Well dear ones,
I just created a living being in my healing room.
With the smokey quartz merkaba holding the center, flanked by green chrysocolla on the right and rose quartz on the left holding Father's and Mother's love, a column of selenite above for the pure truth of absolute beauty, and 3 rubys below for the backbone and strength of purpose and creation, I called up 2 vortexes.
The one below, mirroring my first chakra, appearing counter-clockwise when seen from above, to draw away all discordant energy that is released in the healing of each individual allowing for the recognition of energy flow, patterns and defenses, so that the beauty of one's life course could be unveiled. Using a branch from an ancient cottonwood tree I traced the pattern that connected into the Earth and the grid lines of light. I also placed a box containing a donation that someone left, because he said it was the will of heaven for him to support my work, at the bottom, for generosity and abundance spiritually, physically, emotionally and financially.
Then with a fan made of feathers I've gathered I created the one above, mirroring my seventh chakra, appearing clockwise, calling on the 4 levels of heart: parental love, children's love, brother/sister love, and conjugal love to open the heart of each person to their own life's task and goodness allowing healing to occur. Above I place a picture of my spiritual parents, Rev. and Mrs. Moon, to the left a photo of us, connecting all to the highest love of the Beloved, inviting all guides, ancestors and good spirits to attend and support each individual who comes in knowing their own lineage of love.
I then placed myself in the center, asking to be the intermediary for healing to happen through me for the greatest benefit of each individual and the most beautiful creation that we would achieve together. The room was full of energy, pulsating up and down from the Earth, and down and up from the Heavens, like a big breath with me in the middle!
WOW!
Tomorrow night I would like to connect the 4 merkabas. I just wanted you to be aware that I was doing it, although you don't have to be present unless you want to be or have any suggestions about it.
with gratitude and love for your goodness,
Anne
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
My Path of Creativity (part 3)
I used to carry a black thorn around in my heart. Do you know what I mean? It was the pain of past relationships, the anger, regret, and especially unexpressed grief and longing for love—from others and self—that lay just below the surface, but extended deep into my soul—that was never fully embraced for fear of losing control, or even never coming back from the abyss.
I’ve been feeling recently that my heart and my voice are more connected than I am allowing them to be. Do you know what I mean? When emotions based in the past come up, stimulated by actions in the present, they long to be expressed—with tears or shouts of rage, sobs of despair, or just gentle weeping. Even when they were acknowledged, the full extent and depth was never voiced because of the fear of seeing myself too clearly, and not liking what I saw.
There were always moments. Moments when the sun came out, the windows were opened, the breeze blew through the corridors of my heart, and airing out my dirty laundry was no more difficult than taking the time to hang the comforter on the line in the backyard on a bright spring day. Do you know what I mean?
To create a place: a mind like a river, and a heart like a well.
God in my waters creates rainbows, and sparkles, and sprays
of fat droplets of love.
Those moments always came with the gratitude of being alive, and a faith and hope in the eternal connection I have with the Beloved. And yet, there was always something that I could not shake, a feeling that was often triggered by the turbulent times that roiled around me. There was something that I just couldn’t accept, (or was it contain?) in the me that I longed to be. Do you know what I mean?
Part of it was the fear of responsibility. With great potential comes great accountability. As I learned and grew in depth and assurance, the more I survived, the more I knew was expected of me. However, although my understanding was linked to my heart, my will and determination was attached to my rage and grief, often keeping me in a bind and at a standstill.
I discovered this by chance. In my studies of energy work it is taught that the front chakras, or energy centers, are associated with emotion, and the back chakras with will. When I became aware that I was ignoring the back chakras I asked why. Although my will and resolve helped me to survive, and directed me to grow rather than become bitter or manipulative, I had always associated it with my grief and rage, and therefore it was something to be hidden or even shunned.
As I opened myself to actually healing and letting go of my deepest pain, I could only do that by accessing the goodness in my will and desire to be the best Anne I could be, which showed me that black thorn in my heart. And then I breathed and opened to the love and the energy of the universe around me, bigger than me, and yet me. And I grew, expanding beyond the confines of the room.
