Transmutation News – December 2014

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This is the time of year where during the holiday season there is so much marketing focus on the gift of giving. I have been contemplating and meditating on the principle of giving and receiving. In our Western culture we learn that it is better to give than to receive. And on many levels, we all know the joys of unconditional giving without any expectations of getting anything back in return. For it is a true act of service to give whether it be on a physical, emotional, and or spiritual level. Gifting others is a true joy!

Then there are those who have given in a way that has created physical and/or emotional illness. Doctors and psychotherapists talk quite a bit about treating people with a variety of illnesses such as cancer that can be attributed to the over tendency to give without being replenished. So, some form of self care of being able to receive has been proven to help people stay healthy.

When you observe nature you can see the balance of giving and receiving. Our inhalation of air fills our cells and also fuels the power of our out breath. If you only exhaled, you would not continue living.

When you watch the tides there is the ebb and the flow. You never see in nature only an ebb or only a flow.

The earth receives nutrients from the sun, rain, and through the wind and this provides what is needed to produce a wealth of beauty and plants that provide us with nutrition.

A garden that receives not just physical care but also love thrives in ways that can seem miraculous.

When we share gratitude and appreciation, and when we honor and respect others and all of life we engage in the principle of reciprocity. We experience gratitude, appreciation, honor, and respect in return.

There does seem to be a balance that life teaches us about sustaining our health and feelings of well-being. And although unconditional service seems to get so much attention I wonder if we need to re-look at how much we focus on giving without receiving.

Giving and receiving comes in many forms. There are many practitioners who give and receive on a variety of levels that fuels balance. As we experienced with working with the meditation to The Inner Chamber of Light (Transmutation News January 2014) there are millions of souls working anonymously to be in service to the planet without getting recognition for what they are doing. This is an example of unconditional giving. And at the same time love is shared when we shine our light in the world, and it is important to take this in and receive the love we so deserve.

We started this year performing a meditation/journey to The Inner Chamber of Light. You might wish to re-read the January 2014 Transmutation News and repeat this exercise as we end the year together. It is a lovely, inspiring, and empowering meditation.

Balance is needed to continue to thrive and stay healthy.

Take some time and simply sit in silence and breathe while you watch your breath. Experience the natural flow as you breath in and breathe out. There is a flow and a balance needed to sustain your life.

If you live by the ocean or by a body of water where the tide changes observe the ebb and flow.

You can perform a meditation or journey to merge with the ocean and experience the natural ebb and flow that occurs. This ebb and flow never cease. It is part of life.

The sun comes up each day and goes down at night.

The earth gives, and it receives.

The air receives nutrients and then shares it with earth and water.

Spend some time contemplating and meditating on the natural flow in nature of giving and receiving. And do some merging work with an element that calls to you so that you get the feeling of giving and receiving in your body. To merge with an element simply set your intention that you want to learn about an element by becoming an element while you meditate or journey. When your meditation or journey is complete with intention disengage from the element you are merged with. Return fully to your ordinary state of consciousness feeling grounded and refreshed.

Once you feel the natural flow take some time to reflect on your own state of balance. Contemplate and reflect on a small change you can make to bring your life back into balance, so you experience the flow of giving and receiving in your own life.

In the 1980’s I studied tarot for many years with Angeles Arrien. She was a great teacher who died last spring. Angeles was an anthropologist who studied cross-cultural symbols and also studied what created states of health and well-being personally and in communities.

One of the principles Angeles taught in her work was that you never really learn how to give unless you learn how to receive. For giving and receiving are all part of one cycle.

Where are you in this cycle?

You can link this work up with the work we did together last month to merge with the moon. For in the merging work, you experienced the power of attraction. It is time to attract and absorb loving energies so that you feel filled up and healthy.

You can also repeat the meditation/journey to experience the love that went into your creation and absorb the love and light into all your cells. You were created from unconditional love. You came here to be a vessel of unconditional love. It is so important to align your energy so that you receive and give unconditional love in a balanced flow.

Over the last few months I have encouraged you to open to the true power of words and how words impact us on a physical level. The word that emerges for me as I journey on receiving is “invite”. When you receive, you invite in life’s nourishing energies. Set an intention to “invite” in what you need to feel replenished.

Over the years I have received a wealth of letters and emails sharing with me results from working with the Medicine for the Earth work and the practices I have shared in the Transmutation News.

When we experience change within ourselves and when we hear about how others were inspired it does add fuel to the work. For although our lives and the world continue to go through initiations that will lead us to finding balance it is important to recognize the small everyday miraculous events and changes that do occur.

I feel it would be such a gift to our community if some of you were willing to share a short story about how your life has changed or benefited in some way by a practice I have shared or from your daily practice in general.

This would only be for our community and would not be used in any other way. If you are willing to share something to inspire all of us, you can send it to me at: stories@sandraingerman.com. (PLEASE NOTE: Only emails that share an inspirational story that I can share on the Transmutation News will be answered. This is not an email address to use in any other way.)

I know people are busy but writing something no matter how short will add to what I write each month. My intention in writing the Transmutation News has always been to inspire readers to keep up your spiritual work no matter what is happening in the world around you. I have been writing the Transmutation News since 2000. And I invite you to join me in inspiring our community.

In my own journeys I have seen the importance of dedication to performing spiritual practices and living the work. The world is changing with such intensity that many are moving into a state of despair, fear and anger.

We can get so distracted by our ordinary lives and what is happening around us. We tend to lose focus so easily. Take some time and rededicate yourself to the work you are doing and living a conscious way of life.

Remember what you feed grows. Continue to experience the depth and range of your feelings. But then do your work to transform the energy behind your feelings and thoughts to an energy of love and light that feeds you, your loved ones, all of life, and the earth. Choose to plant seeds of love, light, and inspiration.

With all that is going on in the world it is time to step up our spiritual work and join together in unity as a global spiritual community.

Open up your strong eye (your third eye) as the true shamans have done since the beginning of time and view what is happening in the world through the eyes of spirit versus through your ego and personality. As we change our perception, we change our reality.

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The full moon is December 6. Let go of your ordinary thoughts and the distractions of your day and travel within. Experience your inner starlight filling your cells. Radiate that light and imagine it joining with many thousands of others radiating their light while we weave into creation a beautiful golden fabric of light that flows within and throughout the earth.

If you are new to reading this monthly column please read “Creating a Human Web of Light” on the homepage.

The solstice is December 21. We celebrate the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere. As I wrote about on the Transmutation News, when we celebrated the equinox, there is a beautiful flow of one season to the next. The seasons flow into each other.

I did journey on a solstice ceremony we can all participate in together. I know it will be quite cold where some of you live. I was told that each of us should stand outside even if you can even do this for a few minutes. Stand with your feet on the earth with a somewhat wide stance. And lift your arms up to the sky. In this way you will be in the shape of a five-pointed star.

Take some deep cleansing breaths. Inhale, pause, exhale. Connect your heartbeat to the earth and feel your connection with the sky above. Open your heart to the earth, sky, to our circle, to all of life, and to the planet. Imagine bringing through unconditional love and light that flows and radiates forth. Absorb this love and light into all your cells. And feel it flowing within and throughout the earth. Let us uplift all of life on this day. Let us join together as a great circle of human stars.

Each year I have encouraged you to create a prayer tree in your community where people can come together and tie on a ribbon (loosely around the branch of the tree so that it can continue to grow) with a prayer, wish, or blessing.

There are prayer, blessing, and wishing trees all around the world that have been created by local communities throughout time.

You could bring in a bowl to your office and invite people to place prayers, blessings, and wishes in the bowl.

We can return to engaging in spiritual practices during the time of the solstice and break the collective trance that participates only in being a consumer and feeling pressured to buy gifts during this time of year.

Teach others the power of joining together in community to share prayers, wishes, and blessings. These might be of a personal nature, in behalf of loved ones, and/or for the planet and all of life.

In this way we all participate fully in the spiritual flow of giving and receiving from the highest place of love, light, and peace.

Let us join together in deep gratitude and appreciation for all the work Sylvia Edwards (my dear friend and webmaster) and all the translators volunteer to bring the Transmutation News to all of you. Sylvia and the translators all do this as an act of service as they love to help to share the work with the global community. Let us share with them blessings and love that they can receive in return for all they give.

Lena Anderheim – Swedish

Fabio Braga – Portuguese Brazil

Nello Ceccon – Italian

Ines Fermoso – Spanish

Sofia Frazoa – Portuguese

Dorota Goczal – Polish

Els de Graaff-van Meeteren – Dutch

Eleni Evangelinou and Rallou Gromitsari – Greek

Annie Idrissi – French

Miriam Kisssova and Jan Lenc – Slovakian

Eva Ruprechtsberger – German

Tea Thum – Finnish

Simin Uysal – Turkish

We also include in our blessings our Farsi translator.

Now let us join our hearts together for all in our community as we support each other by holding each other in love as we focus together to be a light in the world.

We join our hearts together in love as we wish you all a joyous solstice!!

 

Copyright © 2014 Sandra Ingerman. All rights reserved.

Transmutation News – November 2014

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I hope you had the opportunity to work with the practices that I shared with you in the October Transmutation News.

If you did I am sure you have a deeper physical connection to the spiritual work we have been engaged in. For to really make a difference we need to embody the practices instead of simply mentally understanding them. Through the embodiment of the work we change our field of energy or auric field which changes what we energetically radiate and project. By doing so we truly impact the collective field of energy. 

This month I ask you to put into action working with the power of words. For the shamanic path is a way of creating change through blessings. When we bless ourselves, the world, and all in the web of life we create an energy that manifests the blessings in our ordinary world. The energy of our words spins fibers that weave first an invisible fabric that ultimately creates a new fabric of reality in our ordinary realm of existence. 

