Rings of Substance

I had an interesting dream the other night. An older gentleman invited me into a mansion which I felt was mine by right, but he was challenging me to find me worthy. It came to me that this dream signified coming into my masculine power.

To be clear, I don’t know what that means any more than I imagine you do. I am a mature woman who is married to a gentle man, and has grown up with eight strong brothers. I have several very close men friends as well, so I am not a stranger to the masculine creature.

Powerful, ambitious, directional, focused—these are qualities that come to me when I think of masculine energy. Being the eldest in my family gave me a certain strength, yes, but it was as a caregiver, an emotional support, and a peacemaker. I may have been a tomboy growing up, climbing trees and playing baseball, but I definitely wasn’t “one of the boys.”

This dream came to me as I am exploring the edge between my conscious and unconscious awareness. Who is my authentic self? And what is it that I can create with my life? That edge where the song of my soul resonates with the music of the spheres is the realm of my creational experiences. This is where I can manifest that which is not manifest—where all my dreams can come true!

OK, let’s bring it back down to Earth again. As I said, I am looking at my energy as it reflects a masculinity that is grounded in my feminine self. I begin to see it as a longing for new experiences. This becomes my focus and intention in every day life. It is a longing to see and feel, not just the manifestation of something new, but to see and feel even the energies within myself that can be expanded to the place where “I” meet “You”.

This is the difference, I discovered, between the boundary of expansion and the boundary that we create in defense when “I” meet “You”. As Barbara Brennan says, one holds the excitement of discovery, the other the separation and resistance to oneness or communion. One holds the uniqueness of a gift or invitation to love, the other a wall of anger, fear and pain. The one must encompass the other in compassion as we ground ourselves in our original nature.

I still seem to be explaining this in a rather obscure way, so to find another way to understand what coming into my masculine power means I asked a cottonwood tree. “You, cottonwood tree, are an embodiment of focused power. What do you have to say to me?” I was given an answer immediately.

“The source of my power and longevity is two-fold. It is in my rootedness and my nourishment. Ground down deep into Mother Earth, and drink up all you can from your network of support and words of wisdom. Keep an open mind to transform each situation into a new layer of growth—it’s not just your skin, your edge, that is of importance, it is your rings of substance that make all the difference.

“My growth is directional (masculine)—always toward the sun, or reaching deep below the ground. And yet at my core my power is relational—xylem and phloem bringing that nourishment, sun and earth, to the heart of my being. From there I flower and fruit to share with others. Your power to grow is masculine. Your power to love is feminine. And yet they are one and the same.”

We forget this as we hurry through our days. We forget to nourish our bodies and our spirits. We forget to share what we have with others. We forget to root ourselves in a place, a home that is safe haven for family. And we forget to grow our rings of substance, dwelling in the power, rather than exploiting or controlling it. This then has become my creative awareness. Perhaps it will become a focus and direction that will spread throughout the world.