I woke up on the morning of July 14th from a ‘Crush-Dream’. I was all warm and cozy in bed thinking how fantastic it was to be in love, how much I couldn’t wait to see my Beloved again, and then I realized I was dreaming about a lake. In truth, it was not just any old lake, but the Great Mother herself; Lake Superior.
I must admit the stage had been set perfectly for me to meet the majestic queen of lakes, for I had traveled by car, plane, the kindness of a stranger & then caravan to get to her. In short, there is no easy or quick way to travel from the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont to the Upper Pennisula of Michigan. That being said it was worth it.
I have been traveling to the Mid-West (Wisconsin in particular) for the last 4 years, as a teacher and guide, my teaching focused on the development of Psychic perception and expansion of consciousness. I have worked primarily with the same group of women, with additions and subtractions to the group as life demanded. The Virmond Crows; as they call themselves (the name was chosen for the closeness in name of one of Milwaukee’s many parks ‘Virmond’ to my home state of Vermont) has grown to become kindred to me, they are my Mid-West Tribe and I look forward to my time with them each year.
Last year two of the women from the Virmond Crows spent some time in the sacred wild camping with my sister and me, while visiting Vermont; bonding in a way that can only take place through the use of a sacred container. Sacred Container refers to time spent in deep connection, in which the group stays in contact with each other for the duration of the study; eating, sleeping, and playing together while exploring mystical studies. This is my favorite way to learn & teach, for it takes us out of our everyday habits, rocks the boat of our subconscious programming and allows us to become more deeply ourselves. After spending the weekend with us in New Hampshire, the visiting Virmond Crows said “We want that!”, and so our magical journey to the Upper Penisula and Lake Superior was birthed into being.
One of the Mid-West Tribe lives in the U.P. and became my host and partner on the ground. When doing this kind of work, in which I must travel to teach my partner on the ground is of utmost importance, for they take care of the logistics with an eye that only a local can have. She picked our location, arranged lodging and chose the places we would be working from. I came with the teachings for the weekend set in my mind like a sailor on the water; strong and loose at the same time, ready to bend and bob when needed.
We arrived at ‘Black Harbor’ as the sun was setting, after spending most of our day working with nature on the Black Harbor River. We saved our introduction to Mother Superior/Lake Superior for dusk for the times of Betwixt & Between are particularly powerful when it comes to magical workings.
Dawn & Dusk are times of betwixt & between as they are neither day nor night, but somewhere in between. Places and times in the Betwixt & Between hold the magic of becoming and carry a certain level of enchantment that even the novice can perceive.
Arriving at the lake the sky and water were ablaze with reds and oranges; the water reflecting both the sun and the iron in the sand of the supporting hills and embankments. We had come to the lake to perform a water ceremony; an offering of thanks and an energetic blessing for the water and those who step into her embrace. It was a magical experience from the start, the colors that welcomed us as we walked from the parking lot to the water were outstanding from the start, and only got better when we were blessed with seeing ‘the Green Flash’.
The Green Flash is caused by light refracting in the atmosphere, and it is hardly ever seen…It can be experienced by the lucky at sunrise and sunset when the light travels through more of the atmosphere. For the viewer, the Green Flash is more like a green strobing line along the horizon. It is such an amazing color; a technicolor sea-green strobe light that lasted for about 3 minutes. I tried to take pictures, but could not do it justice…so I stood in awe capturing the image in my mind.
Driftwood @ Black Harbor/Lake Superior
The beach that we found ourself on was like something out of a hobo-beach dwellers dream. It was covered in large pieces of driftwood, which had been deposited on the shore by the long hard winter of the following year. The sky was starting to darken and the shore was alight with fires, and small make-shift shelters the locals had made for fun. I felt like a child who had stepped into a magical park and allowed myself a few moments of fantasy; in which I imagined I would see Peter Pan and the Lost Boys camped out at one of the fires. But soon I was back in focus, remembering that I was here to do magic that did not involve flying away into a fictitious world. We were here to give our thanks and honor to the life-sustaining water of Lake Superior.
Lake Superior is known as ‘Gichi-Gami’-the big liquid or great sea to the Ojibwe/Chippewa who lived along her shore. Lake Superior is the largest fresh-water lake in the world!
Although the beach was alight with fires, they were spaced far enough from one another that we were able to get a relatively private spot for our working without much effort, and the people who were there were respectful, seeming to understand that we were there for deep work with Spirit. As the sky darkened we gathered wood and I easily started a fire (super easy when you are carrying charcoals to burn incense on…just saying). 
