Good News!

Okanogan Valley, WA

Dearest Friends and Beloved family,  

      Whew!! We made it through 2008, a year that challenged me more deeply than any other I can remember in my adult life. I remember a powerful dream I was given in the 80’s: a young Pueblo girl going through her initiatory challenges. When her grandmother  urges her to work hard and get ready, she says, “I’m ready, Grandmother; I’m strong.” Her grandmother replies, and it made my heart skip a beat, “It’s not your strengths that will be tested; it is your weaknesses!”

      And so it seems for all of us. The challenge is to discern our weak spots and clear/heal them before they burst through to reveal themselves destructively. It’s actually why I like to work with other healers and teachers; they seem to more easily notice the weak areas which one does not personally perceive. I know each of us has the resources to heal those weak areas when they are found – and they are calling out to be cleared. The more we can heal the inner weaknesses, deal with personal challenges, the easier it will be for us to face the growing crises in all areas of our outer life – ones we obviously haven’t faced for many years: the degradation of our environement; the collapse of a consumer lifestyle; Earth changes brought about by our own unsustainable ways of living, as well as great cycles in solar system / galactic energies, and more.

      In such times of global change and disruption, opportunity abounds and magic is afoot. In a simple look at chaos theory, we see that perturbation/disturbance must come to break down the old to allow the emergence of the new. The key is releasing our dependence on the old, outmoded structures and focusing on unfolding a positive dream  before us – not letting fear and confusion rule our minds.

There are so many lessons to learn during this remarkable time when we have the opportunity to ascend into a golden time on Earth. I hope to be more active on this site, sharing ideas, teachings, keys, and clues with you as we go through these times together. Check WHAT’S NEW occasionally!  

      After the betrayal and losses of Earth Heart and my business assistant, I had been calling prayerfully for a change in energy. I was answered by grace in Paradise Montana on equinox with the in-pouring of an uplifted and powerful energy of happiness, peace, joy, excitement, creativity and fullness. I was invited to begin using everyday my spiritual name Chalise, given me long ago by Dawn Star. It means a chalice overflowing with love and light, and as such is a vocation, gift of grace and a challenge to truly live. Medicine Eagle represents the years of picking up the dawning light and flying it across the sky for the enlightenment of all. This more feminine new name represents a time of staying in one place and allowing abundance in all forms to flow through me. It is pronounced “shah – LEASE” and I would appreciate being called Chalise to support this new energy that I am carrying  (although Brooke will remain my official name).

      So, on to the good news! In short, for all of you who are very busy: we’re home at last, moving in to sweet cabin house, paid for, name on title, orchard, gardens, irrigation stream and pond, 5 months growing season, conscious community, just in time for winter!, settling, deeply GRATEFUL, celebrating! Ah yes, the goddess has been good in her many forms.  
 
      Now for the longer story, with some news many of you may already have heard: Due to the greed and meanness of our partner’s children, we were forced to leave our beautiful Earth Heart retreat home in Montana in May. We were sad yet hopeful about a beautiful piece of land with 2 creeks in N CA. Arriving and exploring, we really liked the place – tall pines and oaks, looking out toward Mt. Shasta. We camped in the gypsy wagon on the land for several weeks, near the Anastasia community of energetic young people there, and enjoyed going over the mountain into Ashland, OR. Kitty Girl and I liked getting acquainted with the oaks and N CA wildlife. However, in the final analysis, there were more challenges there than we wanted to face – access issues, water in deep canyons, severe building restrictions, etc. We decided to let go of it, although we could have had 72 acres for very little investment via a tax sale.

      Williams, OR, over the border was our next stop. We stayed several weeks in madrone forest near the abundant Herb Pharm estate, and Sunny used their wifi to search the internet, sometimes 8 hours a day, seeking suitable land for the very limited resources we had. Not much came up in that price range, and we looked at everything we found – OR and N CA. In the meantime, intense fires were rolling smoke over the mountains, burning right down into Sunny’s old community River Spirit, and we were urged north to check out an area in north central Washington where land was less expensive. A grant from a dear old friend and benefactor added immensely to our possibilities! 
    A beautiful old cabin on 30 acres out of Oroville, right on the Canadian border, beckoned us; the owner allowed us to camp there while we explored and worked with the water situation. Kitty Girl and I fell in love - it had the same wild feeling as Earth Heart, familiar high mountain beauty, and the same welcome as a retreat place. It was a bit high in altitude for the best gardens, and we would have had to renovate the old cabin before winter. Then we couldn’t get the water we needed, so Kitty Girl and I grieved leaving a place that seemed to call our happiness and high spirits.