David Mathisen, author of The Undying Stars, writes a wonderful blog. After reading what was shared on blessings in Awakening to the Spirit World he wrote a great blog on the topic. He shared a couple of sentences in particular that really spoke to me. David wrote that in saying blessings we recognize the invisible spirit within and call it out to shine forth. We recognize the hidden spirit world and invite its energies to flow into the visible worlds. (mathisencorollary.blogspot.com/2014/09/blessing.html)   

Each day pay attention to using words that bless and create beauty. Before you go to sleep at night end your day and start your nightly dreams by stating words of blessing for yourself and all of life. 

We have been working with the power of the full moon in our monthly ceremonies. This month perform a meditation or a shamanic journey to merge with the moon. I would suggest that you merge with the power of the full moon so that when you do join in with the full moon ceremony “Creating a Human Web of Light” you have the physical sensation of the power you are working with. Feel the power of the full moon in your body as you learn about the moon by becoming it. 

Put on some meditative music that expands and heightens your consciousness or listen to a drumming or shamanic music CD. You can also drum or rattle for yourself.

Hold your intention that you would like to merge with the power of the full moon. You can do a series of merging journeys/meditations with the different cycles of the moon to embody the internal shifts that you experience with the moon’s changing cycles. 

This is not about getting messages although the moon might share a message with you as you experience her. The key is to feel how your energy becomes one with the energy of the moon and what the changing phases feel like in you. Notice the power you have to project and also attract to you during certain phases. This will help you in your creation and manifestation work as you learn through becoming the moon the most potent times to perform some of your ceremonial work. 

In some native cultures the moon is seen as a masculine energy and in some it is seen as a feminine being. As shamanism is a path of direct revelation feel for yourself what gender you connect with as you merge with the moon. 

This is a very powerful journey that will help you tap into your body’s intelligence as all of life is impacted by the lunar cycles. We know how the moon effects the tides. As we are mostly water the moon has a great impact on us too.

As we watch what is happening in the world we can see the imbalance of how water is impacting different places on the earth. We are seeing flooding rains and extreme drought. This month let us honor the living being that we call water.

Bring simple spiritual practices into your life to honor water. Understand that water is reflecting back to your own inner state of toxicity. Learn to transmute and transform the energy behind your emotions and thoughts to love and light.

Make it a daily practice to honor water. As you wash yourself, the dishes, etc. connect with water and give thanks for how water sustains life. It also heals and cleanses you. As you drink give thanks to the life and nourishment that water brings to you.

Whenever you drink water or visit a body of water always see it in its divine light. Remember your perception creates your reality. If you perceive the water as polluted it is polluted. Lift the veils between the worlds as shamans have done since the beginning of time. And choose to see the divine light in the waters of the world.

Earth, air, water, and the sun sustain our life. We must not pollute that which gives us life. Honor water and all the elements that give us life. And they will honor us in return.

Find a body of water that you can sit by. You can travel to a beautiful place in nature or visit a nearby park that has a lake, pond, or stream. Sitting by running water such as a river, stream, waterfall can help you be transported away from your ordinary concerns allowing your inner wisdom to emerge. Watching the waves in the ocean creates a state of opening so you can listen to the messages of your soul. If you sit by the ocean feel the waves welling up inside of you. While sitting by a river or stream drop into your sensory awareness of the flow of your inner water. A lake or pond might put you in touch with the stillness within you.

Listen to some music that you find relaxing and expansive. Lie or sit down. Close your eyes and hold the intention that you wish to experience the waters that run beneath and through the city where you live. Experience the waters and learn about the qualities of water that run through the land. Open your sensory awareness and notice what you feel in your body as you do this.

Reflect on the people, trees, plants, animals, and other nature beings that live in your area. Meditate on how they reflect back the qualities of the water where you live.

When you feel you are finished return from your meditation. You can take some notes. Take a walk outside feeling the water running beneath the land. Even if you live in a city there is still water in the land where you live.

In some places the mighty rivers and oceans run strong. In some locations there might be gentle streams and still lakes feeding the land. And in some places there are deep pools of water beneath the land that sustains the life that grow roots deep enough to find the water below.   

Merging with water is a wonderful way to experience becoming one with the flow of life. Water flows in a natural and graceful way. Water is a reflection of the divine feminine and water reflects the nature of our soul. We can learn about the power and nature of water by merging with it. When we merge with an element the teachings we receive go beyond mental understanding, but rather impact us physically as we become one with the energy of another living being.

Listen to some relaxing and expansive music. Imagine becoming one with a source of water such as a still lake, a river, a waterfall, the ocean, rain, mist, etc. 

Go deep within and experience yourself losing your own boundaries and become one with this water source. Learn about water by becoming water. Open your sensory awareness noticing all the feelings in your body as you do this.

Relax into being water. This is such a powerful and regenerating practice.

When you feel ready disconnect from the water source you are merged with and gently come back to yourself and into the room you are in. Feel revitalized from your experience. Feel yourself grounded and present. 

If you need some help with feeling more grounded after such an expansive practice imagine deep roots growing out the soles of your feet into the earth. Or imagine sitting with and leaning your body against a tree.

Listen to a piece of music that creates an expanded state of awareness. Set your intention to travel within to experience your inner light. You can imagine traveling within your body and merging with a star. Remember a star does not try to shine, there is no effort involved. A star does not choose where it’s light shines. A star simply radiates light and brightens all of life. 

Allow your divine light to nurture all the cells in your body. Absorb this light deeply into your cells. Soak it in and luxuriate in this light.

After about 15 minutes of experiencing your divine light return from this experience without disconnecting fully from your true spiritual nature. We are luminous beings. 

Now drink a glass of water. And notice as you radiate and experience your light how smooth, fresh, and sweet the water tastes. It is the same water you drink each day. But as you allow yourself to experience and live from a state of light water will always reflect back your luminosity.

Be conscious about what you put into water. and do not pollute it. As we give thanks and bless water for all it shares, water will also bless us in return.

The full moon is November 8. Let us do our spiritual work and connect with our global community, the power of the moon, and the spirit of water to weave into being a radiant and healthy web of light. Remember that we are mostly water so we are truly water beings. Let us bring in the element of water into performing our full moon ceremony together. 

If you are a new reader of the Transmutation News please visit “Creating A Human Web of Light” to read the instructions for our full moon ceremony. 

In the United States Thanksgiving is celebrated in November. It is a good time for us to remember that in shamanic cultures every day is a day of thanksgiving. When we give thanks each day for our lives and share our blessings with all of life then all of life will bless us in return. 

 

Copyright 2014 Sandra Ingerman.  All rights reserved.

Transmutation News – October 2014

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This month I am sharing some simple practices to help you shift from working with practices as mental concepts to enlivening your body on a cellular level. As we make this shift, we become more cohesive as a global community as we engage in our daily spiritual work. We will create a more tangible light filled energy that will manifest in the collective field.

We have been working together performing daily practices that come from the Medicine for the Earth work. And I know from the correspondence I continue to receive that many of you have experienced positive results from doing the work. At the same time the challenges and turmoil we face in the world keep increasing.  I know that we need some fuel to remain inspired, focused, and deeply engaged in our spiritual work. We must not be brought down by the denser collective energies. So, I did journey to ask for guidance on how we might deepen our work together. And I did receive some guidance on how we can add fuel to our work together. 

One night in September I was watching the national news. Watching or reading the news is certainly one way to get lost in a denser field of energy! President Obama was giving a speech to the public. I do not remember what world challenge he was responding to. But I was so shocked and surprised to hear him say that as we watch the news it looks like the world is falling apart. And then for the next few days a newscaster on the nightly news started each night’s broadcast with, “As we watch the world fall apart….” Then the news program would continue with reporting challenging news stories.

Well of course due to all that is happening in the world we can choose to perceive that all is falling apart. And last month and in past Transmutation News I have asked you to look at the turmoil as an initiation. For the world as it is operating right now simply does not support life. Therefore, the fabric of reality is unraveling.

You can think about it as a layer of skin that is shedding. You can reframe your thoughts about this time on the planet as a snake that is shedding its skin. 

For years I have shared with you that my spiritual teacher Isis has encouraged us to not be brought down by the wave that much of humanity is riding. 

We are all aware that when one tries to save someone who is drowning the danger is drowning along with that person. The weight of the world’s challenges can simply bring us down.

We must choose another wave to surf. For on the waters of life different waves are being presented that we can ride. Choose wisely!

During my first journey in preparation for writing this month’s Transmutation News I was shown a beautiful image of an abundance of spiritual lightkeepers. These are helping compassionate spirits whose only role is to hold beacons of light that not only keep the world lit but also light the way for spiritual practitioners to follow. 

Perform a series of meditations or shamanic journeys to establish a connection with these spiritual lightkeepers. These beings are so enthusiastic about keeping us inspired with our work. One or more of these helping spirits can be consulted with when you forget the truth of who you are and the power you have to create positive change in your own life and for all life on the planet. 

Listen to music that helps you heighten your state of consciousness and where you can expand out of an ordinary state of consciousness. Or listen to a track on a drumming or shamanic music CD. Of course, you can drum or rattle for yourself. 

Hold your intention to meet a spiritual lightkeeper. Ask to be shown how the collective of spiritual lightkeepers is providing light for the planet right now. Ask for advice on ways you can shift your perception to embrace a feeling and attitude of hope. Ask how you can feed the light of the earth and all of life. 

The wisdom and knowledge you gain through this experience will inspire you on many levels but also might inspire you to deepen your work as we perform our monthly ceremony to create a human web of light. 

Pick one word that embraces the power and energy you would like to see manifest in your life and for the planet. Choose just one word that holds deep meaning for you. Just some examples might be splendor, beauty, joy, wisdom, life, peace, love, gratitude, laughter, health, harmony, and so on. 

Remember that in the practice of shamanism, as well as in other spiritual traditions, words have the power to create our reality. Every word we speak creates a vibration that travels up into the universe and from the invisible worlds is then birthed into material form and into the world of substance.

We have been working with the power of words in our work together. But the key is to avoid working on a superficial level where you state words without the true feeling and power programmed in the word. For the deeper you can sink into the feeling sense of the word the more power you will have with your dreaming and creation practices. 

