2008 has arrived and there is a stirring inside of each of us that this IS THE YEAR. I want to confirm that this is indeed the year that from the seemingly impossible, anything is possible. I choose to see this as the Year of the Rainbow and the Awakening of the Shaman within. I know this to be my truth as just before 2007 was complete and my personal journey had taken me from the South Pole of Antarctica to the North Pole of the Arctic Circle, I was guided to make one final journey in 2007. This was to Canada. Since White Wolf Journeys began in 1996 my path has always been to follow the trail of the Rainbow Nation. While flying to Vancouver in December and reflecting on the year of 2007 the message of 2008, the Year of New Beginnings became very clear.

As we arrived and traveled to our hotel we were informed that we were very fortunate. For days they had experienced snow and heavy rain and only an hour before had the weather turned and the sun began to shine. As I sat down waiting for our room the most magnificent rainbow appeared in the sky. On the flight to Vancouver I had asked the Ancestors for a sign regarding my personal journey I was to take as well as guidance for the teachings and the wisdom to be revealed in 2008. Almost in perfect response to my question from where I sat I saw both sides of this magnificent rainbow. One arch touched down into the water illuminating Vancouver Harbor and the other reached across the waterway touching down to highlight the magnificent forests. I watched as the colors of the rainbow illuminated the enchanted forest and the trees seemed to come alive in a burst of vibrant hues. I have always been a very visual person so when I ask for messages I expect to have visual responses. The information I had been receiving for months as we moved through 2007 was many of us were moving through life changing storms in our lives, preparing for the rainbows of 2008. We were entering a final cycle as we began to awaken to the truth of our destiny. The prophecies passed down from the indigenous people from all across the globe were coming true. 2012 is quickly approaching and we must realign our world to the world of natural time. To do this we must reconnect to the unseen world and open our hearts to receive their guidance.

With the illumination of the waterways and the trees, known as the Standing Tall Ones it was confirmation that the unseen world is ready to speak once again with the human world and together we will bring our world back into balance. This is a year where we must spend more time in nature, connecting to the ancient guardians of earth wisdom; we must bring sacred ceremony back into our lives and learn to be still. The trees teach us sacredness as they are always standing in prayer to the divine. There roots planted firmly in the ground and their branches reaching upward to the heavens as though they stand in prayer reminding us of our connection to the divine. How many of us stop and notice or listen to the messages of the trees. And the stones, they have been here longer than any human being and hold the memory of the rise and fall of all civilizations, yet do we stop to open our hearts to receive their messages. Long sacred to the cultures that worshipped the earth and walked within respect among mother earth, this is a time when the dormant secrets held in crystals, river rocks and ancient stones come alive once again.

When you learn to discover the magic held within the unseen world you can restore the magic to your life. This is the way of the Shaman. Over thousands of years, our ancient ancestors all over the world discovered how to maximize human abilities of mind and spirit for healing and problem-solving. "Shaman" is a type of medicine man or woman especially distinguished by the use of journeys to hidden worlds otherwise mainly known through myth, dream, and near-death experiences. They are found in every tradition that was aware of the unique relationship that exists between the world of the seen and the unseen. From ancient times, shamans have worked with the spirits of nature for healing, survival, and knowledge. By learning from the plants and animals, from the rocks and mountains, from the winds and waters, and from the sun, moon, and stars, shamans helped their peoples live in harmony with the universe. In a world now out of balance, the way of the shaman can teach how again to respect nature, our Planet, and its inhabitants at a deep spiritual level. As our ancestors everywhere once knew, our survival depends on the survival of the other species. By working together intensively through shamanic journeys and other spiritual experiences, we will dedicate ourselves to working in both nonordinary and ordinary reality to restore and maintain a living Planet. Shamanism is based on the premise that the visible world is touched and influenced by invisible forces or spirits that affect the lives of the living. Often times the shaman has, or acquires, one or more familiar helping entities in the spirit world; these are often spirits in animal form, spirits of healing plants, or (sometimes) those of departed shamans. The healing traditions are available for everyone who has an open heart.

I am guided this year to focus on many teachings and journeys here in the United States, as this is also part of the fulfillment of the prophecies. I have shared before that all prophecies indicate the lands of America are the lands designated to bring the human world back into balance but only when the lands of America are operating from the heart and not the materialistic approach, founded on greed and abusive power that she is operating under at this time. Judging the leaders, being against America will only intensify the energies. Being for peace, being a heart centered human operating from love will assist in bringing America back into balance. Remember one of the Laws of the universe. What we resist will persist. We fuel the very thing we are opposed to by focusing on what we are opposed to. The world needs to come together and anchor the energies of love into these lands once again. We need to fulfill the prophecy of our ancestors from seven generations back that the world would reach this point of despair but the chosen ones would be here to gather strength, to remember the ways of the natural world and would bring this beautiful star back into harmony. There is not one of you reading these words that are not feeling the truth of the message in your heart.

A final message came just before the year ended. as I was seeking guidance for the upcoming year and role as a messenger, as I had my eyes closed down I heard a thump against my glass door that leads to the outside realm of the nature spirits. A magnificent hummingbird had flown into the glass door and lay stunned on the floor. As I picked this amazing being up and held it over my heart I could feel its spirit move inside my heart. I could hear its voice speak to me with the following message.

“If only your human world knew how close we are, it is as though you look through glass into our world but can't seem to find the joy that exists. We are as close as an open door, the door to the unseen world. I leave my spirit with you in the Andara crystal, which has come from our world so you can find your way back home”.

The beautiful hummingbird would die in my hands and I watched as its spirit like a thin veil of light swirled around the Andara crystal and moved inside to live within the cube octahedron. Hummingbirds, the tiniest birds alive are very sacred to the First Nation People. They live in that place between the seen and unseen and visit the human world often bringing the message of joy. This was a most profound message which I wanted to share with you. Those who will sit with the Andara crystal in 2008 will hear the message through the sound of your own heart and feel the increased joy now held within the Andara. I look forward to sharing this most amazing year with each of you and I wish you all the magic of the unseen world and that joy of walking in balance on your earthwalk.