       
    Coming off the mountain in a tired and sad place to visit our realtor Patti again, we were shown a place that didn’t meet our wilderness requirements yet she felt inspired to show us. And it has, surprising even us, become our home! It is a couple acre home and orchard in a little hamlet set in a tiny ranching / fruit-growing valley near Tonasket and the radiantly abundant Okanogan Valley. (The fruit many of you eat probably comes from this area.) Our FLOWERSONG home has grapes, apples, apricots, cherries, plums, nectarines, peaches, pears, hazel nuts and berries in overflowing abundance, plus plenty of space for big gardens. Neighbors offer us more walnuts and almonds than we can pick. The nearby lakes are renowned for many varieties of fish. A large herd of bighorn sheep are the “totem” of the town, and wander freely, their hooves clicking on the downtown streets. Deer often join them. 
    The log cabin home was built in the 60s and shows it – I’m enjoying doing the renovation of wood panel walls, gold-flecked worn Formica in bathrooms, and bright orange counters on old cabinets in the kitchen. Thankfully, beautiful new oak flooring will provide a great basis to build on. One very sad thing is that my precious Kitty Girl was killed by a big truck just before we arrived, and I’ve been grieving the loss of my favorite playmate, snuggler, sweet and wild thing – and looking for another magical cat. 
    There is another tiny log cabin on the land that we will renovate from storage into a sweet guest cabin; a shop which will become mostly greenhouse; a chicken house that will get some chickens and old shake shingle covering; and even space on the orchard terraces for another little south-facing log cabin where we can live more sustainably than in this more regular home (that would be difficult to retrofit – being north-facing, etc). A cedar deer fence which gives us a sense of privacy is already up,  and we’re creating a flat ceremonial meadow space for a tipi, fire pit, and circle dancing under the spreading cottonwoods by the little waterfall.

       
    Sunny knows lots of folks here, having taught many of them how to live aboriginal ways in the wilds 30 years ago. Many of this students came here shortly after that and have made a conscious and interesting community in this area. We are planning to gather at the new community center in Tonasket to talk about how to make this valley as independently sustainable as possible. Our tiny village is very quiet and sweet, except for a few big fruit trucks and hunters in the fall. We are a couple miles away from the enormous Pasayten Wilderness and the wild beauty there. We want to take time next summer to hike into that area, and create a little wilderness hideaway near a sweet spring somewhere off the trails – to satisfy our wild natures and to have a special tucked-away place. 

      Looking up the Sinlahekin Valley from us, one can see the high peaks and mountains of Canada stretching north. Interesting enough, this area is Canada’s Florida, because the 900-1300 foot altitude, many lakes, rivers and inviting wilderness call people to the Penticton BC area over the border and down into our country. Sunny is especially thrilled with the long growing season. An old irrigation project, designed by world famous hydrologists and engineers to create the possibility of orchards, still functions efficiently and makes this northern desert productive and lovely. We drive by lovely little lakes whichever way we go from here. 
 
    So, dear ones, we are settling in, getting boxes unpacked, happy to be out of that wonderful gypsy wagon for the winter. When Brooke returned to Earth Heart in the late fall, there was a storm coming in with cold winds and sleet – it was a gift to realize how much warmer and more abundant a climate we are coming into here at the little orchard home we call FLOWERSONG GARDENS. Although we didn’t get to have a garden this summer, we attended the big Barter Faire here this fall and came home with a pickup load of onions, potatoes, carrots, beets, squash, peppers and many other goodies. As well, we have barrels of grains, rice and beans stored in a good cellar under the house, and feel very well set for winter and whatever might come – we are truly rich and wealthy!

       
    As well as being the name of our home, FlowerSong is our healing/sharing work – in the lineage of the Dawn Star / Christ light whose love and wisdom is about a flowering of life on Earth. We will be open to apprentices and students coming to be with us during the warm months – learning about harmonious, sustainable living, and deepening their spiritual practice and personal healing. The flowering months of spring will be remarkably exquisite here, and we have room for camping on our orchard terraces, and the special treat of staying in the gypsy wagon, plus lots of wild country nearby.

      Sunny has just written and is self-publishing a wonderful little book,, REALIZATION Of The DIVINE ONENESS. We are enjoying working with OutSkirts Press who will have the book ready for release soon in paperback and downloadable eMail forms. It makes me want to write again! He’ll soon have those available for sale, as well as having a website where he can be contacted about the Oneness work. Sunny also has some short videos out on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ssunnybabadivineonen&view=videos

      My current work is finding a way to open my business without assistance, and to get my website renewed and available with new things, including more teachings and music to download. I’m also starting again to do private healing and mentoring sessions, which have become even more powerful and beneficial than ever. As we get settled our hearts are turning more to sharing our knowledge of ways to live well, simply and harmoniously in this changing time. Stay tuned and check the website which should be up in new form soon. Thanks for your patience about this. 

      In summary,we are healthy, happy and well; feeling totally abundant; gifted by grace and a wonderful friend / benefactor; glad for a place to put our energy; and looking forward to making this little place our own with creativity and joy, and to being able to invite you here for healing and retreat in the warm months. The land already flowers in successive stages; the autumn leaves and winter white are spectacular; and even more beauty will be added. We sit by the open hearth fire at night and are still in awe and wonder at BEING HOME!  

      Thank each and every one of you for holding us in your loving hearts and prayers as we made this journey.

       You are very special to us, and your support

       in all forms made a tremendous difference.

 
    Love and blessings from FLOWERSONG!     

Chalise Brooke and Sunny 
 
 PS: Be sure to keep my permanent eMail address: Email us.  Our mailing address is: 
POB 971, Tonasket, WA 98855 and our number is 509-223-3093. I continue to check my office mail via the old 406-883-4686 number. I do have my CDs, books and teaching DVDs here, if any of you are wanting some for yourself and gifts.