During this month only work with one word at a time. Pick one word and write it down. Place it on your altar. Your altar can be quite simple. You can place a cloth or small rug on a table or on the floor. Put a candle and some items that you collect from nature on your altar. As I have written in the past place objects that feel sacred to you on your altar. You can simply place a candle on a plate or cloth. 

Once you have chosen a word commit to focusing on this word throughout the day. Meditate on the qualities, colors, shape, sound, sensations that go with this word. Feel the color, sound, and sensations start to flow through your body and filling your cells. As you do this notice how the power and energy of this word replaces some of the challenging energies you are feeling and those from the collective field that need to be released. 

To add to this practice, play some music, close your eyes, and move the energy of this word. Dance it. Feel the sensations of this word moving through you.  Take out some paper and crayons or paints and draw and express the color and shape that this word embraces. Use your voice to chant or tone the sound quality of this word. 

By working in this way, you will absorb on a cellular level how to “feel” instead of “mentally comprehend” the power of creation and how to shift the energy in the collective through the use of your words. You have to get the physical sensation and your feeling sense engaged to fuel the creative power. You have to infuse your energetic field with the power of the word for it to have the impact to create a change in the collective field of energy. This is where the power of change lies. 

You can keep working with one word through the entire month. Or you might find that once you have incorporated the power of this word and your cells are filled with its power that you want to work with another word. But again, I encourage you to work with one word at a time to really get the true full sense of a word’s power.

To add to this practice, choose one simple thing about life that you fully appreciate. This might be the taste of your favorite fruit or other food. It might be your favorite image, color, fragrance, sound, or feeling. 

Throughout the day focus on this one thing that you so appreciate. Again, get the feeling into your body and your cells. Fill your energetic field with the feeling of gratitude and appreciation so that it truly radiates from within. 

If you choose a favorite food close your eyes when you eat it. Feel the texture of the food on your tongue and focus on the taste. Notice how it feels as you swallow and how the energy from this food travels through your body. Focus on the energy that comes through the color of this food. Smell the fragrance of this food and absorb it. Do you associate a sound with this food or a tone coming from its energy? Feel your emotion as you eat this food. 

From the above example you get the idea of how you can also work with your favorite color or image, sound in nature, or texture that feels so good to touch. You can choose a favorite smell in the air like how it smells after the rain or you might choose a fragrant flower. 

With each thing that you appreciate you want to wake up your sense of sight, hearing, smelling, touching, and tasting. As you can enliven your senses with one simple thing that you appreciate your body awakens and fills with the power of how appreciation can completely shift your perception and also fill and shift the collective field of energy. But again, you must experience complete sensory awareness of what you appreciate to embrace and fuel the full power of change. You need to build an expansive positive field of energy. 

And the last practice I would like to ask you to add is to state a blessing for the world before you go to bed at night. If you engage fully in the practices of meeting a spiritual lightkeeper and embracing the sensory power of a word and what you are in appreciation for you should feel your vibration and frequency change. You should feel more expansive yet more solid at the same time. And with being in touch with a fuller range of spiritual energy you should feel a stronger tangible connection with our global community. So when you state your blessings for the world you should experience a resonance as the energy of your blessings connects with the energy of blessings of others in our community. 

The full moon, and also the total eclipse of the moon is on October 8. As you work with the practices I have shared in this month’s column, this will deepen your engagement in our full moon ceremony Creating A Human Web of Light. 

Take the time you need to prepare so that you shift out of your daily activities and thoughts and move the ordinary world out of the way. This is a time for you to commit to being in service to the planet and all of life.

Perform your transfiguration practice and radiate your light experiencing that light connecting with the light of our community. Imagine this light flowing within and throughout the earth touching every living being. Let us continue to weave a radiant and vibrant web of light throughout the earth.

If you are new to reading the Transmutation News, please read the instructions for our full moon ceremony by clicking on “Creating a Human Web of Light” on the homepage.  

Please incorporate into your daily life the practices I have shared this month to infuse more power and energy into your work to help improve the quality of your life and to be in service to the planet.  

 

Copyright 2014 Sandra Ingerman.  All rights reserved.

Transmutation News – September 2014

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First, I want to share that it was so wonderful to sink into our ceremony of Creating a Human Web of Life during the Super Moon of August. It was really a lovely feeling joining with the light of our circle.

I think you have probably had the experience where the universe keeps giving you a sign of something you need to reflect on. I feel like I have been in one of those periods.

As I have shared, I wrote a new book that is being published by Sounds True. The book is titled Walking in Light: The Everyday Empowerment of Shamanic Life. It is scheduled to be released February 1.

When one writes a book there are different phases of the editing process. And in August I was in the final editing phase. That meant that after I turned in my final edit, I could not make any changes. The book is now being prepared to be printed. 

So, I read and re-read the book multiple times to make sure there was nothing else I wanted to add, change, or delete. 

One of the chapters I wrote on includes a section on initiation. And in this chapter, I raised some questions that stay in my mind. These are questions I continue to sit with and think about. Sometimes you might be done with a piece of work, but the work is not done with you. I completed this chapter to the best of my ability, but the work is not done with me. It keeps ‘working me” and settling deep within.

In June Tami Simon (the owner of Sounds True) interviewed me on an anthology about depression. The book will be released the beginning of April.

My editor sent me the transcribed and edited interview to review in August a few days after I sent Walking in Light back to the production department.

In my interview I addressed the shamanic understanding of depression as an initiation and rite and passage. I also wrote about my own life journey dealing with depression.

My initial interview had to be shortened to fit into one short chapter for the anthology. But in its succinct form I talk much about shamanic initiation and how it relates to depression.

And then sadly Robin Williams committed suicide. And I wrote a short post on Facebook about depression as an initiation and a bit about my own experience navigating the waves of depression in my own life.

So, the theme of initiation is really coming up for me. And I think that one key point about initiation is that through “surviving” an initiation we learn how to live.

We continue to witness the intense journey that people all over the world are experiencing today – whether it is through living in a war-torn area, being in the military and engaging in war, religious and political persecution, dealing with climatic changes, physical illness, a variety of emotional and mental issues, and so on. 

We tend to put labels on certain issues. But I do believe that most of what people are experiencing today is an initiation into a new way of living. 

And while you are going through an initiation you cannot think about it. You cannot mentally plan how you are going to walk “through the fire”. An invisible part of yourself has to take over and carry you through.

Yes, our helping spirits and invisible forces can provide support for us. But in the end, we must tap into the strength of our spirit. 

During the process of dissolution, it is our spirit that continues to shine through.

And I do believe that this is a great teaching of our time. The teaching is as old as humanity. But it is time we wake up to the strength of our internal spirit. 

I remember in one of the first journeys I ever performed in 1980 my power animal came to me. He instructed me not sit down in the darkness. He told me to stand up and put one foot in front of the other. He was not referring to a specific situation in my life. He was sharing a general teaching with me.

This advice always stayed with me. For in any initiation, you really cannot stop and sit down and refuse to move. For in a true shamanic initiation the only way to live is to keep moving guided by the strength of spirit. 

I know many of you experience personal challenges and are also touched by all you witness right now. I do believe that movement is key to coming through. As I use as one of my daily mantras, “The only way out is through.” 

Reflect on any initiation you might be experiencing in your own life. 

The key is really to develop the tools needed to navigate the waves of joy as well as the turbulent waves. The tools I have been sharing with you over the years are the same ones I use to navigate the dark waves that I ride. They truly have kept me alive. I work with all my tools daily whether I am riding light and blissful or dark waves.  I do commit to keep moving and flowing with the phases of life. I am compassionate towards myself, and I do not judge myself for whatever I am experiencing. But I do keep moving even if I can only take the smallest baby step.

Both of my parents were powerful role models to me who showed me how to forge ahead in the midst of challenge. But my mother modeled to me how to keep moving to not just survive but to thrive. I watched my mother’s dedication to thrive on a psycho-spiritual level despite the challenges in her life. We never talked about it. But I learned a lot just by observing her. 

Everything in nature is in constant change and movement. And all living beings grow towards the light and absorb what it needs to thrive. We are part of nature and not separate from it.

This month continue to cultivate a rich inner landscape as I have been inspiring you to do. When you do this, you do step into a new and beautiful dimension of reality. The doorway into this beautiful dimension is through our inner world. 

First you have to love and honor yourself enough to want to do the inner world work. Go into your inner garden and clean it up. Pull out old plants and roots that do not serve your well being. 

Really experience taking care of your inner soil so that when you run your fingers through it you feel moisture and it feels rich to touch. Smell the freshness and richness of your inner soil. 

And then with loving care plant the seeds that you would like to see grow.

Remember to leave space for some wild plants to grow too. 

In the garden at my house there are hundreds of this one wild plant that is growing for the first time. I do not know the name of it. When people come to our house, I can see them looking at the garden and then looking at me. I can hear them thinking why doesn’t she weed the garden. For the plants that are thriving and growing would definitely be considered weeds to most onlookers. 

I don’t pull them out for many reasons. One reason is that they are so green and strong. And in the desert, it seems like a crime to me to actually pull out green strong plants. 

But also, the plants flowered in August. And my garden looked so alive with all these vibrant yellow flowers blossoming everywhere. If I pulled these plants out, I would have missed seeing such beauty.

Sometimes we try to domesticate our inner and outer garden too much. It is good to leave space for the wild plants to grow. You never know what great beauty will grow and blossom in your life. 

Isis has shared with me that it is so important to focus on the temple of our spirit. And of course, the temple of your spirit is your body. This means that your body and temple is holy ground. You do not want to destroy holy ground.

This statement goes even deeper when we think of the sacredness of all of life. Everything that is alive is holy ground and all of life should be honored and respected.

Continue to build a strong inner temple. 

Absorb the light and power of your divine light and the light of life into your cells. Do this daily!

Experience what it feels like to be lit from within. 

Notice how you feel physically and the sense of inner peace. Notice if you feel a difference in your vibration as you do this. 