As I grew I looked more closely at the thorn. It was quite beautiful, multi-colored, not black at all. The impression that it had made in my heart could be considered a wound, but what a wound it was. Have you ever stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon and looked across to the other side? Have you ever noticed the layers of sediment formed over millions of years, from intense pressure and persistent wearing away? Shaping, molding, creating, unfolding, uncovering, discovering the beauty within the Earth, unveiling it for merely humans to gape at open-mouthed in heart-stoppable beauty.
Do you know what I mean? That was the thorn in my heart. Not a source of grief or rage, but of indescribable beauty and unimaginable contact with self and other. And that was me! Amazing, isn’t it? All I could say was, “Aren’t I beautiful?” I knew I was. I know I Am.
unfolding cosmic spring
connecting us all with love
(Thank you Jen, for holding that space for me. I couldn’t have done it without you.)
I’ve been feeling recently that my heart and my voice are more connected than I am allowing them to be. Do you know what I mean? When emotions based in the past come up, stimulated by actions in the present, they long to be expressed—with tears or shouts of rage, sobs of despair, or just gentle weeping. Even when they were acknowledged, the full extent and depth was never voiced because of the fear of seeing myself too clearly, and not liking what I saw.
There were always moments. Moments when the sun came out, the windows were opened, the breeze blew through the corridors of my heart, and airing out my dirty laundry was no more difficult than taking the time to hang the comforter on the line in the backyard on a bright spring day. Do you know what I mean?
To create a place: a mind like a river, and a heart like a well.
God in my waters creates rainbows, and sparkles, and sprays
of fat droplets of love.
Those moments always came with the gratitude of being alive, and a faith and hope in the eternal connection I have with the Beloved. And yet, there was always something that I could not shake, a feeling that was often triggered by the turbulent times that roiled around me. There was something that I just couldn’t accept, (or was it contain?) in the me that I longed to be. Do you know what I mean?
Part of it was the fear of responsibility. With great potential comes great accountability. As I learned and grew in depth and assurance, the more I survived, the more I knew was expected of me. However, although my understanding was linked to my heart, my will and determination was attached to my rage and grief, often keeping me in a bind and at a standstill.
I discovered this by chance. In my studies of energy work it is taught that the front chakras, or energy centers, are associated with emotion, and the back chakras with will. When I became aware that I was ignoring the back chakras I asked why. Although my will and resolve helped me to survive, and directed me to grow rather than become bitter or manipulative, I had always associated it with my grief and rage, and therefore it was something to be hidden or even shunned.
As I opened myself to actually healing and letting go of my deepest pain, I could only do that by accessing the goodness in my will and desire to be the best Anne I could be, which showed me that black thorn in my heart. And then I breathed and opened to the love and the energy of the universe around me, bigger than me, and yet me. And I grew, expanding beyond the confines of the room.
As I grew I looked more closely at the thorn. It was quite beautiful, multi-colored, not black at all. The impression that it had made in my heart could be considered a wound, but what a wound it was. Have you ever stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon and looked across to the other side? Have you ever noticed the layers of sediment formed over millions of years, from intense pressure and persistent wearing away? Shaping, molding, creating, unfolding, uncovering, discovering the beauty within the Earth, unveiling it for merely humans to gape at open-mouthed in heart-stoppable beauty.
Do you know what I mean? That was the thorn in my heart. Not a source of grief or rage, but of indescribable beauty and unimaginable contact with self and other. And that was me! Amazing, isn’t it? All I could say was, “Aren’t I beautiful?” I knew I was. I know I Am.
unfolding cosmic spring
connecting us all with love
(Thank you Jen, for holding that space for me. I couldn’t have done it without you.)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
My Path of Creativity (part 2)
I wrote these words last week: “But my path was more . . .” I discovered that I must rephrase: My path is mine. The moment for it is Now. Neither more, nor less than the people whose shoulders I stand on—I am not here to compete or even improve on what has come before. What they have given is perfect in its own right, in its own time. This, however, is my time.
