The Sites and Sounds of The Crystal Garden

Enter the land of amateur video recordings with Margaret Ann at The Crystal Garden. I'm enjoying my new Flip camcorder. In the next few days I hope to have taken a video of each room of The Crystal Garden.

Here are 2 videos.

This one is a walk through the Bird Room.



This video is a walk through the Book Room.



I LOVE The Crystal Garden!

Come in person!

11:11:11 - Awakening Gateways of Consciousness

How many of our daily thoughts flow towards things we are grateful for in our lives? How many of our thoughts are focused on what we lack? How many thoughts do we have of which we aren’t even conscious? Through a little focus and intent, we can turn around our energy, our way of being and our thought forms, into gratitude and abundance vs. lack and fear. This shift in thought alone can change our lives. The transfer of attention moves the assemblage point.

The assemblage point is a center focus point on which we create our personal reality. When the assemblage point shifts due to circumstances and changes in our lives and our world, it enables us to re-create reality and how we dream our world. There are many spiritual schools that teach that our life here on planet Earth is a dream. By shifting our awareness, observing our selves and our focus on self-importance, we are better able to connect with what is the dream and what is our reality.

11:11 is the code for the opening of the gateway of consciousness within our DNA. It is the code that many have been seeing on our digital clocks, watches and more. Many us have participated in ceremonies over the years to activate the doorway of Higher Consciousness into Light and Love on key dates such at 1-11-92 and 11-11-92. This activation of the 11:11 and any double number is actually a very positive thing, e.g. 77, 33, 44, etc. These double digit numbers are Master Numbers and bring us messages. Actually, any sequences of numbers that we consistently become aware of seeing, are messages from our angel helpers. Angel Numbers by Doreen Virtue provides the meanings of various number sequences. Another favorite book on numerology.

The 11:11 is a password or activation tool to help us to remember who we truly are. Who are we truly? We are Love and Light. We are Peace, Joy and Happiness. We are here to remember our truth. This 11:11 began appearing with the advent of development of liquid crystal display and digitally displayed clocks. It was when our technology reached a certain point that we were predestined to begin to remember our Divinity. The 11:11 is a key and a trigger so that we may remember.

There have been many cosmic events that assist us in opening our consciousness. Usually they are associated with astrological configurations of stara and planet. Beginning with the Harmonic Concordance in August 1987, to the opening of the Gateway of the 11:11, and continuing with other astrological events, we are constantly being provided with these gateways for development.

Looking into numerology, 11 is a Master Number. Master numbers offer master accomplishments. According to Dusty Bunker’s book, Numerology and the Divine Triangle: “ As an 11, you can draw upon the cosmic forces for inspiration and for aid in attaining enlightenment and even cosmic consciousness. You feel compassion for all types of people, regardless of their station in life. The desire to uplift people brings out the teacher in you. You are intrigued by ESP, the occult, the mystical and spiritual studies.

As we travel forward through the 21st century, we have many opportunities to develop our spiritual selves. For thousands of years, the feminine has been subjugated. The Divine Feminine energy is entering our planet and is available to draw on. The doorway of opportunity to balance our lives, individually and globally, presents itself now. It is time to balance the masculine and feminine energies. The active principle of the masculine energy when appropriately blended with the passive feminine energy provides peace and harmony within and without.

This year, November 11, 2009, it is 11:11:11. November is 11. Date is 11. 2009 is 2+9=11. The trinity of above, below and within is energetically present in this year's 11:11 event raising it by an 11!

Prayer and meditation are vital now. Pray and meditate whenever possible. Our guides and angels can hear us. They are waiting for you to acknowledge them, talk to them and request their assistance. They have the ability to see life from a greater perspective and may light our path so we can see, know and act more clearly. It is imperative, though, that all requests for guidance are coupled with the Sacred Intent. Sacred Intent is aligning with the Divine Plan. As Christ said, “Not my will, but Thy will be done.”