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The full moon is September 8. So many of us want to be in service during such a time of transition on the planet. We forget that there are spiritual practices that we can engage in that do make a difference.

If you have a drum or rattle that you can use do some drumming or rattling. This will help you to step away from an egoic state of separation and will assist you in finding your center so you can focus on your spiritual work.

Focus on your intention to be a light in the world. And on the full moon let go of your state of consciousness that keeps you separate from your inner divine light. Travel deep within and experience your true spiritual nature which is light. Experience unity with Source and with all in the web of light. Radiate your light and let it flow and grow exponentially as it adds to the light of our global community. Imagine that light traveling within and throughout the earth creating a radiant web of light.

If you are a new reader of The Transmutation News please read “Creating A Human Web of Light” on the homepage for the instructions for our full moon ceremony.

The equinox is September 22. We flow into fall in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere.

I think that as we celebrate the change in seasons, we often perceive that one day we are in one season and then as the calendar gives us a date we are now in a new season.

The seasons do flow into one another. There is a smooth transition as the change from one season of life flows into the next.

Notice the subtle changes happening where you live that give you signs of how a change is beginning to occur. Notice the change in temperature, how the air is moving, the plant life, the animal life and how birds in your area begin to migrate. Feel the difference in the texture of the earth. Put your feet on the earth for at least 10-15 minutes a day and sense through your feet a shift in the movement, hum, or vibration. Notice the change in colors and the fragrance in the air.

Change does not just happen. There is a flow to all change. We just don’t pay attention to the signs of how cycles flow from one into another. We tend to think and perceive in linear ways instead of in the circular fashion as the earth teaches.

On the equinox take time to appreciate how the seasons and cycles of life flow. In the Northern Hemisphere it is a time to surrender and let go of what needs to be released into the earth to give life a time to rest after the growing season of summer. And in the Southern Hemisphere there is the excitement for the birth of the new after the long gestation process of winter.

On the equinox let us together honor the earth and all of life. Give gratitude for your life. Take time to go within and experience the flow of change happening within you. Experience how one season flows into the next within you too.

Let’s take time to acknowledge our own inherent gifts and strengths as well as our loved ones, others, and all in our global community and in all of life. When we acknowledge the gifts and strengths that everyone and all living beings contribute then we truly honor life.

I wish you all a joyous autumn and spring!!

 

Copyright 2014 Sandra Ingerman. All rights reserved.

Transmutation News – August 2014

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I know our hearts are being stretched as we watch so much violence continue in so many places of the planet and also as so much life is impacted by climatic events. We continue to join our hearts together and radiate love and light and perceive all in their spiritual strength instead of focusing on suffering and weakness.

Due the urging of many readers of A Fall to Grace I have been creating a story line for the sequel to this book. And the process has been so interesting and revealing to me. I think that some of what I am working with might create a desire to reflect on your own life.

A Fall to Grace is a visionary fiction book. I based the book on events, dreams, and journeys from my own life. The only exception to this was the beginning of the book where the main character C Alexandra is in surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.

I had the flu, and I had a very high fever. I was in bed sleeping and trying to heal when I had a dream. In the dream a man with long white hair and clear steel gray eyes appeared and told me how to begin the story. He then instructed me to get up and start writing the book. In the dream I argued with him and protested. I told him I was sick. He was persistent and kept telling me to get up and write.

I finally pulled myself out of a deep sleep and got up, took out a pad of paper, and wrote the first three pages of the book. It was this dream spirit who told me to start the book with C Alexandra undergoing surgery.

I actually have never undergone surgery or had cancer. But I went with it. After I wrote those first 3 pages the rest of the story did not unfold for another 5 years. Something obviously was gestating inside of me, and I had to wait for the rest of the book to be born.

I promised a sequel and never delivered on that promise. This is not like me as I do follow through on my commitments. At the same time, I cannot force the sequel. The story will be told when the stars are aligned.

I have not put “pen to paper” yet to write down what is coming through for the sequel. But I have been actively developing the characters and the story line in my head.

Unlike A Fall to Grace the sequel will not be based on my life. It will completely be fiction about C Alexandra living in another dimension of reality.

I have the story line and the characters quite developed. I am really just waiting to complete the editing process of the two new books that Sounds True and Inner Traditions are publishing in 2015. I simply need some time to write out the story that is so deeply running through me.

Here is what I find so interesting and what I want to share with you. As I daydream about C Alexandra’s life in this other dimension, I sometimes find myself having to take a step back and question a character I created or where a plot in the book is going.

I might find myself creating a character who is getting ready to bring great suffering into C’s life and possibly break her heart. And then I stop and ask myself the questions, “Do you really want to pursue this scenario? Do you really want to bring in such a dark character into C’s world right now? And if you follow the line of the plot, do you really want this story line to be manifested in C’s world?”

I reconsider. I want C to live a life where she experiences the joys of life. But I also want her to experience the deeper lessons that come through life’s initiations and challenges. So, I am not trying to take struggles away from C.

But sometimes the story line gets so intense I feel my heart hurting in a way where I say I do not want to pursue this story line. And I erase the character and the plot in my head.

I am immersed so deeply with the book that the characters and the story line that I am creating have all become so real. It is like I am truly stepping into and inhabiting the dream and life of C Alexandra. This is one of the key steps that I have shared with you about creating the dream you wish to live in.

This takes us back to what I wrote about in the June Transmutation News about the need to tear up the script.

For shamans and mystics since the beginning of time teach that this world is a dream. It is time for us to take a step back and reflect on:

– Why did you create certain characters, events, and circumstances in your story line? Every event in your life has meaning. Why did you call it in?

– What have you learned from the events of your life? And how do you want to shift the direction of your story, the characters in it and the outcome?

– Reflecting on the power of the life story you created by your daydreams how would you change the scenarios and characters you are dreaming into being?

Here is an exercise I share in “Shamanic Visioning: Connecting with Spirit to Transform Your Inner and Outer Worlds”. I also wrote about this in my new book Walking in Light which will be published by Sounds True in 2015.

If you know how to perform a shamanic journey this is a powerful journey to do. But you can also do this as a meditation.

Do some preparation work so that you leave the distractions of your ordinary life behind. Take a walk and clear your mind. Or dance/sing/ meditate to move away your egoic thoughts away and open to the love of spirit.

Put on a shamanic musical track or drum or rattle for yourself and travel into the hidden realms. Let your intention and your imagination take you to The Land of Dreams. Once there ask to meet up the Master or Mistress of Daydreams.

Ask the Master or Mistress of Daydreams to show you how what you daydream about throughout the day is dreaming into being the life you are now living in. Explore the characters that are in your life. Learn about the scenarios and events that are now being created through your daydreams.

Ask for guidance on how you can change your daydreams so that you can also shift the story of your life. Remember the story you tell yourself is the life you end up living.

Neville taught, “The whole vast world is yourself pushed out.”

Florence Scovel Shinn taught, “Creation comes through us not to us.”

I truly believe that our destiny is to learn how to manifest spirit into form just like our creator did. And our life is a process of learning how to do this. We go on automatic and have lost awareness to the fact that our thoughts and words are invisible energies that do manifest into form.

As I written before what we feed grows. And I have continuously asked you to examine what seeds you are cultivating in your inner garden and inner landscape. 

By reflecting deeply on your daydreams and what you are dreaming into being take this learning to a deeper level.

As I also engage in all the spiritual work that I suggest you do I realize that this exercise is not so simple. It is not a simple matter to be conscious of the impact of our daydreams in our life. Also, it is not always clear how certain people or events did show up in our life. The exercise I suggest is easier said than done.

But even if you can get one small clue that leads you to understand something simple in your life that manifested is a start. Don’t take on looking at your entire life script. Stay open and see if you can connect the dots to how one event or person entered into your life to give you a valuable lesson. And reflect on whether there is a small change you can make in your life that also changes the script.

I feel strongly that there is a momentum to the collective dream right now. All of life is being so deeply impacted by behaviors based on greed, hate, and power over. The collective dream is so dense and solid. And of course, using spiritual teachings the collective dream is our personal dream. At the same time every small change to our script we rewrite and every contribution we can make to change the current dream is so valuable.

I get my mail delivered to a PO Box. And part of my daily routine is to go to the post office to pick up my mail. People arrive at the post office in a variety of states of consciousness. I see people come in angry, frustrated, sad, rushed, and some just peacefully entering into this space.

It is not uncommon for me to strike up a conversation with a stranger as I am picking up my mail. One day I was reading my mail at a location in the post office that was by a window. There was a man standing next to me also reading his mail. I started up a friendly conversation with him. As I did so I could see his eyes start to shine a bit. He had such a serious look before.

When I was done reading my mail, I said goodbye to this man. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Thank you for brightening up my day.”

The energy behind his words were so sincere that I can hear this statement reverberating through me from time to time.

We can shift the energy of others through our presence, and we also help a person change the dream he or she is dreaming during that day. By brightening up someone else’s world we bring light and love into their dream.

The full moon is August 10. Let us gather our energies together to rewrite the collective dream to one filled with love, light, peace, and harmony. We do this by creating a human web of light that radiates within and throughout the earth. We do this by joining our hearts and divine light together to dream a new world into being

If you are a new reader of The Transmutation News you can read instructions for our full moon ceremony by visiting “Creating a Human Web of Light” on the homepage.

Transmutation News – July 2014

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Recently I had a very profound realization in the middle of the night. I would like to share it with you in case my experience sparks some awakening in you.

First, I would like to give you some background information on what I feel might have inspired my experience.

During the last few months, a number of my friends, students, and peers have died. Death has been around me, and I have been reflecting on how many people close to me, that are a similar age to me, are leaving this plane of existence. I am sure this has been affecting me on a deep level below the conscious feelings emerging for me.

To add to this, I feel increasingly challenged as I watch the dense collective behavior toward the environment and all of life. The level of greed and violence continues although humans think of themselves as an evolved species.