“My grandmother, the Teacher, my mother, the Nurse . . . my ancestors, leading lives of service and compassion . . .” I realize, as I am writing, that there is a fear in me that I will not measure up, that I will be found lacking in some way, that I will not be found worthy to “belong” to their ranks of healers and good women. The gifts that I have, that I see, that I have yet to uncover, are gifts I have not paid for dearly enough and therefore can’t justify in embracing completely. I am still in the process of letting go of that fear, but the first inkling I had of a life yet to live began when I turned 50.
It was then that I first allowed myself to whole-heartedly follow my destiny. Before that I had allowed myself to be led, to follow a call from above. I had asked, was told, and had given myself up to follow. At 50 I realized I didn’t need to leave myself behind!
I am aware that my gifts arise from remembering the past—the pain, the joys, the failures, the triumphs. I am also mindful of them as I open to stand in this moment of my own making and view the immense possibility of a future that I am nurturing with these gifts of my heart. One such moment came as I asked the question: “What is to be my life’s work?”
“Right relations”, I was told. “You must have right relations with all beings.” I went back to school and got my masters in Earth Literacy. The gifts that path uncovered were three-fold. The first was the connection I had buried with mother, grandmother and nature. In re-learning the importance of honoring each being with a name, I clearly saw every thread in a tapestry of cosmic proportions, of which I was a part, as well as a whole.
The next gift I uncovered was my joy in writing. Shortly after returning to school I began a weekly column called Our Place in the Universe at religionandspirituality.com. Its purpose was to explore the relationship between spirituality and the environment. It became more than that. My writing wasn’t just for self-expression, reflection, education or connection. I realized that my story mattered. Writing from my soul was a way to open the path that led toward self-awareness and healing, and allowed my story to reflect and vibrate with the heart songs of others.
Another gift that was uncovered combined both nature and writing. In my wanderings I capture moments of beauty with my camera. My artistic sensibility had always recognized scenes in nature that I have etched in my memory. Now, I take photos and engrave on them a saying, poem or haiku that further amplifies the moment.
With these works, I strive to create a place—an environment—with pictures and words. My desire is to join with the Muses evoking and awakening memories of pure beginnings when we were One with the Divine and knew it! Nature offers us hints—even more than hints—of our greatness and beauty. We just need to be reminded of the path that leads towards wholeness, and to ourselves becoming sons and daughters of the Divine in this awakening world, where Oneness exists Now and love exists always.
Bert Hellinger writes in his book “No Waves Without the Ocean” that solutions only occur through inner development. These three gifts encouraged my own development for the next few years, but I was in for a new twist in my path of creativity—and it had to do with seeing myself as I really am, for that is the beginning of happiness.
“My grandmother, the Teacher, my mother, the Nurse . . . my ancestors, leading lives of service and compassion . . .” I realize, as I am writing, that there is a fear in me that I will not measure up, that I will be found lacking in some way, that I will not be found worthy to “belong” to their ranks of healers and good women. The gifts that I have, that I see, that I have yet to uncover, are gifts I have not paid for dearly enough and therefore can’t justify in embracing completely. I am still in the process of letting go of that fear, but the first inkling I had of a life yet to live began when I turned 50.
It was then that I first allowed myself to whole-heartedly follow my destiny. Before that I had allowed myself to be led, to follow a call from above. I had asked, was told, and had given myself up to follow. At 50 I realized I didn’t need to leave myself behind!
I am aware that my gifts arise from remembering the past—the pain, the joys, the failures, the triumphs. I am also mindful of them as I open to stand in this moment of my own making and view the immense possibility of a future that I am nurturing with these gifts of my heart. One such moment came as I asked the question: “What is to be my life’s work?”
“Right relations”, I was told. “You must have right relations with all beings.” I went back to school and got my masters in Earth Literacy. The gifts that path uncovered were three-fold. The first was the connection I had buried with mother, grandmother and nature. In re-learning the importance of honoring each being with a name, I clearly saw every thread in a tapestry of cosmic proportions, of which I was a part, as well as a whole.
The next gift I uncovered was my joy in writing. Shortly after returning to school I began a weekly column called Our Place in the Universe at religionandspirituality.com. Its purpose was to explore the relationship between spirituality and the environment. It became more than that. My writing wasn’t just for self-expression, reflection, education or connection. I realized that my story mattered. Writing from my soul was a way to open the path that led toward self-awareness and healing, and allowed my story to reflect and vibrate with the heart songs of others.
