After representing the College of Sound Healing at two Transpersonal conferences I thought I would share something of these events with you. I hadn’t worked for a year due to disability and surgery, through which I used Sound Healing consistently to support my healing process really successfully. More on that another time perhaps. Needless to say months of being unable to walk, experiencing life in a wheelchair, and having brutal surgery had profound impacts on my psychological and spiritual growth. So I came to these events not yet knowing how this would have changed me and my work.
In the end I created a totally new Sacred Sound based Celtic Medicine Wheel Ceremony, using chants I wrote in Welsh, for both events. This included chants to call for guidance in the east, and to connect to land, sea, sky and Awen (flowing spirit) in the west. We used toning for the chakras in the south. In the north I used an adapted version of a Druid peace prayer from the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) and a Shamanic healing practice called Transfiguration.
The first of these events was the British Psychological Society’s Transpersonal Section conference in September. I was somewhat intimidated and dismayed when one Keynote speaker, Philip Carr-Gomm, the last head of OBOD, told me he was going to attend my Sacred Sound Circle. On the day the ceremony proved so popular that almost all the delegates came. Remember, I hadn’t worked for a year, and I had lost my confidence as a result, so I was feeling like a novice all over again. Talk about working outside your comfort zone. I was so nervous I asked everyone to close their eyes while I sang my medicine song!
I included a sacred drumming circle in the ceremony in the UK as I was able to bring all my instruments in my car. The ceremony was wonderful with so many of us joining hearts, minds, souls and a shared intention to send waves of healing sound into the collective consciousness of humanity. You can imagine how overjoyed I was when Mr Carr-Gomm told me later that he thought my ceremony was beautiful.
So I was a little less nervous when I offered a slightly different version of the ceremony in early October at the European Transpersonal Association (EUROTAS) conference in Tuscany. This was a much larger event with around 460 people from 43 countries. I decided to hold my ceremony in the woods, underneath beautiful umbrella pines.
When I reached the spot I fancied, ready to prepare the space, I found a large labyrinth already set up there, made from pine needles, cones and leaves. It was the perfect place! Lots of people came and we sang, chanted, toned and joined our hearts together – a multitude of nations sharing sacred sound and sending it out to lend strength, courage, love, peace and harmony to all our relations, to our Mother Earth, to all people and realms of being.
It was truly a gift and an honour to hold sacred space at these events and to represent our wonderful College, which has brought so much joy and meaning to my life.
It’s inspiring to see how sound healing has been a transformative tool in your recovery journey. Creating a Sacred Sound based Celtic Medicine Wheel Ceremony must have been a deeply spiritual experience for both you and the participants. The integration of Welsh chants, Druid prayers, and Shamanic practices showcases the beauty of blending traditions for healing. It’s amazing how stepping out of your comfort zone led to such a powerful and well-received event. How did it feel to reconnect with your work and confidence after such a long break?