I have always been a sensitive person and so being deeply impacted by the unconscious behavior of humans is not a new issue for me. I can imagine that many of you feel the same. I continue to engage in the spiritual practices that I teach. I do these practices throughout the day whenever my ego/personality gets triggered by what I am observing. And they do help me to shift into a more positive level of awareness.

I always felt I was born to be “a worker bee”. I do have a strong inner creative fire that keeps me working. And this creative fire has led me to work with clients, write and teach with a hope that I inspire others to live a more conscious way of life.

Those of you who know me, worked with me, or have been reading this monthly column know that I am a hard worker. I am very devoted to my work on all levels. And as you can imagine this has not always been to my benefit. But at the same time this is what I feel called to do, and I have followed my calling.

To add to all of this background information I have also dealt with riding the waves of depression and joy throughout most of my teenage and adult years.

This is all to say that I often question the meaning of life.

The end of May I woke up in the middle of the night. I was in some altered and self-aware state that I cannot explain. I was in between the worlds. I was not asleep, yet I was not awake. This state only lasted for probably one minute. In this waking dream I became completely aware of the meaning of my life.

What was of the most importance to me was that I had the opportunity to see beautiful places and landscapes on the earth. I had the wonderful opportunity to actually visit some beautiful places in my travels. And due to the media, I was able to see photos and videos of extraordinary places on earth that I could not physically travel to. I was aware that I did not have this opportunity to see so many colorful landscapes and such variety of unique life forms in any of my past lives. For in the far distant past there was not the ability to view photos that had been taken from around the world.

Being able to see the extraordinary beauty of the earth was what had the most meaning to me.

Second to that was that I experienced love.

And lastly, having the opportunity to take care of both of my parents at the end of their lives created deep meaning in my life.

Once I received the awareness of these three things that gave my life meaning I fell back into a deep sleep for the rest of the night and had some interesting dreams.

I was deeply affected by this experience upon awakening. For this was no ordinary experience of waking up in the middle of night and thinking about things on a rational intellectual level. I was in a very deep spiritual state when I had this awareness, and I felt it in every cell of my body.

It was like when I had my near-death experiences where I experienced spontaneous and profound spiritual truths and a new level of consciousness that sank into my cellular awareness creating deep inner change.

After waking up I reflected on what I received in the middle of the night. I was surprised that my work of service did not come up as something that gave my life meaning. Of course, I know and acknowledge the gifts I have shared with my clients, students, and the collective at large. But on a deep level this is not what was revealed to me as what gave my life meaning.

I have been with so many people at the end of their lives. And I hear the same thing again and again. People often reflect on what they gave priority to in life. I often hear people speak about the simple things of life that they felt were the most important to them. I rarely hear the obvious “good work” as what was reflected on at the end of life. And I don’t hear people saying I wish I worked more or harder.

This goes back to what I brought up in the June Transmutation News about “tearing up the script”.

During such an intense time of change are we focusing on what is important to our soul rather than what we think we should be doing?

I know many teachers suggest that we examine our lives as if we are looking back on it at the end of our life. It is important to reflect on how you would reprioritize your life so you can make changes now.

This month journey or meditate on the simple things that make your life meaningful. How would you change your life to make sure you engage in activities that are truly meaningful to you?

The other teaching that I received in this clear and heightened state was the importance of focusing on self-beauty. For I feel that I was also being shown how the beauty of different landscapes on the earth reflect back my inner beauty.

In my work with others, I am often struck by how little we acknowledge our self-beauty. As a collective we define ourselves by the collective definition of outer beauty. And we forget to allow the beauty of our soul to unfold like a flower blossoming in the spring and summer.

As we continue to radiate our divine light, we must also acknowledge the deep and true beauty that lies within each of us. We are as beautiful within as the earth reflects back to us with the beauty of nature surrounding us in the outer world.

A dear friend had sent me an email where she was reflecting on the teaching “As above, so below”.

She wrote that from an astrological perspective this does not assign cause and effect in the relationship between Earth and Sky. The emphasis of the teaching is with the correlation and the mirroring that occurs when Two Beings gaze upon one another; each of them mirrored in the Eyes of the Other. The Earth reflects what is in the Sky and the Sky reflects what is on the Earth.

Her words struck a chord in me thinking about gazing into the eyes of others and into the world. For if we shift our gaze and see the light in all that is what is reflected back to us. And this is ancient wisdom that has been carried down since the beginning of time.

I know I have written about this before. But it is so essential not to lose focus when we gaze into the eyes of others. As you can truly see the light in the eyes of all of life, we change our reality by shifting our perception.

Raise your awareness and be conscious about how you judge what you see in others and in the world. We always have a choice to see illness and/or suffering or we have the choice to recognize the brilliant spiritual light that is part of all of life. The more you can maintain your focus with this work the deeper you can travel in other dimensions of life. For the dimension of beauty is present at all times.

The full moon is July 12. Start your full moon ceremony with reflecting on your inner beauty and the beauty of all of life around you. Gaze upon photos of nature and of the earth and appreciate what a glorious planet we live on.

From this place of appreciating the beauty of life perform your transfiguration practice to drop what keeps you separate from your divine light. Radiate this light while focusing on joining with the beauty of our global community who is all doing the same. Imagine and gaze upon this beauty and the lights of all weaving a brilliant web of light within and throughout the earth touching, embracing, and connecting every being that is alive.

If you are a new reader of the Transmutation News please visit “Creating a Human Web of Light” on the homepage to read the instructions for our full moon ceremony.

 

Copyright 2014 Sandra Ingerman. All rights reserved.

Transmutation News – June 2014

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The local and world news continues to get more disturbing as stories increase about violence, behavior based on greed, and inhumane treatment of others. These behaviors have always occurred. It is just that through modern communication we have more access to global news.

On the positive side the news is causing both local and global communities to voice their outrage about what is going on. And it is through communities of people standing together in unity and strength that we are seeing and will continue to see change happen. We cannot depend on individual leaders to create the kind of change needed to bring about a life filled with honor, respect, and equal treatment for all of life.

It is powerful to watch how people are gathering together in communities to help and support each other. It is sad that it has been trauma that brings people together in this way. But we are seeing growth and evolution as many people feel they can no longer live in isolation. A new vision about working with the feminine principle of cooperation and collaboration is emerging.

We continue to do our work together as a spiritual community using the practices I have shared with you. At first glance when reading over some of the practices they look so simple. Some people confuse what on a quick scan looks simple to a perception that the practices are for beginners. Many of us equate simple practices as for beginners and complex practices with advanced work.

This is really a misperception. Many people studying spiritual traditions don’t stick with the practices long enough and have persistence to reap the rewards. In the spiritual community there are perpetual seekers who keep looking for complex ceremonies and practices that on the outside look like they might be more powerful.

The key is to keep searching until you find a path that speaks to your soul. And once you find that path it is important to stay true to it, sink into the work, and not get distracted by other ways that look more powerful on the outside. All spiritual paths lead to the same ultimate outcome. The key is doing the work.

Most of us love to engage in shamanic healing ceremonies, and we experience a state of ecstasy in doing so. But unless we engage in the everyday empowerment of a shamanic way of life, the healing ceremonies we perform don’t have a true lasting effect.

Simple practices that are passed down through shamanic cultures are potent ways to create great transformation. But as you have discovered for yourself, in working with the material I share, they are multi-layered. There are times when you find yourself on an adventure where the path is full of joy and is easy and beautiful to walk on.

Then obstacles are put in your path. These obstacles might come from unworked material in your unconscious that reveals itself to be looked at, explored, and healed. The collective energies might not support your living a conscious way of life. You might find that the dynamics of the relationships with loved ones, family, friends, and co-workers pull you off your path leading you to question the work. The same might be true as you continue to engage with the collective energies of the planet that support giving up on dreams, staying in a trance state, and asks you to follow the norm.

I hear from many of you who continue to work with the practices I have shared reporting the benefits you have reaped from the work and also the challenges presented by staying on the path.

Perform simple ceremonies to release obstacles presenting themselves to you. When you find yourself giving up and feeling like creating a healthy way of life is not possible write your beliefs down on a piece of paper. Burn them in a sacred bowl that you can use for your spiritual work. Or think about releasing the power of a belief by breaking a stick while focusing on your intention to let it go. Make a small object out of natural materials empowered with a defeatist belief and send it adrift into a body of water. Buy a bottle of bubbles and blow any sabotaging thoughts and beliefs into the air.

As you release blocking beliefs into an element remember to transmute the energy you are letting go of into love and light. In this way you feed the elements, yourself, others, and all in the web of life with loving and light-filled energies.

A few weeks ago, I had a very powerful dream. In the dream I was attending a conference. The conference was not going so well, and the organizers asked me if I would wear my mask and costume of my spiritual teacher Isis and merge with her. They wanted Isis to share her wisdom in the group.

Well, the dream got very complex and was filled with rich symbolism. There is one part I wanted to share with you. I had dressed in the costume I wear when I merge with Isis. I was getting ready to go on stage. But I noticed I was wearing a sweater over my costume. I took off the sweater and noticed that there was another sweater under it. I kept taking off sweaters only to find that I was wearing many layers of sweaters.

I woke up with an understanding about the layers we have to keep removing to live from our divine nature. For Isis to me represents my inner divine light. But I could not really show my divine light in public because of the layers “of clothing” that I was wearing. This represented to me the thoughts, attitudes, beliefs we must continue to remove so that our divine light can shine forth in the world.

I journeyed and I put out a call into the unseen realms asking if there was a message to write about as we celebrate the solstice on June 21.

The message I clearly heard was, “Tear up the script!”

And then my spiritual teacher Isis appeared, and I asked her for more information. She brought me back to the power of the dreaming work we do together as we vision a new dream for the earth and all in the web of life.

Right now, in the world at large, the life we are living is based on a script that the collective has written.

Changing the script is certainly a work in progress. But we have to be diligent and continue to work on creating the life we want to see manifest. This takes discipline and persistence, as the dense collective energies are not aware of the power of the dream we are all creating together. For every daydream, thoughts we have, and words we speak create the world we live in. And as a society we do not focus on the power of the daydreams, our thoughts, and the words we are dreaming into being. The current dream no longer supports a state of health and well being.

