Lianne Downey • Page 3 of 14 • Author

Touching the Sounds of Silence at the Subtle Energy Retreat 2016

Ridgeline view from the Subtle Energy Retreat

Touching the Sounds of Silence at the Subtle Energy Retreat 2016

Published by Lianne Downey on April 26, 2016

Close your eyes and listen. Are you one of the fortunate few who hear only a peaceful silence? Or are you like most of us, constantly surrounded by the cacophony that is life in the 21^st century? So we seek for silent places in the world when we can: the dark woods, out on the ocean, lost in a tomb-like room we might have created in our homes for “retreat.” You think by now I’m going to say that Joseph and I ventured off to a silent retreat, right? But the annual Subtle Energy Retreat held at Blue Sky Ranch in the San Diego foothills is anything but silent.

Ideas and conversations and presentations and excitement and exotic musical tones echo and reverberate for three days. It is a cacophony of the loveliest kind, where thoughts merge and hearts expand and ideas get born and refined. Motion and light converge with the ever reverberating movements of sun and dust and wind and stars and a full moon—and let’s never forget Ivan the Raven circling overhead, watching and guarding the presentation tent and the lunch patio.

5 Ways to Fix an Unhappy Past Life Relationship

5 Ways to Fix an Unhappy Past Life Relationship

Published by Lianne Downey on August 26, 2015

Knowing someone from a prior lifetime is no reason to stay in an unhappy past life relationship. Here are five ways to fix it, or finish it!

I often write “Dear Abby” type replies to people who comment on my most popular article on the Internet who have found themselves stuck in relationships that are making them unhappy. My article is about identifying past life lovers, friends, and enemies. Thankfully, that in and of itself begins to answer the question. They have come together to rectify some past life issues that have left them feeling unbalanced. But it’s never quite that simple.

What Does It Mean When a Beetle Lands in Your Hair?

Published by Lianne Downey on July 17, 2015

A little Messenger in the garden has graced me with his (or her) wisdom three times now, over the course of three days of lunching en plein air with Joseph. Not so little, actually. She’s a glittering, iridescent green, Figeater beetle, loud as a lawnmower, and she has insisted on landing in my hair while I’m eating. Which means she’d become a totem for me, my beetle totem.

The third time she landed, she stayed so long Joseph was able to grab the camera for her closeups. I finally had to urge her gently away because lunch was over. I will admit, I kept asking Joseph, “What is she doing? Is she leaving anything behind?!?”

Yes, she was. A message that I should be the one leaving things behind.

This San Diego beetle is so large, she kept tugging the hair at the top of my head as she explored at my shoulder. I did happen to be eating one of Joseph’s breakfast puddings with figs and chocolate in it, but she wasn’t interested in that. I’ve read that these beetles, related to Egyptian scarabs, aren’t interested in fresh fruit. They like the stuff that’s already decomposing. (Good news for Joseph’s pudding, which was delicious, of course!)

So what could I do but look up the meaning of this close animal encounter in the trusty Animal-Speak Pocket Guide. When a creature gets right in your face, or exhibits unusual behavior in a way that definitely says, “Hey! I’m talking to you,” it’s wise to pay attention. One of your Cosmic CoAuthors is trying to reach you and you’re not getting it. Time to send in the animal totem!

Subtle Energy Depletion: A Healer’s Bane

Subtle Energy Depletion: A Healer’s Bane

Published by Lianne Downey on June 29, 2015

Here’s how it happens:

The “Healer” opens her consciousness to the Infinite, the Universe, Source, God, with the intention of serving humanity. Or maybe just a single human. She fills herself with the Light energy that pours in. She is the empty vessel.

The Infinite overflows into her being, like water pouring out after a dam has broken. The Healer seeks this inflow as greedily as we seek water when thirsty, but the Infinite also requires the Healer. The Healer offers the negative pole in the electrical system, the deficit. The Infinite offers the positive pole, the surfeit. Energy, all up and down the frequency spectrum, from dimension to dimension, from pole to pole, from human to human, flows according to this pattern.

They connect, the Healer and Infinite Intelligence. The power flows, and the charge reverses.

My Sister and the Elephants

Published by Lianne Downey on April 23, 2015

This painting is called “Remember Me” and it’s dedicated to my big sister, Linda Jo Hunter, animal advocate, wildlife tracker, artist, and author (Lonesome for Bears). It happened by accident. Again. It all started with two new paint colors and an elephant’s eye.

Linda and I went shopping for art supplies during her most recent visit to San Diego. We’d just had a lovely lunch date, one of the two times a year I get to see her. When she and husband Mike travel to or from their home in Washington state to their winter camping and surf adventures in the Baja peninsula, they always stop in San Diego and we get to spend a couple of hours catching up.

Later on, she would show me the oil paintings she created this winter. But for now, she was encouraging me to buy two new colors to add to my watercolor paints. I’m a newbie and definitely more author than artist, so I need all the encouragement I can get. Phthalo Turquoise and Indian Yellow had drawn my attention. “Oh, you’ll love the Indian Yellow,” said she.

Lianne Downey Posts

Touching the Sounds of Silence at the Subtle Energy Retreat 2016

5 Ways to Fix an Unhappy Past Life Relationship

What Does It Mean When a Beetle Lands in Your Hair?

Subtle Energy Depletion: A Healer’s Bane

My Sister and the Elephants