I started to see with my whole being, that if I surrendered and truely opened my heart and prayed for others, that I learned so much about myself. That most of my suffering was a perception of my own issues. The more I let go and forgave myself and others, the closer I came to my own happiness.

I ended up Sundancing for eight years. And then I knew it was over.

I will tell my entire Sundance story later.

The Pipe has become a close allie to me and I have shared and taught it’s wisdom for many years.

After 9/11 I had a Pipe Ceremnoy here every Monday night for 2 years as a service to the community.

Then, after Katrina, I started them again once a month and we continue to have them here upon request and also for special occations.

I would like to thank Grandmother Lillian Pitawaniquat from the Ojibwa nation, for her teachings on the Pipe. She helped me to see on a deeper level the divine feminine and the energy of the Mother in the Ceremony itself. To see the Pipe an an inclusive energy , for all our relations.

My deepest gratitude for the Lakota people, and all those who perform and are part of the sacred ceremonys in the Native American traditions.

All My Relations!

( which means, we are all connected!!!)

Please pre-register by e-mailing Rose: rose@polaritycenter.org.

There is a First and Second Year Training, both starting the end of Sept and going till the end of May, with three semesters.

Each semester is $500.

Winter Shaman’s Circle Training Level Two, Monday nights, starts Jan. 11th- March 8th

Level One starts Wed., Jan 13th. – March 3rd.

Spring Shaman’s Circle Training: Level One March 22nd-May 10th

Level One: March 24th-May 12th

New dates for 2010:

Under Retreats: All Retreats will be held at The Land Celebration in Gore, Virginia and cost $225 and are over the weekend with lodging.