Isis shared with me that it is important for all of us to take action to tear up the current script that we are playing out. I would like to encourage all of us to do this work together on the solstice.

Here are some suggestions:

  • If you feel inclined to do so, write out the current script of behaviors you would like to see an end to.
  • If you are too busy to write out an entire script, write down one or more words that describes what you would like to see released such as: hate, war, greed, or abuse.
  • Gather some art supplies together. You can use crayons or paint. Draw an image of what you would like to see released. For example, you can draw an image of oil polluting water.
  • Or you can use colors to draw or paint chaotic lines that represent energies that you no longer want to see manifest. Close your eyes and draw or paint while expressing energies to be released.

On the solstice, prepare the space you want to work in either indoors or outdoors. Welcome the helping compassionate spirits who witness and support your work. Create an altar with a candle and sacred objects such as flowers, special stones, crystals, or any objects from nature that call to you. You might want to wear something special that helps you to move from your daily ordinary consciousness to a spiritual state. You can play music, drum, rattle, and sing or chant.

Once you feel you are in the appropriate spiritual state that brings you into a greater awareness of the power of your spirit tear up the paper representing the collective script.

As an alternative you could empower a stick with the script of the present collective dream and break it. Or you can blow it into a natural object and release it into the water while focusing on destroying the current script. Of course, burning something in fire is a powerful way to work for the true nature of fire is to transmute and transform.

Use your imagination and tear up the current script of the collective dream.

As we all do this on the same day, we join our collective energies together to say “No” to living an abusive and unhealthy way of life.

Feel a space that opens in the collective field that you can fill with positive thoughts, words, and dreams. Fill the space with love.

Through writing, drawing, painting, or using a craft to create an object bring through the power of a new script, a new dream. Place this on your altar to be empowered by the collective energy of our community and the power of helping spirits and spiritual allies.

You can also sing and/or dance a new dream.

Make a commitment to continue your dreaming work. With full sensory awareness imagine the world you wish to live in. Step into the dream and live from it.

Know that your dreamwork does impact the physical world. For everything that is now manifested into physical form in your life and the world began as a thought in the unseen realms.

Engage with full sensory awareness, as you perceive the light of humans and all of life shining as brightly as the sun. It is not enough to mentally recognize the divine light of life. Project light onto all that you see.

Let go of the need to see immediate results. Your dream is now in the hands of spirit. Your role is to do the work.

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On the solstice, be a light and brighten up someone else’s life. Engage a stranger in friendly conversation and get them to smile. Notice how good this feels. As we can brighten up the life of others this energy becomes contagious. And this is one way we begin to change the collective script.

As we enter a new season it is important to harmonize with the energy of the earth. Performing a meditation or shamanic journey to merge with an element or all the elements is a way to do this.

You might be noticing that an element in your area is trying to get residents’ attention through drought, fires, flooding, earthquakes, or tornadoes.

Listen to some music or drumming and imagine merging with the earth where you live, or a fire burning, a flooding body of water, or strong winds. Learn about the element by becoming it. The information you receive will go beyond a rational understanding, but rather will impact you physically as you become one with the energy of another living being.

State a decree and give thanks to the element for harmonizing with you and returning to a state of balance. Experience the element you are merged with in its perfect balance and in a state of harmony.

When you have completed your meditation or journey align your heartbeat with the heartbeat of the earth.

The full moon is June 12. Let us continue to gather our energies in love and weave a web of light within and throughout the earth. Let’s deepen our work and focus on the dream we are dreaming into being experiencing a world filled with love, light, harmony, peace, equality, and abundance for all.

If you are a new reader of the Transmutation News please read “Creating a Human Web of Light” on the homepage for instructions of how you can join us during our full moon ceremony.

I join with all in our community to send blessings to you for a beautiful summer/winter solstice!

Transmutation News – May 2014

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When we focus only on the seen and visible world it is so easy to fall off of our spiritual path. The collective and the conditioned mind is drawn and magnetized to the drama and trauma of what is occurring in the outer world.

It is a challenge to be so hypnotized by our conditioning. It can be a struggle for many to focus on the beauty that life has to offer instead of only perceiving the challenges.

I was taking a walk in my arroyo after a very intense day of work. I needed a way to de-stress and clear my mind. As I have written in past, columns the arroyo I walk in is filled with magic for me. Walking the same path for 18 years and feeling my feet connecting deeply with the earth is healing balm. And over the years I have received a wealth of omens and signs that have guided me on my path and also have reminded me of the power of the unseen and the magic of life.

I really do not know how I would stay centered if I did not have such a familiar place in nature to walk in. I can visit with my favorite trees that have become friends, gaze upon beautiful red crystalline rocks, and listen to the bird songs. This is not just a place for me to receive messages; it is also a place of comfort.

Santa Fe is in a drought. As we know every place on the planet is experiencing extreme changes in climate. And if we are to believe only the research the shifts will continue to intensify. I still believe we have the power to call in balance and shift the impact of human behavior on the planet.

As I was walking, I could not help but start to worry about the dryness and the fate of this land. I got lost in thinking about the future and how long I would get to enjoy walking in this amazing and beautiful landscape.

And then I brought myself back from feeding the challenge and hardship to appreciating all the gifts I receive from the land. I brought myself back into the present moment. I had to shift my perception to see the divine health of the land.

I have written about shifting our perception and seeing the divine health of all in the web of life and the earth. I find that there is a physical shift that I can feel as I do this. When I perceive the health of the land versus the struggle, I feel my third eye opening. And with my invisible sight all that I see shifts. It is like I have another set of eyes that see into the unseen rather than only what is visible to me. With this other set of eyes, I see the strength in the trees, the plants, and all that is alive. And by seeing through my third eye, I can change what I am projecting. It is quite amazing.

Over the last few months, I have felt myself surrender more to the divine Intelligence of Nature. I feel in all my cells that The Spirit of Santa Fe knows what she is doing. I trust how she is allowing the land to be sculpted and changed. I don’t understand on a rational level all that is occurring. But I have trust and faith in the process of evolution.

We do need to keep taking action to protect our environment. But we need to blend this with strengthening our spiritual work.

A key part of our spiritual work is to keep our focus on the beauty and divine strength and light of all that is alive.

Most of us continue to seesaw back and forth with being able to touch into the divine and then back into an egoic state of worry, fear, and anger.

Try using more of your invisible senses to shift your perception of what is happening for you and in the world. Maybe focusing on and opening your third eye as I do might be a way for you to project light onto the earth and the world.

For we know that the world is our projection. When you use your invisible sight to change the image of your projection you end up changing your life and all connected to the web of life.

As I was walking with my third eye opened, I also reflected on the conditioned mind. I wondered if future generations will have an easier time perceiving and projecting love and light. I feel we are working so hard to be vessels of love and light in the midst of challenge and change.

But will there truly be an evolution of consciousness when one day only perceiving the beauty and divine light and love is how people go about their day? With an expanded sense of perception, I can absolutely see this way of living coming to fruition.

For now, we do our work and go back and forth between experiencing the divine and then getting caught up in a dual state where we also only see the struggle and move into states of fear, anger, and grief.

I am working with a friend to design an app. I am testing the first version of it, and I have a device programmed so that I receive an alert every two hours. The alert is the sound of bells. And when I hear the bells ring my task is to stop what I am doing and reflect on what I am thinking about.

There are times in my day when I love hearing the sound of the bells. And there are times when I yell at my device and feel like throwing it against the wall. When I am lost in the stress of my day, I don’t want to stop and reflect on my state of consciousness.

I can say with confidence that I respond to this constant alert in a more positive way then I might have done many years ago. I can truly see that the focus on my spiritual practices has brought me to a more conscious way of living life. And I want to be reminded that I need to reframe my thoughts and my feelings to feed the energies of light and love. Those are the energies I want to see grow in my own life, the rest of life, and in the earth. And you have to feed the energies that you want to see grow.

I also notice that even when I am irritated (to put this mildly) by the alert if I have a word, phrase, or photo that is uplifting that I can immediately look at my irritation lasts for only a few seconds. Having visual prompts around me does really work to change my train of thought.

Please consider carrying with you, words, phrases, or a photo that can help shift your consciousness. This is important to do throughout the day. For if we cannot shift our awareness and consciousness during stressful times then we need to ask ourselves what benefit will come from our spiritual work.

We cannot spend part of the day emanating love and light and then shift into anger due to the stresses that naturally occur as we work, run errands, and travel to and from places throughout the day. We cannot maintain a spiritual state only when it is convenient for us to do so.

It is important to find ways to keep your practice consistent. I find that having something I can look at essential in keeping me focused on my spiritual work.

Find something that you can carry with you that reminds you and inspires you to radiate love and light instead of frustration and self-sabotaging and self-defeating thoughts.

Notice how your practice strengthens and does become more consistent as you learn how to shift the words you use and your thoughts in a way that will lead you to a positive outcome.

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Part of our spiritual practice needs to include creating regular ceremonies to cleanse from the dense collective energies. In the December 2012 Transmutation News, I suggested that we cleanse ourselves and the collective by placing dense states of consciousness into a cauldron of light.

There is a tremendous amount of fear, anger, and frustration in the collective. We add to these collective energies by feeding the collective with our negative energy. And we are also impacted by the collective energy we are part of.

This month take some time to meditate or journey on a ceremony you can perform to cleanse yourself of any energies that do not serve you or the collective.

You can use an element that calls to you to work with. If air calls to you then you can light some incense and cleanse yourself of anything that needs to be released. Remember to transmute with intention what energies you release into love and light.

If fire calls to you release energies that no longer serve you into the flames of a fire built in a fireplace. Or you can focus on the flame of a candle and let fire transmute the energies needed to be transformed. You can also meditate or journey and perform a fire ceremony to cleanse yourself in the non-ordinary realms.

You can use water to cleanse yourself of energies that need to be transformed and with intention transmute those energies that flow into the water into love and light.

