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Perception and Webs of Connection 12.09
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Greetings!
All month I have been wanting to
write about connections and the ways we can feed them. Writing bits and pieces,
then losing focus as the holidays approached, I finally had a dream the night
before Christmas that offered me a missing piece. This dream showed clearly how
our perceptions color our sense of connection.
I wish you all many blessings and
much connection in the coming decade,
Meg Beeler
earthcaretakers@earthlink.net
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Perception and Webs of Connection
"Each day, sitting with an early morning bowl of tea, sensing the collective spirit that is 'you-we-us,' drawing strength from the connection, we are energized." -- Molly Hale
"We are
all members of a growing global community of conscious change agents. We need
to be realistic about the state the world and then we must use our thoughts and
words and other creation principles to feed the vision of the world we want to
live in. This exciting work begins by shifting our thoughts and words we use
throughout the day. It involves setting an intention to join together with
millions of others to put our vision for a healthy, beautiful, vibrant planet
into action. Let's join our hearts together as a unified field working in
service to all of life. Many blessings to you as we spiral into a new decade
together!" -- Sandra Ingerman
When I let myself sink into
awareness, and rest in the many webs of connection that I am part of, a kind of
ecstatic peace descends on me. In my heart I feel connected with all people,
water molecules, mountain, tree, and stone spirits, everyone meditating at this
moment. In this space, I am able to walk my path with love. In this space I am
able to transmute thoughts and behaviors and perceptions that are toxic to my
sense of connectedness. In this space I feel oneness.
With practice, I have found many
ways of entering and experiencing this state of awareness. The more I practice
shifting my perceptions, the more I can step from one state to another, as
shamans have always done. But, shaman or no, the world we live in and the
decade we enter calls for intensive change on our parts. We must "Be the change
we want to see in the world" as Mahatma Gandhi said.
We do this together. And the more we believe our
connectedness, the easier it is to shift our consciousness, find and focus on
the world work we are called to do, and step aside from the despair that comes
so easily when we open our eyes to the state of the world. Finding Connection
Through Dreaming
The healer Mandaza from Zimbabwe
speaks of three ways of being guided: meditation, vision, and dream. Last fall
he advised me to keep asking for "clear sleeping dreams and visions, and
messages that do not need interpretation." Invoking spirit help with this
through ritual has let me "see" more clearly in my dreams.
In my dream I was on a group
trip. Scenes that reminded me of many old failures passed before my eyes: the
cute guy went for someone else. I was slow to get the picture. I bogged down in
my "luggage" of stones and books. I was not a leader, not one of the
"important" ones. I didn't shine the way I could. I found the people boring, disconnected, and disappointing.
The trip ended; people dispersed.
Then the group members began to return, connecting with each other and having
fun. I joined them at long tables. Suddenly it was an animated, engaged time. I
watched the jewels in all these ordinary (and formerly "boring") people come
out. I was amazed.
As I wrote about the dream, I saw it was a gift,
not a nightmare! In changing my perception within the dream--changing "boring"
people into "jewels"--the dream message reminded me that the old stories we tell
ourselves remain in our unconscious, influencing how we perceive events in the
here and now. My dream brain played out experiences and perceptions I used to
have; then the dream spirits drew on the more hopeful and appreciative
framework I inhabit now.
Finding Connection Through
Stories
Indigenous stories, passed down
orally from generation to generation, re-minded people of their connections
within the larger world. Spider Grandmother [link http://www.herbshealing.com/herbal_ezine/September05/goddess.htm]
was responsible for spinning the world into being. In a Hopi story her web drew
the sun back from its darkness on winter solstice, bringing light back to the
people. In another story, she took a web she had spun and laced it with dew.
She then threw it into the sky, and the dew became the stars. A Oaxacan rug I
have depicts Spider Grandmother as world creator and connector of us all,
portraying her with a huge red egg in her belly waiting to be birthed.