Another gift that was uncovered combined both nature and writing. In my wanderings I capture moments of beauty with my camera. My artistic sensibility had always recognized scenes in nature that I have etched in my memory. Now, I take photos and engrave on them a saying, poem or haiku that further amplifies the moment.
With these works, I strive to create a place—an environment—with pictures and words. My desire is to join with the Muses evoking and awakening memories of pure beginnings when we were One with the Divine and knew it! Nature offers us hints—even more than hints—of our greatness and beauty. We just need to be reminded of the path that leads towards wholeness, and to ourselves becoming sons and daughters of the Divine in this awakening world, where Oneness exists Now and love exists always.
Bert Hellinger writes in his book “No Waves Without the Ocean” that solutions only occur through inner development. These three gifts encouraged my own development for the next few years, but I was in for a new twist in my path of creativity—and it had to do with seeing myself as I really am, for that is the beginning of happiness.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
My Path of Creativity (part 1)
In my family—in my relationship with grandmother and mother—nature was very important. Plants, rocks, trees, stars and clouds, all lent themselves to be used, appreciated and wondered at in their beauty and mystery as reflections of the Beloved.
In the same way, my mother and grandmother believed that their lives were to be lived, used, appreciated and wondered at also, as a reflection of the Beloved. They lived to serve a higher, greater force of good that included their family, and was surrounded by the natural world.
When I think of my grandmother I see her on the front porch showing me how to weave a crown made of maple leaves stitched together with stems. Together, we played store with the golden seeds and snowy petals of daisies, and made wishes on the flyaway fluff of dandelions. She reminded me of Confucius—there was always an order and purpose to each task that translated into the bigger undertaking of one’s life work and goal—that of serving and loving the Beloved and passing that awe-some duty down to the next generation.
What I learned from my mother was similar. She gave names to each thing: flower, plant, tree, rock and constellation, as well as giving importance to the names of each family member. For years, before we went to sleep, we faithfully named each sibling and parent, and their patron saint, entreating them to grant another day and night of protection and blessing. Creation and Creator ordered my life and gave it meaning, purpose and beauty.
My responsibility as eldest daughter was clear. I was to carry on this task and truth in my life’s work. I was deemed the artist in my family and enjoyed the partnership that this position evoked in my walk with nature. My room was full of feathers I had found, snakeskins, bird nests, sticks, stones and leaves. I spent long summer days in the woods exploring and climbing trees, and I never lost the chance to marvel at the wonder around me and fill my space with it inside and out.
My mother and grandmother also passed on to me a joy of reading and writing, so my inner and outer worlds included the thoughts and wonderings of others such as Whitman, Thoreau, Hesse, Dickinson, and Shakespeare, with a touch of Gilbert and Sullivan thrown in to liven things up.
My spiritual life was rich, and the poetry and prose I wrote expressed my curiosity and yearning for the answers to life’s deeper meaning and purpose, and why that was not always reflected in the world around me. In my imagination I was a knight of the Round Table righting wrongs and fighting dragons. In my daily life I was big sister, caretaker, babysitter for my younger siblings, watching out for them with love and tenderness.
The most natural step for me then was to pursue an education in art and nursing. However, an undercurrent of searching and an intense questioning of the implicit order of things was making itself more and more apparent. It was clear to me that the order and harmony I was surrounded with in my childhood was an island of refuge away from the fighting and despair of the rest of the world. If I was to find my life’s work and serve the Beloved in a meaningful way, I needed to see beneath the slogan of “love and peace” printed on my favorite t-shirt.
This led me to look beyond the truth of my family’s culture and religion for a broader, more encompassing enlightenment. My grandmother, the Teacher, and my mother, the Nurse, both laid down a structured path for me. My ancestors, all God-loving, faithful people, led lives of service and compassion. I acknowledge them. I bow down before them in gratitude for their sacrifice.
But my path was more. I was born at the cusp of a transitional period and I knew it. What I didn’t know was what I had, that no one else had, that would add weight to the last layer of snowflakes that was creating an avalanche of change and renewal in the world. The question I needed to ask was, what are my gifts? That question—and answer—didn’t come until later.