Let us remember that before we can build a world of love, light, peace, happiness, compassion, joy, and harmony for all. We must first clear out our personal negative thoughtforms as collective consciousness manifests in the world around us.

We all have an opportunity to shift our assemblage point, shift our awareness, awakening our gateway of consciousness. As we approach this each day, we are given an avenue for actualizing the world of Love, Light and Peace. Using focus and intention, we can turn around our energy, our way of being and our thoughtforms, bringing the new focus to gratitude and abundance vs. lack and fear. This shift in thought alone can change our lives and our world, one person at a time.

I'll be at the Jamar Enlightenment Center (561-630-2280) located in Palm Beach Gardens offering an 11:11:11 Crystal Singing Bowl Meditation. Register by 11/10 to get a discount.

Tween Time: Cross-quarters

As the cross-quarter approaches, a doorway in between time and space opens. It happens 4 times a year. Cross-quarters are the mid point between a solstice and equinox.

The time around the end of October and the beginning of November is the mid-point between the Fall Equinox and the Winter Solstice. As a culture here in the U.S., most people celebrate or acknowledge Halloween in various ways. This holiday is a celebration of the cross-quarter.

In the past, I used to facilitate the Sacred Circle Gathering in Ocala National Forest at Camp Ocala. I offered the Gathering for 13 years on the first weekend of November. It was a very profound experience. It consisted of ceremonies to release negativity using smudging, drumming and rattling around the fire circle. We always created Prayer Ties which are small bundles of tobacco strung together. We made 7 bundles based on a Native American tradition. We put our prayers into the tobacco with our intention and then we wore those 7 ties hanging over our left ear for the whole weekend until the closing ceremony as a reminder to maintain prayerfulness.

I also facilitated various experiences throughout the weekend to help people connect with their power animal, trust exercises, meditations and time to play and relax by the lake. The 2 biggest events over the weekend involved building a medicine wheel and the Crystal Grid and Alignment.

The Crystal Grid and Alignment is a powerful guided meditation with 20 - 60 people. It involves creating sacred geometry with the participants laying in a particular one dimensional tetrahedron or merkabah-like formation. I connected the participants by laying gemstones on and around the body. I used my beautiful private collection of gemstones for this experience.

Through sound and guided imagery we expanded the tetrahedron to create a full 3 dimensional seal of Solomon -or a full expansion of the interlocking triangles. The intention for the meditation is to transform and transmute any energies that are no longer needed for the participants. Once achieved we used those transformed vibrations to bring balance, love and an activation of the grids of light and love to the whole planet.

And the weekend was always dedicated to connection with our ancestors - those who have walked on this path before us. It is a time of great power to connect with the wisdom of the elders and the ancient ones.

This year I'll be celebrating the Day of the Dead by offering a special drumming circle at The Crystal Garden on Nov 2 intended to help us to connect with our loved ones who have moved on to another dimension. Growing up Catholic we always acknowledged, All Souls Day and All Saints Day. Now, I connect with the cross-quarter and the time in between to allow for wisdom and messages to stream forth from the Other Side.

When I was on a sacred journey in Mexico, I visited Janitzio. It was my first exposure to the Day of the Dead.

As stated on this website: http://www.inside-mexico.com/janitzio.htm

"Day of the Dead in Janitzio features one of the most magnificent rituals of the rich Mexican culture. This time the celebration takes place in Janitzio, a magical little island in the State of Michoacan, perhaps the single most famous place for witnessing the Day of the Dead commemoration. "

According to Wikipedia:

The Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos or All Souls' Day) is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and by Latin Americans living in the United States and Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. The celebration occurs on November 1st and 2nd in connection with the Catholic holiday of All Saints' Day which occurs on November 1st and All Souls' Day which occurs on November 2nd. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts.

How will you honor your ancestors during this cross-quarter?