Finding Connection Through Whale Consciousness
I have had a long relationship with a whale teacher in what we call "non-ordinary" reality. I went to this whale to ask how they could help us connect and weave their consciousness with ours. This is what I was told: "You know we circle the oceans in our migrations. We read the route using echolocation, with each other, the sea floor, and the ocean currents. We know the way, and we weave a web of connection throughout the ocean. We need you to know how desperate our situation is. It is becoming much harder to survive. The krill (our food chain) are decimated; the less-cold upwelling is changing our environment; the net trawlers are competing with us; and the oil spills are polluting our waters. We need you to know that this is your situation, your oceans, your world as well as ours. You can bring us light and love. You can be witness to our suffering and demise. You can make the connection and keep it, learning about our plight, seeing us as a part of you. We are sacrificing ourselves so you can re-member your world and put it back together. Every action helps. Every person's awareness helps. This is not a time to give up hope. Do not despair. We feel our existence threatened by changes in global climate, just as you do. Our job is to maintain connection-with each other and with you-and we continue to do that. We offer you this opening into our dimension, our awareness. Please connect your hearts with ours. Please feel the light we weave as we swim and migrate. Please weave your own light. We are one." Finding Connection Through Mushroom Behavior Years ago I heard Paul Stamets talk about a huge (nearly ten square kilometers) contiguous growth of mushroom mycelium in Oregon, possibly the largest organism in the world. Estimated to be 2,200 years old, this one fungus has killed the forest above it many times, and in so doing has built deeper soil layers that allow the growth of ever-larger stands of trees. Though it now has been broken by logging roads, a vision of this mycelium mat enters my consciousness over and over. It reminds me of the possibilities of physical connection, of the connections between all living beings, and of the ways we can extend our own filaments around the earth. When we are connected to all living beings, we are not alone. |
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Energy Transmissions 2010:
Munay-Ki
Inca Prophecies of 2012
foretell a new human appearing on the planet-a person of wisdom and power who
lives free of fear-and say that we have the opportunity to become this human.
The ancient medicine women and men of the Andes have passed down to us the
processes and tools to craft a new destiny, for ourselves and the earth, in the
nine medicine way initiations, called the Munay Ki. The energetic transmissions
help us cleanse our luminous energy field; break free from old stories, karma,
genetic drama, and ego; have the courage to see a different world; and prepare
us to become homo luminous. We invite you to join us for the upcoming
Munay Ki beginning in January 2010 in the North Bay, or find another teacher
where you live.
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Ceremony for Calling the
Star Beings 1/10
Join us on Mt.
Diablo on 1/10/10 for a star despacho offering "to bring star energy down to
earth to assist us in the difficult times that are coming," feeding the power
of the offering with our combined intent for the earth. Such offerings are
traditionally made only when a great number of people are affected, or for
major environmental events. Three of these despachos have been offered already
in the Himalayas, and two in the Bay Area (Mt. Tamalpais and Sonoma Mountain).
Participating is a way to deepen your relationship with the mountains and
stars, and to experience this traditional Andean offering. This date in the
Mayan calendar, January 10, is a day of opportunity, motion, harmonious choices
and community as we sit together with a spectacular view of nearly all the Bay
mountains. |
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Apprenticeship
2010
Inspire your vision and
empower your whole being as you find your spirit path in these challenging
times through the 2010 Sacred Earth Shamanic Apprenticeship. Our focus is on
creating a whole, integrated way of being and seeing in the world shamanically.
As we deepen and expand the three layers of knowing and wisdom (physical,
spiritual, energetic), and learn three ways of practice (Andean cosmovision,
core shamanism, and Medicine for the Earth), it becomes possible to connect,
repair, and reweave the grids and webs of life that support us all. As we shift
our consciousness we are better able to greet world changes with equanimity and
power. We meet nine weekends, from January to October 2010. We spend half the
time on the sacred mountains around the Bay Area, and the other half in Sonoma.
Learn more and download application.
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Inspiration
for the New Decade
Read messages from shamanic practitioners around the world for the new year
and the new decade.
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No Time for Tears in
Copenhagen
This is the
best single article I've read recently on despair and intent, will and
activism, and how we, our "leaders,"
and the world are faring. By activist Bill McKibben on AlterNet.
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Are Americans a Broken
People?
Here's my
favorite paragraph in this article: "Mental health professionals' focus on
symptoms and feelings often create patients who take themselves and their moods
far too seriously. In contrast, people talented in the craft of maintaining
morale resist this kind of self-absorption. For example, in the question-and-answer
session that followed a Noam Chomsky talk...a somewhat demoralized man in the
audience asked Chomsky if he too ever went through a phase of hopelessness.
Chomsky responded, "Yeah, every evening..." By Bruce E. Levine in "Are
Americans a Broken People? Why We've Stopped Fighting Back Against the Forces
of Oppression" on AlterNet.
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Catch Up on Consciousness
You can find last month's newsletter, "Mountains and Stars," and read other, previous versions of Shifting Consciousness News here: Earth Caretakers.
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Consultation
Empower yourself--find what works for you, and use it--and step into your radiance, wisdom, and wholeness with Earth Caretakers. Contact us for shamanic consultations, energy healing, private instruction, Munay-Ki transmissions, workshops, and information about the Sacred Earth Shamanic Apprenticeship. Send an email or call our office at 1-707-939-7961 to make your appointment. A client writes, "I really, really, appreciate your gentle, thoughtful, loving, knowledgeable kindness and guidance during this entire process. It has been life-changing for me." Learn more at: Earth Caretakers.
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