When darkness finally settled upon the water, we gathered close and began the evenings magic with a personal attunement to water; something I developed after a profound experience I had with water while visiting a spring on the side of Mount Shasta (more about that in the book I am working on). The attunement process came to me partially through channeling and partially through my personal study of Structured Water. Structured water is a molecular arrangement of water molecules that exists when water is near hydrophilic (water-loving) surfaces, such places are available in nature and in our bodies. It is the belief that under ideal situations; which can be created, water is more viable and more easily programmed/blessed. With the group circled around me, I opened their energetic bodies with sound and movement and first gave them the water blessing, that the waters in their own body may become energized. This was a profound moment, in which I felt like we had stepped out of time and space, existing both in the present as well as in a timeless state of being that traveled through the sands of the beach connecting us to the past and future. I love that liminal space, for it is perfect for magical workings. We then gathered ourselves in sacred sovereignty and walked to the water where I shared the movements and words of the water blessing/attunement with the group.
Standing in a line along the shore, in water up to our knees we stirred the water with hand and wand creating spirals and infinity waves. Our voices rang out in a shared song as we Toned the words of attunement. The feeling of being between worlds was strong, as I heard the sound of Native women singing along with us in the Spirit world. I soon found myself overcome with a knowing that I must go into the water after the blessing was done. I needed to completely submerge myself in the dark waters of the lake. The more I stirred, the more I sang the deeper the knowing sank in. I did not have a choice in the matter.
Now, this was a bit of a dilemma for me as I was wearing leggings and a long-sleeved shirt. I had not brought my bathing suit, as I was sure I would not go into the water for a swim until the following day. Things I should point out-I am not one for skinny dipping. I am not ashamed of my body, I simply am not much of a naked in public kind of gal. But I had limited options…I could go into the water naked, or wear my undergarments, something that was at a disadvantage as I only had one bra with me on the trip. So I stripped off my clothes and went into the water.
When my head was fully submerged I felt a great awakening come over me. I found myself surrounded by what for lack of better words, an embrace. It was not a physical holding, but an energetic cocoon of love. It was so deep and all consuming that I felt like my paltry offering of a blessing had been but a peck on the cheek when compared to the level of love that was offered back to me. I stayed in the water but for only a few minutes, the rocky floor of the lake feeling unstable beneath my feet in my altered state of mind. I knew that I had been greeted by the Spirit of the Lake herself, and I knew I would be called back to her waters many times in my future life.
As we gathered our belongings and left the beach it was powerful to see how others had responded to our doings on the waterfront. When walking by the large group of locals, we noticed that they all bowed their heads slightly when we walked by. This to some seemed as it could be more of a ‘holy shit, don’t make eye-contact thing’, but in truth, I believe it was more of an acknowledgment that they had just witnessed something sacred. Whether we share the same beliefs or differ in our faith, the sacred is recognizable to all.
My host Jamie and her daughter Nina.
I did return the next day, after waking from my crush-dream, I had no choice. I needed to see my lover one more time before I departed her lands. Returning in the daylight I collected rocks and driftwood (which I mailed home to myself). I have always been a fan of nature given souvenirs, for they hold far more memory in them than some plastic trinket bought in a souvenir shop. We lounged around the beach taking in the beauty of a space that is still seen as sacred. In my personal thoughts I was already planning my next trip to Mother Superior/Lake Superior, knowing that I would be back.
Keep your eyes out for more information on Sacred Travels to Lake Superior by visiting my website http://Salicrow.com (be patient, stop by often, the site is going to be transforming in the next month or so/under construction).
I ended my trip to the Upper Penisula with a trip inland with my host & her daughter. Where I got to take in the beauty of the many lakes and waterways that make up the U.P. We repeated the water blessing at the little lake on my host property. It was a powerful (and buggy) way to finish up my short stay.
Sacred travel can happen anywhere and everywhere. It is more of a conscious switch of how you view the world and your place in it. It requires the ability to take a step back from the hub-bub of our electronic world and choose a slower pace. It is not a superpower, but something we all have innately inside of us. We can all recognize the beauty of nature, connecting with it in a sacred way is to take it one step further and see that nature is also sentient. The water, like the trees and the stones, is alive. It has consciousness, and if you are patient enough to listen you will hear the love story that she is speaking to you. I am thankful to be so blessed and love sharing this knowledge with others, I can feel my ancestors watching over me with pride when I do.
spreading love-salicrow
Virmond Crows in the U.P. (I love these ladies!)
Salicrow's Stories of Spirit 