Finding Our Wings
We have moved into the dark time of year again, with the shortest day (for the northern hemisphere) just around the corner. This time of year is associated with the North direction. The time for rest, dreaming, quiet, moving slower. Working with the energies of the North, it is a great time for self-reflection and facing our shadows. For we are being asked to find and strengthen our own Light.
As our world is shifting all around us, it appears that everywhere we look there is something else that is “uncomfortable”, really downright painful. We may want to run and scream in terror. But where can we run to? There no longer is a place where we can hide. We can try to numb, but that only works for a short time and generally causes the issue to become louder. So we must draw on our inner strength and face the changes, together.
As we do, we learn more about ourselves and have opportunities for deep healing. And I think we discover that the change isn’t as frightening as we thought it would be. For, our fears tend to be much worse than reality.
There are large paradigms and power structures that need to shift. While things may get a bit messy (okay, they are already messy), we need to keep the focus on the goal. Anyone who has experienced a major life change knows that there is a time period of dissolving. When the world as you knew it breaks apart, turns upside down. This can be disorienting. However, if you can continue through this (or sometimes simply breathe and be), you come to a period of finding your new center. There may be a trial and error period of figuring things out, seeing if they fit, until the center is established. But once, you emerge, you are renewed and grateful and would not want to go back. The metamorphosis of a Butterfly is often used to describe this process. And for good reason. For a caterpillar has to completely dissolve before growing ki’s wings and becoming a Butterfly. And we are in the metamorphosis stage. How lucky are we that we have chosen to be on the Earth at this time?! We get to determine the next stage for humanity.
Of course there is much work (and play) to be done. There is much written about the need for reducing our carbon output and pollution. However, very little is talked about our energetic pollution. Our thoughts, words, and beliefs are powerful. They affect us physiologically and the energy of them ripples off affecting the world around us. Especially when we direct these toward someone. (Hence the need for good energy hygiene.)
For so long, humanity has acted out of fear and anger. Nature, particularly Trees, absorbs this. They hold the traumas that occur around them. I think as humans one of our roles is to help clear these. We can do this by actively clearing the traumas from Land. We also can do this by shifting our focus to Love and focusing on raising our own vibration. For the macro reflects the micro.
So this Winter, I invite you to take advantage of the dark and do some soul-searching or more appropriately soul-healing. Let’s, together, heal those ancient wounds and beliefs that have been poisoning us and keeping us from living the life of our dreams. And together, focus on finding our wings and birthing this new world with Love as the foundational principle.
A few reminders that may be helpful:
* When we hear the latest reports about climate change or people starving or the long list of heartbreaking news, it is understandable to want to cry or to feel as if the sky is falling. I think that we need to cry because we need to admit the grief that we are all carrying. This grief helps us remember our connection with the Earth (as long as the grief does not keep us from moving forward). While I understand the sky is falling moments (and have had them myself), I think it is best to reframe them as quickly as possible. For that is a fear reaction. Fear has contributed to this mess and fear will never get us out. When I feel these moments, I turn to Nature. Nature accepts change and adapts.
I was reminded of this this Spring after we had an enormous storm which greatly shifted the creek at Heart Springs Sanctuary. I was distraught as I walked the Sanctuary and saw the amount of debris everywhere and then discovered the quite different creek. I had this urge to do something immediately. What could I do to return the creek to “normal”?! When I finally calmed enough to ask the creek, I realized that the creek was fine. This was normal. I was told, “This is the way of Nature. Everything changes.”
* I also find it helpful to remember that change is a great opportunity for growth, especially growth in consciousness. And that is really what we are being asked to do. As Pan (via Michael J. Roads) states in Through the Eyes of Love: Journeying with Pan Book Two, “The people must learn that ‘they’ are the change that is required, by they themselves ‘changing’. It has always been this way. As people change, so the world changes . . . When consciousness changes, the physical world will always reflect it.”
* As our center shifts, good self-care can help us navigate change with more grace and ease. Self-care is a very popular topic, so I won’t go into detail here. Though I do want to say that self-care is any action (including doing nothing) that you do that helps you find and remain in your center so that you can handle the energies around you, without losing your sense of self. If your self-care routine is creating stress or guilt, it is not self-care.
I do think that an important component of self-care is energy hygiene both for ourselves and our homes. Again and again, I see that much of our turmoil and dis-ease is created by our overloaded energetic bodies carrying debris that is not necessary. When we remove this, we feel lighter, happier, and clearer. We are more able to deal with the daily stresses and to see our way forward. One of my students this summer said, “Oh I get it! This is about maintenance. I should routinely be checking in with you to keep things clear and my energy vibrant.” Yes, exactly! Of course, energetic work can help in an acute situation. However, it is best for us, if we can clear issues before they manifest into large problems.
And of course remember that Love is the greatest force there is. When we respond with Love, a ripple effect is created, and the more Love is reflected back to us. I truly believe that we are living in an exciting time and that we are capable of creating a world of Love where all Beings are recognized as sacred.
I send my Love to you as you navigate this time of the dark. May your Light shine bright and may we light up the world.
“If we are ever to evolve a culture of peace on this planet we must become conscious of the potential harm of unconscious collective projection, one of the most significant pieces of shadow work we will ever have to master.”
~ Frank MacEowen