Muse Time Beginnings

 I'm sometimes asked how Muse Timers began - pour a cuppa, and sit back!

The invitation read, “I am so excited to be offering my first 'Color of Woman Method' painting workshop, "Meeting Your Creative Muse", on February 15, 2014, at my new art space in my home. This process uses intentional creativity, visionary imagination, and intuitive painting, to encounter the Muse, thus accessing our own inner world and feminine wisdom,..." and I had to sign up!! 

Heron Walking - Legend 2021

A couple of us joined our friend for the class, and spent a lovely day painting with her and reigniting our creative sparks! After 'painting up a storm' over the following months, I signed up for the 2015 training later in the year, and completed in the fall of 2015 (turning in my own book at the 'last minute!!')

During my own year, I was aware some SiStars weren't able to complete. The following year, I was one of several 'readers' assigned to support small groups of students throughout their training - and was so happy when all of 'mine' graduated! Several gals who took one of my IC classes, or attended my monthly Red Thread Circles entered Color of Woman training, and all of those were able to complete as well. 

Occasionally I would run into the friend who offered that original Muse class, and if talk turned to CoW, she would lament that she still hadn't finished, and might add she still hoped to. After a particularly poignant conversation with her, and several with other students who 'hoped to' complete their Color of Woman journey, I began wondering what support those continuing students received, and asked Sarah! They were encouraged to complete, and had continued access to the materials and process, but there was no specific support system.

Sarah checked with Shiloh and Jena, and we decided I could start a support circle for those students who had taken extensions, so I began Muse Timers! Sarah sent me the email addresses of extension students from 2015 - 2017, and I started a FB group for those interested in March 2018 (that has been archived, and we now have a group on iMUSEA) 

From the beginning, Muse Timers have expressed that they felt alone on the journey after their classmates graduated, and gratitude for the continuing support of a circle of witness! Other graduates, many who took extensions themselves, followed the thread to help support the circle. I began writing a Muse Time blog, with tips on taking stock of where they were with the journey, using their IC tools and doing a reset. A continuing motto has been 'keep it simple!' Every time one posts her TaDa pic of her initiate group, I feel the same delight I did with my own completion! Another Star is shining bright!

Circle with Zander and Keira

When I was in CoW, my youngest grands were 4, and attending an art centered Playschool. I wrote about my Soul Work from that perspective of being a Grandmother, nurturing creativity in the children. Another thread of that Soul work is my offerings as a Reiki Master where I incorporate creative projects into the training. And the third thread is that of nurturing IC students in Color of Woman, as they weave their way to completion in their own and their Muse's Timing! 

Tools of Transformation

 During the Color of Woman quest, we have been given treasure trove of tools for accessing our own intuition, insights and vision, for calming the Critic and engaging the Muse! 

This Tool Kit is full of powerful offerings for our beloveds - and ... we often forget how helpful they can be for our own process! 

What can we do when the critic raises her head? Pull out the tool kit, and choose one or more to revisit!

My first Story Card deck and cover

• The Soulful Story Card process is one of the first assignments on the CoW journey - for good reason! 

In The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron wrote: "An affirmation is a positive statement of (positive) belief, and if we can become one-tenth as good at positive self-talk as we are at negative self-talk, we will notice an enormous change." 

If we only had the Story Cards as support for the rest of our journey, we'd have such a potent aide!! Often the very stumbling blocks addressed by the cards are encountered over and over - and in the cards, we have a wonderful way to turn them into stepping stones!  I share several ways to use them here.

I usually offer a Story Card session in my Red Thread Creatives Circle a couple of times each year, and use this as an opportunity to create a few new cards, to address other old Stories I've become aware of!  I like working on less expensive water color pads of paper for creating the cards. 

You may find this a good time to assemble your Story Card kit, for offering this as a virtual or in person class. So save your process papers with old stories and their antidotes to include in your kit. If it's been awhile since you created your deck, check in and see if there's are any old stories surfacing to be countered with new cards!

Story and Ally cards, plus 13 Step prompt deck

• The Medicine Basket - ooo, what a lovely image!! 

I love Shiloh's description of her physical basket, and items included!! You may wish to assemble a physical Medicine basket or bag to include some of your special tools! I've got a little basket for Red Thread and a couple of Shiloh's books, a little red silk bag for special scissors, and little balls of red yarn, and found a small purse made from Red Ties for bigger balls and tools! 

If you're feeling 'stuck' around your Piece of the Red Thread - pull out your Medicine Basket, and revisit your tools!

Red Thread Basket

Some of the Medicine Basket inquiries are:

• What will you be known for? 
• What Healing tools & remedies do you offer? 
• What can people count on you for?
• Who are your Beloveds?
• What is in your medicine basket?

Our Medicine Basket process helps us identify our special gifts, and points us toward our Soul Work! When I painted & collaged 'gifts' onto my first Medicine basket, I immediately saw this as a lovely process to include in my upcoming Reiki 2 class (and included that as my first RT event assignment). I invited my students to bring scrapbook materials, Quotes they might want to include, and then dream-stormed on how to integrate the teachings of Reiki, & the Medicine basket process. We created covers for the Reiki Journals I encouraged them to begin, over a background that included the Symbols they learned!

I've continued to include creating Story Cards and Medicine Baskets in subsequent Reiki 1 and 2 Classes, and love how they dovetail with the Reiki teachings on intention. I've also shared it in Red Thread style paint parties, like this one for my school chum Nancy (center with the basket on pink) and her friends and family.

Paint with Pals - Medicine Basket

• Many of us have felt we didn't quite 'fit' in this current world, family, community - the House of the Heart allows us to claim belonging. 

