The process of individuation that we have gone through in our lives is very important to our exploration of understanding our connections. In order to be in a balanced relationship we must understand “our differences”.
In all the spiritual work I have been guiding you through for the last few years it is still important to do your own personal and egoic work. We need to be able to transmute and transform our thoughts and emotions and at the same time understand the importance of having thoughts and emotions. We are looking at a balancing act. We need to acknowledge who we are without being run by our egos. But in order to function fully on earth we need our egos. We need to recognize our divinity and yet at the same time that we are spiritual beings living full lives in a material world and that experiencing a range of emotions goes along with life. We are working on maintaining balance.
The shadow side of life and ourselves is also part of the balance. As I wrote on a previous page the light takes us to the heights of consciousness while the shadow takes us to the depths. The marriage of the two makes us whole. Our light would have no form without the shadow. Once again we honor the importance of balance.
Are you doing your spiritual work while at the same time doing your egoic work? Are you acknowledging your personal hurts and needs while you are also shifting consciousness and acknowledging you are more than an egoic being? We must acknowledge all parts of ourselves to stay in balance as we continue to practice the principles in Medicine for the Earth.
Continuing on the theme of last month we have focused so much in our culture on how we are separate we have forgotten that all living beings are interconnected.
David Suzuki shares just one small example of this in his wonderful book The Sacred Balance. The example he gives is of three different species mammal, fungus, and plant. He shares the connection in Australia between the poteroo (a marsupial), the eucalyptus tree, and truffles. He writes:
“Because both truffles and trees extract water and minerals from the soil, trees with truffles in their roots obtain more water and minerals and grow better than trees without. The truffles are a favorite food for the long footed poteroo which excretes the spores of the truffles and thereby enhances the health of the forest.”
Most of us are aware that as we no longer honor the web of life we have put many species of life in great danger.
Most of us understand this concept of connection and interrelatedness from an intellectual standpoint instead of a body centered experience. Let’s deepen our practice with this this month.
Earth, air, water, fire are alive. Trees, plants, animals, etc. are alive with a consciousness. Everyday set your intention to connect your heart with the sun which is a living being which provides the energy for life. For a few minutes a day experience your ongoing relationship with the living being air as you inhale and exhale. Air is the first being we have a relationship with as we are birthed into the world. Air is the last living being we say good-bye to when we leave this world at the time of our death. Say hello to mother earth who holds you and gives you what you need to live. As you drink water, shower, and wash your face and hands experience your ongoing relationship with the life force we call water. There would be no life without any of these living beings.
Reflect on how these elements are not separate but interrelated and part of one living organism. Reflect on how they interact with each other. You are also earth, air, water, and fire. Reflect on how they all interact together inside of you.
Notice how nature always strives to achieve balance. Balance is necessary for there to be harmony.
As you walk say hello to a plant, tree, or animal that you see. If you have plants in your house acknowledge their beauty and their life force. You don’t need to talk out loud to these living beings.
Just go down to your heart and send a message of greetings as you experience the cooperation and relationship of all of life.
We have become too dependent on our visual sense as we read, watch TV and movies, and spend time on the computer. Make sure you are using all your senses in the world. Feel your environment, listen to the beauty of the sounds and songs of nature, take in the fragrances, taste the world as you move through it.
This is a great time of year to spend time out in nature to witness how the earth is changing.
I am aware I have asked you to do similar practices before. My hope is that as you repeat practices you will do so at a new level of awareness which will take you into a deeper relationship with life. If you have been doing the ceremonies that I have invited you to do over the last few months you should be noticing a difference in your vibration or frequency. It might be a subtle difference and subtle is good. As your vibration changes it creates a heightening of awareness that allows you go deeper with even the simplest of practices.
As I teach trainings and lecture at conferences I am aware of how much people project their own feelings onto nature. Many people tend to move toward a place of anthropomorphism. All living beings have a consciousness, but whether or not all living beings experience pain as we do in our egoic states is a question that you have to come to terms with.
As you begin to relate to nature if you pick up any messages of pain and suffering start by taking this as a projection for something you need to work on inside yourself. If you are involved in a circle that meets try and work your feelings through there. Or you can take this into your own journeys or meditations. Or you can work your feelings through in psychotherapy. Don’t do a spiritual bypass. Until we learn to separate our pain from the pain of others we are bound to get confused messages as we deepen our relationships with people we know and work with and as we learn to create a relationship with nature and all living beings.
First clear up what you are working on. You cannot have pure communication with the web of life if you are projecting your hurts and fears onto the beings you are in communication with.
With all the work we are doing whether it be transfiguration or relating to the beings of life we share this great planet with we are looking at expanding ourselves beyond the belief that we are solid forms that are separate and independent from nature and the web of life. It is very important as we learn to expand that we also learn how to stay grounded. You don’t want to lose your sense of groundedness or it could affect how you function in life. Remember balance is the key.
I recommend that with the spiritual practices I have offered you in the last few months that you start small. Only expand as much as feels comfortable for you physically. You want to be able to feel as if you can run the energy you feel through your body in a way which feels smooth and comfortable and that you can manage your energy well. You want to make sure that it is easy for you to engage fully in your life after you do your spiritual work.
Some people get expanded easier than others and have a harder time grounding. You know who you are. As you work with transfiguration only do it for short periods of time so that you don’t lose your ability to ground. As you relate to nature as a living being that you are in connection with practice for just a few short minutes.
If you find yourself feeling after spiritual practices that you have more energy in your body than you can manage comfortably, ask your higher consciousness to shut down to only as much energy as you physically handle right now. Keep repeating this statement to yourself until it is done. I have used this practice for others and myself successfully since the 1980’s.
Make sure that you are incorporating practices that strengthen your body. I have found over the years of doing expansive spiritual practices that I have had to be very disciplined in my physical exercise program. I work out every day. My helping spirits told me many years ago that I must maintain a strong body to bring through the spiritual energies I was experiencing.
Whether you do aerobics, weights, yoga, chi-gong, tai chi, etc. the form doesn’t matter. If you are going to continue to work on expanding your consciousness you must have a strong enough body to hold the new vibration you are moving towards. I cannot emphasize this enough. And if you are going to be able to work spiritually you also must do your emotional work. Again balancing out our spiritual, emotional, and physical practices is a must.
Over the last couple of years I have been encouraging you to work with the process of transmutation and transforming your own thoughts and emotions. I have been encouraging you to experience these feelings while at the same time transforming the energy you are sending out.
In the world right now there are many people who don’t work in this way. So there is a lot of negativity and toxicity in our environment.
As you practice transmuting the energy you send out you also want to find ways to transmute the energy you are picking up from your environment. The method I use is to change my perception that energy can be problematic to all energy is neutral. If I find myself experiencing the negatively in the world I hold the intention to experience this energy as neutral. I let my intention be a key factor in transmuting what I am picking up.
As you did with learning how to transmute energy you are sending out journey or meditate on ways to transmute what you are picking up.
Next month we will look at taking transmuting what we are taking in another step. We will also do some work to prepare for the winter solstice and the New Year.
Please join us in our continual process of weaving a planetary human web of light. The full moon is on Nov. 19 or 20 depending on where you live in the world.