In the same way, my mother and grandmother believed that their lives were to be lived, used, appreciated and wondered at also, as a reflection of the Beloved. They lived to serve a higher, greater force of good that included their family, and was surrounded by the natural world.
When I think of my grandmother I see her on the front porch showing me how to weave a crown made of maple leaves stitched together with stems. Together, we played store with the golden seeds and snowy petals of daisies, and made wishes on the flyaway fluff of dandelions. She reminded me of Confucius—there was always an order and purpose to each task that translated into the bigger undertaking of one’s life work and goal—that of serving and loving the Beloved and passing that awe-some duty down to the next generation.
What I learned from my mother was similar. She gave names to each thing: flower, plant, tree, rock and constellation, as well as giving importance to the names of each family member. For years, before we went to sleep, we faithfully named each sibling and parent, and their patron saint, entreating them to grant another day and night of protection and blessing. Creation and Creator ordered my life and gave it meaning, purpose and beauty.
My responsibility as eldest daughter was clear. I was to carry on this task and truth in my life’s work. I was deemed the artist in my family and enjoyed the partnership that this position evoked in my walk with nature. My room was full of feathers I had found, snakeskins, bird nests, sticks, stones and leaves. I spent long summer days in the woods exploring and climbing trees, and I never lost the chance to marvel at the wonder around me and fill my space with it inside and out.
My mother and grandmother also passed on to me a joy of reading and writing, so my inner and outer worlds included the thoughts and wonderings of others such as Whitman, Thoreau, Hesse, Dickinson, and Shakespeare, with a touch of Gilbert and Sullivan thrown in to liven things up.
My spiritual life was rich, and the poetry and prose I wrote expressed my curiosity and yearning for the answers to life’s deeper meaning and purpose, and why that was not always reflected in the world around me. In my imagination I was a knight of the Round Table righting wrongs and fighting dragons. In my daily life I was big sister, caretaker, babysitter for my younger siblings, watching out for them with love and tenderness.
The most natural step for me then was to pursue an education in art and nursing. However, an undercurrent of searching and an intense questioning of the implicit order of things was making itself more and more apparent. It was clear to me that the order and harmony I was surrounded with in my childhood was an island of refuge away from the fighting and despair of the rest of the world. If I was to find my life’s work and serve the Beloved in a meaningful way, I needed to see beneath the slogan of “love and peace” printed on my favorite t-shirt.
This led me to look beyond the truth of my family’s culture and religion for a broader, more encompassing enlightenment. My grandmother, the Teacher, and my mother, the Nurse, both laid down a structured path for me. My ancestors, all God-loving, faithful people, led lives of service and compassion. I acknowledge them. I bow down before them in gratitude for their sacrifice.
But my path was more. I was born at the cusp of a transitional period and I knew it. What I didn’t know was what I had, that no one else had, that would add weight to the last layer of snowflakes that was creating an avalanche of change and renewal in the world. The question I needed to ask was, what are my gifts? That question—and answer—didn’t come until later.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Our Collective Conscious (part 2)
Upstairs, alone, no, not alone . . . here comes the dog, Rumi, and the cat, Katie. Always anxious to share an experience, Rumi comes to give kisses and then lie at my feet. Katie comes to make sure she’s not missing any of the action, and will eventually lie down in my lap.
I was writing about my life-changing experience. I’ve always been interested in how what I do can impact/support the bigger picture. That is why I focus on changing myself, and I am not so interested in news or politics. But my perspective has changed to see that it is that bigger picture that is important—and is what I am changing for. But wait, this is more than just a change in perspective.
I’ve experienced a Moment before—a moment where I was “caught up into the Heavens” and, keeping my Oneness, my unique individual identity, I experienced being a Wholeness, One with every other thing—a moment of Nirvana. But that was Me as a particle, in the midst of other particles making up the Light.
The change that I’m talking about is not a Moment, but a Being. Suddenly, I was not a point, a particle, a One, I was a wave, a beingness that was the Light—and the flow encompassed past, present and future. In that being, histories flashed before me, and I felt so much bigger than before, and I was exhausted by it all. In knowing that I’m bigger I have to act on that. I can no longer condone my separateness or my fear. I can no longer deny myself access to power since it is a bigger beingness in me that I can no longer refuse.
