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.
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.