Burying what you need to release into the earth, while transmuting the energy, is another way you can work. The earth will compost those energies into fertile ground when you work with the earth with honor and respect.

The next step would be to meditate or perform a shamanic journey to cleanse the dense collective energies that need to be transmuted and transformed. As we do this together as a global community, we create a clear space in the ethers for positive change to occur. And we can breathe easier on all levels.

Make a decision to perform such cleansing ceremonies on a regular basis. Just like we physically cleanse ourselves we must keep up a spiritual cleansing process too. Notice how such a ceremony supports the ease of your spiritual work. It is hard to keep up spiritual practices while you are clogged up with compromising energies.

The full moon is May 14. Start by spiritually cleansing yourself. Do some work to prepare yourself to support the depth of your transfiguration practice. Working on a superficial fashion does not contribute to the health of the web of life. Find a time to transfigure when you can let go of the demands of your life and leave your ordinary concerns behind.

You might listen to some music that heightens your consciousness. Some people find dancing or singing helpful to support a deep spiritual state. Find the way that works for you.

Transfigure and absorb the light of the divine into all your cells. Soak in the light. Radiate light so that it flows and shines within and throughout the earth. Feed the web of light with love. Let us continue to weave into being a radiant web of light.

If you are new to reading The Transmutation News please read “Creating a Human Web of Light” on the homepage.

 

Copyright 2014 Sandra Ingerman. All rights reserved.

Transmutation News – April 2014

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I received a wealth of wonderful feedback about the March Transmutation News from readers from all over the world.

When I wrote this column, something deep and strong emerged while I was sitting and typing at my computer.

It has been interesting to watch the energies in the columns that I have written over the years. I started writing this column in 1998. There have been months where I feel I have shared all I can and said all I have to say.

Many years ago, I shared this in one of the Transmutation News. I received quite the response after I wrote that I was not sure I had more to say. For the following weeks I went to my mailbox at the post office and my box was filled. There were letters from readers from around the globe asking me to please continue writing the Transmutation News. So, I have joyfully continued.

I have never felt that I have forced my writing for any month’s column. But I notice how the waves of energy that flow through me shift and change. Like the waves in the ocean some go out to sea and the water is peaceful. Some waves rise up with strength and crash to the shore. In some of my columns I have asked us to reflect on what has been shared in the past. And some have more of a fiery energy asking us to stand up and do our work. There are also columns where I loop what I have already written in an attempt to complete a cycle.

I reflected on what I wrote last month. My reflection brought me to examine the core of what is driving the behavior of humanity. I do believe that the core issue is LOVE.

We all have a variety of memories of our childhood and how we were raised. Whether you feel you had loving parents or not there are still wounds and traumas you suffered. Some of these wounds and traumas were created by the abusive behavior of a parent. But most of us suffered some level of wounding through our interactions with authority figures and by society itself.

Unconditional love was not the core of most people’s upbringing. We were raised with certain unrealistic expectations placed upon us. We were told who we should be and how we should act and perform in life.

For many people these wounds from childhood created unhealthy patterns and behavior to cope with the pressures of life and the felt sense of not being truly loved for who we are. Some people turn to a life of service and try to help others. While some try to gain power and amass more on material levels. The underlying desire is to feel accepted, honored, and loved. But this desire gets buried under emotional issues that arise from the lack of unconditional love we missed receiving as a child.

We must find ourselves again. I don’t necessarily mean having a formal soul retrieval ceremony performed in your behalf. Although many who have been wounded and traumatized in childhood can greatly benefit from receiving a soul retrieval.

The issue is a soul issue of how to live a soulful life filled with love.

It is important to spend time alone in nature, in meditation, journeying, and taking time for reflection to ask yourself the question, “Who am I beyond my conditioning?” For your parents, authority figures, and society all projected an identity onto you. And if this identity does not match the true nature of your soul you will continue to search for love and acceptance. You might have accepted the projections and created a way of life to meet others’ expectations. You might feel locked into living a life that has no true meaning to your soul’s purpose. When really all you want is to be truly loved for who you are.

Only you know who you are beyond the projections placed upon you and the true nature of your soul. It is time for all of us to find ourselves again.

Over the years I have led you on a practice to meditate or journey to learn about your creator or the creative forces of the universe. It is tricky writing for a group such as ours for we all have certain phrases and words that fit with our religious and spiritual beliefs. You must find the term that fits with your belief – God, the divine goddess, Source, the creator, creative force of the universe or another term that resonates with your beliefs.

I shared the practice of meeting your creator and learning about your creation story in Medicine for the Earth and most of the books I wrote since 2000.

I do keep sharing this practice as I think it is a key practice to experience unity consciousness with full sensory awareness and how to be a vessel of unconditional love. For unless we experience in our cell’s union with our creator and the love we were created from, then these spiritual teachings become a mental understanding. And there is no power in only a rational understanding of spiritual principles. We must feel them in all our cells and live them.

The practice I will ask you to repeat is doing a meditation or performing a shamanic journey to fully absorb into your cells the love that went into your creation. We have done this before together. But this practice should be done again and again. By repeating this practice, the healing that comes from this experience can go deeper into your cells. This practice alone can be such a potent healing balm for your past wounds. For unconditional love is the source of all true healing.

You can listen to some meditation music that assists you in reaching an expanded state of consciousness. And set your intention to meet the energy of your creator and experience with full sensory awareness the unconditional love that went into your creation. This means feel how your heartbeat changes when you are embraced and filled with such love. Notice the warmth of your skin. Feel the energy flowing through your body. Notice if your toes, feet, fingers, hands start to tingle. Smell the fragrance of love.

Absorb and soak in the light into all your cells. Experience a sense of unity with your creator and all in the web of life.

When you feel ready bring your consciousness back into the room you are in. After taking a few deep breaths open your eyes. Drink in the colors and the images of beauty that you see. Feel the sensations in your body. Listen to nature singing to you. Take a deep breath and smell the scents in the air. When you are ready, eat and truly taste something fresh and healthy. Notice how your sense of taste is enlivened. Drink some water and taste the smooth sweet taste of the water as it travels through your mouth and down your throat. Touch soft textures around you and notice the feelings in your fingers and hands. Notice how your senses seem more alive.

When you continue to experience and soak in the unconditional love of your creator you will feel called to change your behavior of how you treat yourself and others. As you keep repeating this practice you will find your heart expanding so you can be a greater vessel of love in the world.

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In the past I have also encouraged you to connect with your ancestors. You can do this through a meditation or a journey. We might have some difficult memories of how our ancestors behaved. But they are now in the transcendent realms and with Source. Their loving energy can provide you with healing, love, and support. For your ancestors do care about your health and well being. They want to share the energetic support needed to assist you in being successful in manifesting your goals and dreams. Let them love you and support you.

Yes, there needs to be a change in how the collective of humanity behaves towards each other and the web of life. Feeling truly loved unconditionally naturally changes our behavior.

At the same time, it is so important for us as a spiritual community to cross the bridge to walking the path of spirit versus the path of ego.

One of the key principles in the Medicine for the Earth work and other spiritual teachings is our outer world, is a reflection of our inner state.

On a spiritual level we must continue to examine what needs to be transformed in our inner state of consciousness. This has to do with how you think, the words you use, the stories you tell yourself, and the energy you send into the world. We must cultivate a beautiful and healthy inner landscape that will be reflected in our outer landscape.

Many of you know that Neville’s teachings were a strong influence for me when I wrote Medicine for the Earth.  Neville’s teachings inspire me and help me transform some of my self-defeatist and sabotaging thoughts and beliefs.

Recently the following quote was shared on a Neville yahoo group. This quote comes from “The Core of Man” a lecture Neville gave 11/17/1967. The yahoo group I am signed up on can be found at:  

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/nevillequotes/info.  

You might need to sit with and ponder this teaching for awhile.

“If I am not in you, this dream would not be true. If everything in the world is in me, then everything in your world is in you. And if I am in your world, then I am in you.”

The full moon is April 15. There is also a total eclipse of the moon on this day. Let us gather as a spiritual community expressing our love for all in the web of life. Find a good time in the day when you can really sink into your transfiguration practice. Do your preparation work. Experience the love of your creator and absorb that love into your cells. Transfigure into your divine light. In the spirit of unity your light will begin to dance with the light of all in our circle. Together let us weave a radiant, brilliant, sparkling web of light within and throughout the earth. Feel your heart pulse with love. Feel the light radiating from the cells of your body with ease. Weave your light with the light of the earth, the elements, and all in the web of life including that of our circle.

If you are a new reader to of The Transmutation News please read “Creating A Human Web of Light” on the homepage.

 

Transmutation News – March 2014

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On a physical level, the state of the planet seems dire. Yet on a spiritual level, it is ripe for change.

I continue to watch in amazement how decisions are made that contribute to the devastation of our environment. I also watch as many people rely on scientific research to let them know what chemicals are safe to ingest. Environmental impact reports are funded by major corporations that will benefit financially from the projects being researched.

Many people choose to stay in a trance and simply do not make intelligent choices when it comes to taking care of their health. Does anyone need a statement from researchers to tell them that it is safe to drink water contaminated with chemicals or oil and food sprayed with pesticides?

One really has to wonder why people are not relying on their inner wisdom for answers instead of giving their power away to authorities who either are not sharing the truth or don’t know the long term effects of what we are putting into our environment.

I think people know what is happening, but feel paralyzed in knowing how to contribute to making positive changes. And of course, so many are overwhelmed by life that it is easier to stay in a trance and remain apathetic. Many think they can hide their head under the covers. We know different.

In West Virginia where water supplies were contaminated with chemicals there was quite the conflict going on. Researchers said the water was safe to drink. Many parents refused to let their children bathe in and drink this water. I say good for the parents for following their common sense!

A government official stated that he was dismayed to hear residents of West Virginia say that they were being used as lab rats. But really no one knows the long-term effects on the chemicals that are being put into the earth, our water, and the air.