This Consciousness of Being is not a phenomenon unique to me. It is a Collective Conscious that I believe has evolved as we have worked to uncover our Collective Unconscious. Our cultural archetypes seem to reveal the gamut of our successes and failures as a species. According to Will and Ariel Durant’s "The Lessons of History", history is the only true philosophy, showing the limitations of man. Man may change his habits, but not his instincts, thus seemingly to become doomed to face the endless repetition of mistakes and successes, downfalls or triumphs as seen in the recurring rise and fall of civilizations throughout history.
However, the Durants go on to say that civilization promotes cultural creativity, the basis upon which arts, morals and laws grow. It is here that evolution finds its building blocks. As the species that have as our uniqueness achieved an “awareness” of the universe around us, we are not swept into the evolutionary stream of consciousness by our instinct or individuality alone. We have a “God-consciousness”, an “I Am” that mirrors not the individual “I” that we often mistake it for, but the “One” that can evolve into or encompasses the Whole.
The Durants would support this by agreeing that the basis of wisdom, which is required to balance order and freedom within society, is our religious beliefs, morals and character developed to overcome instincts through socialization, thus developing civilization. Thus the relationship between wisdom and civilization has played out in a spiral form since Cain and Abel sacrificed their burnt offering.
This is an evolutionary, albeit a cultural change, that was first uncovered in the writings of Jung and others as the Collective Unconscious. Now, we are beginning to see this stream of unconsciousness gradually emerging into deliberate, conscious, specific acts of selflessness, as well as politically, environmentally, and financially aware decisions made by society as a whole.
These are not my, or even your, values being played out, although our individual moments of awe and wonder make it possible for us to conceive of a Collective Conscious that reinvents the human and lifts us into a higher spiritual development and the promise of a bright future.
As our hope for the future has increased over the last few decades with such leaders and visionaries as Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Rachel Carson, Desmond Tutu and E.F. Schumacher to name a handful, we have come to realize that change within the religious, financial, environmental or political realms only comes when we recognize humankind as family and family as universal.
I was writing about my life-changing experience. I’ve always been interested in how what I do can impact/support the bigger picture. That is why I focus on changing myself, and I am not so interested in news or politics. But my perspective has changed to see that it is that bigger picture that is important—and is what I am changing for. But wait, this is more than just a change in perspective.
I’ve experienced a Moment before—a moment where I was “caught up into the Heavens” and, keeping my Oneness, my unique individual identity, I experienced being a Wholeness, One with every other thing—a moment of Nirvana. But that was Me as a particle, in the midst of other particles making up the Light.
The change that I’m talking about is not a Moment, but a Being. Suddenly, I was not a point, a particle, a One, I was a wave, a beingness that was the Light—and the flow encompassed past, present and future. In that being, histories flashed before me, and I felt so much bigger than before, and I was exhausted by it all. In knowing that I’m bigger I have to act on that. I can no longer condone my separateness or my fear. I can no longer deny myself access to power since it is a bigger beingness in me that I can no longer refuse.
This Consciousness of Being is not a phenomenon unique to me. It is a Collective Conscious that I believe has evolved as we have worked to uncover our Collective Unconscious. Our cultural archetypes seem to reveal the gamut of our successes and failures as a species. According to Will and Ariel Durant’s "The Lessons of History", history is the only true philosophy, showing the limitations of man. Man may change his habits, but not his instincts, thus seemingly to become doomed to face the endless repetition of mistakes and successes, downfalls or triumphs as seen in the recurring rise and fall of civilizations throughout history.
However, the Durants go on to say that civilization promotes cultural creativity, the basis upon which arts, morals and laws grow. It is here that evolution finds its building blocks. As the species that have as our uniqueness achieved an “awareness” of the universe around us, we are not swept into the evolutionary stream of consciousness by our instinct or individuality alone. We have a “God-consciousness”, an “I Am” that mirrors not the individual “I” that we often mistake it for, but the “One” that can evolve into or encompasses the Whole.
