I took a shamanic journey for one of my students. I’ll call her Gayle. The intention was:

What does Gayle need to know to heal her relationship with her parents?

My Teacher and power animal brought me to a realm in the upper world. The area was blank, and I saw and felt nothing. I looked at my Teacher (who I did see) for guidance, and he pointed to a far-away, distant space within the surrounding emptiness. I still did not see/feel/sense/experience anything. My Teacher never steers me wrong, so I waited patiently.

And sure enough, an object was moving in my direction.

Ganesh, the renowned Hindu elephant god known as the remover of obstacles, was floating towards me on a multi-colored carpet.

The closer he came, the more clearly I could see his elephant head and chubby human body. His two legs were semi-crossed. When Ganesh was directly in front of me, he extended one of his four arms and opened his hand.

A tiny, tan-colored seed rested in his palm.

He offered it and said:

Here is a Seed of Forgiveness. Tell her to plant it within her heart.

In time, an enormous tree will grow.

It will be the Tree of Compassion.

Within every Seed of Forgiveness lives the Tree of Compassion.

I received the seed, thanked Ganesh, and watched him serenely float away.

Once my Teacher and power animal brought me back to my body, I blew the Seed of Forgiveness into Gayle’s heart/soul space. She immediately took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Tears flowed down her cheeks. She listened to the story and then sat straight up, turned away from me, and lifted the back of her shirt.

An exquisitely drawn, vividly painted tattoo of Ganesh filled the entire area.

I leave you with this quote from Rumi: 

“In this earth, in this immaculate field, we shall not plant any seeds

Except for compassion, except for love.”