Walking the cycles of life

As fall approaches, it makes me mindful of the cycles of life. It's harvest time in the parts of the country where the four seasons are more evident. Living in Florida, it's actually planting season. The tropics are a bit different than the rest of the country. Regardless, the vibration of the fall and harvest time is settling in. We just experience the Corn Moon . . . some call it the Harvest Moon . . . and yet according to my favorite astrology calendar and ephemeris by Jim Maynard, the Harvest Moon is when the moon is in Aries on October 4th. (These calendars are a favorite of most of our customers - but they usually don't arrive until December.)

The celebration of the ever-turning wheel of life can be found in a ceremony from the indigenous people of our country - the Native Americans. Various tribes used the labyrinth-like circle of stones for meditation and prayers. My experiences have shown me that the process of building a medicine wheel is a perfect time for story telling, prayer, singing, meditation and contemplation. It sets the stage for a-ha experiences and the ability to see life from a greater perspective.

During our last phenomenal drumming circle at The Crystal Garden, one of the participants sitting in circle asked me what tribe I'm from or what lineage am I associated with. With my red lipstick in hand, I indicated that although I apprenticed for 2 years under a Peruvian medicine man who followed the lineage of Grandfather Wallace Black Elk, I am an Italian American from Brooklyn of my own tribe - one that I created in 1990 - called the Angelic Warriors Tribe.

I did have the distinct honor of sitting in ceremony over a period of 10 days with Grandfather Wallace Black Elk. We were on a remote mountain about an hour away from Morelia in the state of Michocan, Mexico. Lucky for me that Grandfather was there because that made them speak all the ceremonies in English as well as the native Spanish! Whew! I had a lot of interaction with Grandfather because I was one of the few English speaking people there. I called him for meals, brought him food, helped him in sweat lodges and every second was an extreme honor. I couldn't have planned it if I tried!

Angelic Warriors Tribe met every Wednesday night from around 1990 through 1997-ish. We sat in circle and laughed, cried, ate, sang, did ceremony, sat in meditation, and re-created the wheel. Re-created the wheel?? Huh? Yep - we took Sun Bear's version of the Medicine Wheel and made it our own. Victoria Martin, artist extraordinaire, painted each stone to show the symbolic energy as a tool for teaching and story telling. Now these stones sit in sacred space in the front of portion of one of the classrooms at The Crystal Garden - in the Angel Room.

The stones are river rocks which I collected with my cousin, Maria, in Hermosa, CO. In fact, you just saw pictures of my trip back to Hermosa in an earlier post. There are 36 stones and each stone tells a story. There is an inner circle, 4 portals and pathways and 13 moons.

I'm going to offer a Teachings of the Medicine Wheel event on Saturday, Sept 19 from 1 - 4:30 PM at The Crystal Garden. The cost is low - only $13 - because I want to keep it affordable to experience these teachings.

I'll probably record the experience because I was told by someone whom I really respect that perhaps this is a subject for my next book. Hmmm . . . what shall I call it? Shall I be daring? Sacred Irreverence is the key here . . . Red Lipstick and the Wheel of Life . . . or Brooklyn Girl goes Native - naaaah - OK - Maybe Walking the Cycles of Life: Native Traditions meet NYC.

I'll have to give you a few more installments of what the medicine wheel is all about. So stay tuned.

Words of Wisdom from Papa Bear

My father, Al Lembo, is a wise and spiritual man. He'll be 96 in November. Although he's dancing between the worlds, there are pearls of wisdom that come through him. It's probably because of his dance that he is a wise sage. He was extremely connected with God tonight while I was there.


In a nutshell, his advice was as follows: "Pray for all the good things in your life. Remember them and forget about the rest. Forget about the people who were bad to you. They just didn't know better and they probably didn't mean it anyway. Have memories of all the good things in your life. - and there are many things that are good in your life. If you need guidance, ask God. But you have to ask. It is important to help people. People need to ask for help. Help as many people as you can. And remember all the good things in your life."



Thanks, Dad! We all appreciate the words of wisdom! It's important to listen to the words of wisdom from our elders. They have many years of experience and know the truth. Well, at least I feel that way about my Papa Bear!