The Durants would support this by agreeing that the basis of wisdom, which is required to balance order and freedom within society, is our religious beliefs, morals and character developed to overcome instincts through socialization, thus developing civilization. Thus the relationship between wisdom and civilization has played out in a spiral form since Cain and Abel sacrificed their burnt offering.
This is an evolutionary, albeit a cultural change, that was first uncovered in the writings of Jung and others as the Collective Unconscious. Now, we are beginning to see this stream of unconsciousness gradually emerging into deliberate, conscious, specific acts of selflessness, as well as politically, environmentally, and financially aware decisions made by society as a whole.
These are not my, or even your, values being played out, although our individual moments of awe and wonder make it possible for us to conceive of a Collective Conscious that reinvents the human and lifts us into a higher spiritual development and the promise of a bright future.
As our hope for the future has increased over the last few decades with such leaders and visionaries as Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Rachel Carson, Desmond Tutu and E.F. Schumacher to name a handful, we have come to realize that change within the religious, financial, environmental or political realms only comes when we recognize humankind as family and family as universal.
Friday, December 26, 2008
On Evolution and Our Collective Conscious
Did you ever have a day where you changed so much that you knew that you would never be the same again? A day where you could never return to your old way of life, to your old way of looking at yourself? Today was such a day for me.
It was an ordinary day, as far a Christmases go. We did the ordinary things one does on Christmas. My husband and I had a leisurely breakfast as we waited for our daughter and son-in-law to come from his family’s home. Their tradition is to gather on Christmas Eve in front of the fire. Ours is to share Christmas morning, so we work well together.
I didn’t change externally. I made the Christmas dinner—chicken breasts stuffed with spinach and feta cheese, garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli with my specialty spinach and cranberry salad on the side. After dinner, I lost the “Worst Case Scenario” Survival game we played together, but my husband won, and since he rarely wins or plays any of our games everyone was happy for him.
We spent time together figuring out how to use some of our gifts. I got the photo key ring I had my eye on for years. I gave my husband a portable battery car charger/tire inflator. He discovered you can also plug your coffee pot into it in case of a blackout! Ben and Kjersti had fun trying to figure out how to connect a dance program to the TV.
Later on the kids went out to see a movie, my husband fell asleep watching a James Bond movie, and I came upstairs to reflect on the past few days. I had just come back from the second week of my Healing class. In this first year the focus is on discovering/uncovering the self. No matter how much I know about me, there’s always more to be revealed.
I’ve spent a large portion of my life trying to discover my self, my purpose, my direction, my offering. My questioning has always been to be shown my gifts and how they can be used for the sake of a higher purpose. That changed when our daughter got married and I asked instead, what do I need to do for me in order to do those big things.
Since then it has been a roller coaster ride of feelings, expansions and contractions, some gentle, some not. Trying to get in touch with my power has been a recurring theme. Finally I sat down with a paper and pencil and said, “Ok, show me what my power looks like.” I drew a strongly spinning force in the middle of the page with definite roots connecting to the Earth, two large spinning forces on my right and left, and energy flowing down from above. I wrote: supported from above, from ancestors/ spirits/ guides, from the Earth.
On the next page I drew a picture of my fear: one dot, alone. I looked from one page to the next. It made no sense. My power was in all the support I knew/felt I had, my fear in not having that support, of being/feeling alone. The dichotomy was too obvious for me to ignore or to fool myself any longer. Time to step into my power.
But this wasn’t what changed my life. It was a big step, but one that has been coming for a while. No, I was still baking when I had another revelation during the writing of my Wisdom University paper. We had to discuss our understanding of the relationship between wisdom and civilization. I began by writing that it is our time to let the power of a mother’s love shine through us. When we are aware, we see it everywhere. Our power does not have to be centered on arrogance, dominance, or possessiveness. Our inheritance is a consciousness of relationship that can be seen and remembered in a mother’s love.
This mother’s protection, which has followed us through the rise and fall of greater and longer lasting civilizations than the American Empire, is about to push us out of the nest to see if we truly are able to fly. At this moment, my interior journey came to have no meaning. What is amazing about our species, Homo sapiens, is that our unique self—rife with values and self-enlightenment, is on an even keel with other species in that we are unable to enter a New Age individually. We must enter as a species, or not at all.