Shiloh comments - "We either experience everything as a miracle or nothing as a miracle. We experience the Universe as a friendly or unfriendly place. People's world view stems from their belief about whether they belong here." 

In the fall of 2019, I joined CoW graduate and EFT practitioner Sherry Reuger-Banaka in offering a workshop on Grief to Gratitude, using the house of the Heart as the class template. This was her Soulwork - combining IC and EFT! I've enjoyed doing this one on canvas several times, and they are such cheery houses! 

The prompts from a CoW student offering (via Zoom) led to recalling the cute 50s home my dad painted pink, with dark red trim and a white roof (to reflect the Central Oregon sun) ... And the Blue Door of my piano teacher's little back room Bible Bookstore. 

 

House of the Heart 2020 - on canvas

• Need a Treasure Map for finding your way? Pull out your Vision Plan Book! 

This is a process Shiloh Revisits each time she's planning a new offering - and is a great one for us to revisit as we seek insight and momentum. I love the whole brain, Muse led approach - our biz-coach, Stella Mac invites us to, "Create a business plan using your winged eye – you have to know how to look with a visionary lens to craft a business that reflects who YOU are." 

Vision Plan Book

In spring of 2020, Shiloh and Amy Ahlers offered a course called Dancing Entrepreneur, where we created a new Vision plan Book, plus a deck of 16 action cards to augment the booklet, and support moving forward with our plans! This is where I encountered the idea from another student of creating a board and planning pockets for a Visual planning system!"

Journal Calendar Biz-Plan

• Another tool is one we've all kept in various forms over the journey - the Journals!!  

This is where we've processed, and made notes around different assignments. 

I tend to keep both art journals for the longer painting processes, and the Smashbook style composition books for writing. I've amassed a lot of journals, and reviewing these can be helpful - reach for the one that 'falls off the shelf!' 

One of the biz tools I used following graduation was creating a monthly Smashbook spread with my goals  for that month splashed about, "popcorn" style. 

Some were specific to that month, while others are ongoing (hosting monthly Red Thread Circles, painting, blogging) I could see at a glance what I accomplished, and what I still wanted to work on!

I hope you're inspired to pull out some of your favorite tools from the training, and revisit the messages! This is a good time to complete or fine tune writing about the projects, and finding which best serve you.

SOULWork

 The invitation reads: "Your SOULWork Project is a culminating presentation exploring Intentional Creativity as applied to a personal interest. Plan to take 6-8 hours taking your interest to the 'next level.' Document in the way that makes sense: writing, link to a hosted URL, etc."

How do we make that connection between a personal interest and IC?

A good place to begin is to pull out your journal, your Medicine Basket, and draw a couple of Story Cards.  Sit with one of your paintings, and inquire, 

• What are some of my Personal Interests and how do they dovetail with IC? 
• How can I serve MY beloveds and my Soul Purpose? 
• Perhaps do a Metacognitive Drawing around the inquiry. 

If it's something you've already done, you can share the link (dropbox, youtube, blog post, google docs, etc) or you can simply flesh out your notes and any images you have of your project 'in the works.

I originally wrote about my SOULWork from the perspective of being a Grandmother, and using it to support my grandchildren. While that's been a part of work since the beginning, when my 4 year old grandkids added strokes (invited!) to my CoW paintings, I realize that another thread is my offerings as a Reiki Master.

In 2015 and '16, I wrote about this on my King's Touch Reiki Blog, "When studying Intentional Creativity, preparing to become a Color of Woman teacher and IC coach, I needed to offer several Red Thread Circles and events. My teacher Shiloh Sophia invited me to consider the connections between Reiki and the IC teachings, "I know there are connections, explore what they are."

A Chinese legend tells that we are connected before birth with those whom we're destined to meet by an invisible Red Thread. Through out lives, the thread may twist, stretch and tangle, but will never break. We each hold, and are responsible for our own piece of this thread.

I immediately saw a connection with my own Reiki Thread, and considered how to weave the IC teachings to support my Reiki students. In April on 2015, I included my first Red Thread circle for the training during a Reiki I class, inviting each initiate to share her piece of the thread. One, Lora Pirtle, was already certified in IC, and was tickled. During our 2nd Degree class in July, we incorporated the symbol practice sheets into creating a Medicine Basket as a journal cover. 

Students Creating Journal covers

When I took Second Degree Reiki in 1990, we first learned the three symbols, and then (gulp!) burned the papers!! Scary, but empowering! We were at the coast, & that night, I danced the symbols under the stars - WOW!

With Intentional Creativity, we can use the creative process as our Holy Fire of transformation and integration. 

Some of the Medicine Basket inquiries are:

• What will you be known for? 
• What Healing tools & remedies do you offer? 
• Who are your Beloveds?
• What is in your medicine basket?

When I painted & collaged 'gifts' onto my first Medicine basket, I immediately saw this as a lovely process to include in my upcoming Reiki 2 class (and included that as my first RT event assignment). I invited the students to bring scrapbook materials or Quotes they might want to include, and dream-stormed on how to integrate the teachings of Reiki, & the Medicine basket process. 

Intentional Creativity has proved to be a lovely support the Reiki teachings. I've formulated a Red Thread Reiki curriculum, with creative projects to help the teachings of each level. These Red Thread teachings are available separately for those who have studied with another Master, and I would love to collaborate with other Reiki Masters in offering these.

In later Reiki Classies, we've made Prayer Flags on the Reiki Principles during First Degree and Apothecary Vessels for the journal covers. So my SOULWork was already present, and interwoven into other assignments for my certification, I just needed to see the pattern!

I invite you to explore the connections between IC and your own interests/ skills/ healing tools - how can you weave the treads together?