We have to rely on our inner knowing and intuition. For frankly human beings have been acting against nature. And since we are part of nature and not separate from it there are consequences to the actions of the collective.

I am not sure what it takes for humanity to wake up to the fact that actions taken towards the environment are impacting every living being in the web of life as well as the earth itself.

Sometimes I find my faith in the collective of humanity lessening. At the same time my faith in spirit and in the spiritual community increases. For this is where hope lies. And without hope there is no reason to continue.

Until the collective wakes up to the consequences of human behavior we must strengthen and focus our spiritual work. For spiritual traditions through the ages have shown we can transmute toxins. And this is the foundation of the Medicine for the Earth work.

We must continue to perceive everything that exists as light. We must absorb the light of the sun as well as the light of the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. We have tools to thrive during these times of apathy, greed, and ignorance of the collective choices being made that impact the earth which is our home.

We know that the divine can transmute and heal what needs healing. Through spiritual methods we can regain a sense of harmony and balance which will be reflected back to us.

We will most likely ride a different wave than people who only acknowledge the rational and ordinary realms of consciousness.

As I wrote last year our challenge is to stay focused on our spiritual work no matter what is happening in the outer world. We can no longer afford to straddle the path of ego and the path of spirit. The times we live in are requiring us to make a choice.

Although I am aware of all that is occurring in the environment, I refuse to give into a belief in lack and fear. I make a clear choice to continue my spiritual work to honor and respect nature and all in the web of life. I choose to believe in the power of spirit and will not give into the collective consciousness that is moving into fear. Fear creates the desire to control. And it is only spirit that is in control of our fate. I also continue my commitment to help strengthen the spiritual global community. For we do have the ability to create exponential change as we work together in unity.

We cannot operate out of fear and spirit at the same time.

Yes, we need to express our opinions in our communities and be a voice of reason when it comes to political decisions that affect the environment. And at the same time as a global community, we must stay focused together on our work. It is with our spiritual practices that the divine can emerge to change the world we live in. We must surrender to spirit and do our work. We must stay strong in our faith in the power of spirit. This is the only way to be a vessel of the divine, light, and love.

I still remember clearly how in the early 1990s I was watching a documentary on TV. The research was showing the level of extreme drought that would occur in many places on the earth. Living in Santa Fe, which is the high desert, I felt myself moving into a place of panic.

The next day I performed a shamanic journey, and I went to visit my spiritual teacher, Isis. I talked to her about my fear. She sternly said to me, “If you believe you will not have water then you will not have water.”

Isis shared this with me before I began working on the Medicine for the Earth work. At the time I was still writing my second book Welcome Home.

The message Isis shared with me led me to perform a series of journeys where I learned how our perception creates our reality. And this has been a core teaching of the Medicine for the Earth work.

In all circumstances, even amidst devastation and destruction, we can choose to perceive the light, beauty, and joy of life. It is in this state of heightened perception that the divine within and without can shine through. The divine can only come through when we open our hearts.

And we must remember that new life is born even as death and destruction occur.

In many of my books I have written about the spiritual community that gathered together in the 1960s to live in Findhorn, Scotland. They were intent on growing their own vegetables. But the soil was sand and did not support the growth of vegetables. When the nature spirits, The Hidden Folk, appeared and worked with the community in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration vegetables did grow. And they grew to miraculous sizes. This is a wonderful example of how we can work in partnership with nature spirits.

There are a wealth of stories that are shared in spiritual traditions about how the divine intervenes and helps out when people have done their inner personal work and are ready for change to occur.

I do believe as we strengthen and stay focused on our spiritual practices we open the veils between the visible and invisible so that the divine and the helping spirits can work with us in partnership to sustain life.

One morning in February I woke up with some thoughts swirling around. The changes we are living through are quite intense. There are the climatic changes and the increase in violence and political unrest. Many of my friends and colleagues are either recovering from severe illnesses or have passed over to the transcendent realms.

I woke up feeling and knowing that as a collective humanity is entering into the next phase of an initiation process. An initiation does create a death of an old way of living. And with all the intense change occurring I do not believe that we can sleep through this next phase of initiation.

The strength of our inner spirit will carry us through this next phase of initiation. Our body and mind do not have what it takes to power through the changes we are in. But our inner spirit does have what we need.

We must deeply connect with our inner spirit, our divine light. We cannot create a superficial connection where we only rationally grasp what divine light is.

As I have been encouraging you in the past months, please find ways to renew and freshen your transfiguration practice so that you are not working on a superficial level. Dive deep!

This same teaching holds true as we recognize the divine light in others. Often, we superficially use the phrase “everyone and all of life is divine light”. We want to go beyond a mental recognition.

Truly look through the eyes of spirit and perceive the bright light of the sun shining through all. This is what the true shamans, mystics, and healers did when they performed their miraculous healings. Truly see and recognize the light in all of life.

For those of you who do work with clients you can integrate the practice of transfiguration into your work. This is what I teach in the Healing with Spiritual Light portion of the Medicine for the Earth Training.

Sitting by your client in a transfigured state while truly perceiving them as a bright radiant light has created miraculous healing results. Dory, who does such powerful healing work, shared with me that with the results she sees she is not sure why more practitioners are not working in this way. When she works in this way she does sit in a transfigured state as long as she can maintain her concentration. For Dory this might end up being 45 minutes. She listens to meditative music such as “Wavepool” (by Robert Rand) that helps her maintain a transfigured state.


A reader of The Transmutation News wrote me and asked me to address the issue of depression. For she shared when she is depressed, she cannot experience her divine light.

I have a history of depression. And it has been my depression that led me onto a spiritual path. I did not seek traditional medical treatment. For myself I have found great success in working with my depression by deepening my spiritual practices. My depression has always led me to keep furthering my spiritual explorations and to where I am now in my growth, development, and evolution.

My changing emotional states fuels my creativity. When I do sink into a dark state, I do not fight it. I have learned just to ride out the wave. My mantra remains, “The only way out is through”.

I just accept what is. I also cannot experience my light during these times. But I do not believe my light is gone. I just cannot make contact with it. I have come to understand that this is a rich fertile time for me where something is gestating in the darkness. My creative fire keeps me moving.

So for those of you who do feel that you go through states of depression I do understand that during these times you cannot access your divine light. But please remember your light is still shining strongly through you. Nurture and take care of yourself as you are guided. As my mom used to say, “This too shall pass.” Stay with what is.

This does not mean you should not explore the root of your depression. And you should seek out medical and psychological treatment if you need it. I am just speaking to the issue of not being able to access one’s light when in the darkness.

My guardian spirit has shared with me some powerful teachings during my thirty years of working with him. He used to tell me, “Do not sit down in the darkness.” He would advise me to keep moving, and I would find myself standing back in the light. He would also say, “Do not to forget in the darkness what you learned in the light.”

Please remember that our spiritual community holds the space for all of us as we cycle in and out of phases of darkness and light. For whether or not you suffer from depression we all are all part of nature’s cycles. And in nature there are times of darkness and times of light.

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I am always inspired by the creativity of young adults.

Recently I received an email sharing a link to a video of a palindrome that was written by a 20-year-old. A palindrome is something written that reads the exact opposite, backwards and forwards. A video of this palindrome appears on You-Tube. The video is less than two minutes. If you have access to You Tube you will be amazed at what this young man created.

http://youtu.be/aRG4ySdi_aE

In February I watched a very inspirational story on “60 Minutes” which is a news program in the U.S.

The program was about a group of young adults who created an organization Free The Children: Children Helping Children. This is an international charity and educational partnership working both domestically and internationally to empower and enable youth to be agents of change.

The charity and youth movement was founded in 1995 by human rights advocate Craig Kielburger. Funded to a large extent by youth the motto is “children helping children”. The charity specializes in sustainable development in Ecuador, Ghana, Haiti, Kenya, Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, India, and rural China.

The organization runs educational programs and campaigns in developed countries with the aim of empowering youth to become socially engaged.

In a time when the news mostly focuses on the violent behavior of our younger generation, learning about this group filled me with hope for the future. There are so many “children” now helping other children get an education and create a positive life.

To see the youth so dedicated to helping other youth is inspiring. And to see the impact they are having is exciting.

If you would like to learn more about their work please visit:

www.freethechildren.org

The full moon is March 16. Let us continue to deepen our spiritual work to weave a brilliant web of life within and throughout the earth. Let us continue our transfiguration work in behalf of all in our circle.

For a reminder on the healing work we can engage in on the full moon please read “Creating a Human Web of Light”. Many years ago I had added a transfiguration ceremony for all of us to engage in to strengthen our circle.

If you are a new reader of this column please do read “Creating A Human Web of Light” on the homepage of this site.

For those in the Northern Hemisphere this has been a long and challenging winter for so many. In many places around the globe there have been colder than normal temperatures, flooding rains, and paralyzing snowstorms. And then for some of us there have been warmer than normal temperatures and extreme drought. The outer reflection of the collective state of disharmony is intensifying.

On March 20 we celebrate the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the fall equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.

Remember our outer world is a reflection of our inner landscape. To celebrate the equinox, reflect on what seeds you would like to plant and nourish. Whether you are celebrating the return of spring or fall these are both potent seasons for seeding our inner garden.

We can get so pulled out of ourselves and distracted by world events. Pull your attention back into yourself, your inner world, and inner landscape. Caretake your inner garden.

On the equinox journey or meditate to connect with The Spirit of the Land where you live. Listen for any messages that you might receive about aligning and harmonizing with the spirit of the land.

The change in seasons is a wonderful time to reflect on the changes we need to make in our lives to move into a state of balance and harmony and align with the one heartbeat of the earth.

Isis has shared with me that it is so important to feel fully nourished by life. Find some time to spend out in nature. Nature is our greatest healer!

I read a beautiful ancient Chinese proverb that someone shared on Facebook. I hope this will inspire you as together we welcome in the change of season.

“When there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person;
When there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house;
When there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation;
When there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.”

Together we send much love to all of you for a joyous equinox celebration!

 

Copyright 2014 Sandra Ingerman. All rights reserved.