This is our key to understanding the relationship between wisdom and civilization. We may individually glimpse higher states of consciousness, find moments of extraordinary insight and discover the unlimited potential of the human being. However, how often do we hold on to these moments in ordinary society, or even within the familiarity of our family life—and make it matter?
But wait! This still was all churning within me the night before Christmas as I barely made the deadline for writing my paper. Stay tuned for Part 2 to watch the drama unfold further as I sat in the attic after the hustle and bustle of Christmas contemplating the reality of evolution and our Collective Conscious.
It was an ordinary day, as far a Christmases go. We did the ordinary things one does on Christmas. My husband and I had a leisurely breakfast as we waited for our daughter and son-in-law to come from his family’s home. Their tradition is to gather on Christmas Eve in front of the fire. Ours is to share Christmas morning, so we work well together.
I didn’t change externally. I made the Christmas dinner—chicken breasts stuffed with spinach and feta cheese, garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli with my specialty spinach and cranberry salad on the side. After dinner, I lost the “Worst Case Scenario” Survival game we played together, but my husband won, and since he rarely wins or plays any of our games everyone was happy for him.
We spent time together figuring out how to use some of our gifts. I got the photo key ring I had my eye on for years. I gave my husband a portable battery car charger/tire inflator. He discovered you can also plug your coffee pot into it in case of a blackout! Ben and Kjersti had fun trying to figure out how to connect a dance program to the TV.
Later on the kids went out to see a movie, my husband fell asleep watching a James Bond movie, and I came upstairs to reflect on the past few days. I had just come back from the second week of my Healing class. In this first year the focus is on discovering/uncovering the self. No matter how much I know about me, there’s always more to be revealed.
I’ve spent a large portion of my life trying to discover my self, my purpose, my direction, my offering. My questioning has always been to be shown my gifts and how they can be used for the sake of a higher purpose. That changed when our daughter got married and I asked instead, what do I need to do for me in order to do those big things.
Since then it has been a roller coaster ride of feelings, expansions and contractions, some gentle, some not. Trying to get in touch with my power has been a recurring theme. Finally I sat down with a paper and pencil and said, “Ok, show me what my power looks like.” I drew a strongly spinning force in the middle of the page with definite roots connecting to the Earth, two large spinning forces on my right and left, and energy flowing down from above. I wrote: supported from above, from ancestors/ spirits/ guides, from the Earth.
On the next page I drew a picture of my fear: one dot, alone. I looked from one page to the next. It made no sense. My power was in all the support I knew/felt I had, my fear in not having that support, of being/feeling alone. The dichotomy was too obvious for me to ignore or to fool myself any longer. Time to step into my power.
But this wasn’t what changed my life. It was a big step, but one that has been coming for a while. No, I was still baking when I had another revelation during the writing of my Wisdom University paper. We had to discuss our understanding of the relationship between wisdom and civilization. I began by writing that it is our time to let the power of a mother’s love shine through us. When we are aware, we see it everywhere. Our power does not have to be centered on arrogance, dominance, or possessiveness. Our inheritance is a consciousness of relationship that can be seen and remembered in a mother’s love.
This mother’s protection, which has followed us through the rise and fall of greater and longer lasting civilizations than the American Empire, is about to push us out of the nest to see if we truly are able to fly. At this moment, my interior journey came to have no meaning. What is amazing about our species, Homo sapiens, is that our unique self—rife with values and self-enlightenment, is on an even keel with other species in that we are unable to enter a New Age individually. We must enter as a species, or not at all.
This is our key to understanding the relationship between wisdom and civilization. We may individually glimpse higher states of consciousness, find moments of extraordinary insight and discover the unlimited potential of the human being. However, how often do we hold on to these moments in ordinary society, or even within the familiarity of our family life—and make it matter?
But wait! This still was all churning within me the night before Christmas as I barely made the deadline for writing my paper. Stay tuned for Part 2 to watch the drama unfold further as I sat in the attic after the hustle and bustle of Christmas contemplating the reality of evolution and our Collective Conscious.
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