I dedicated my life to Gaia in the summer of 1994. I was 19 and working at a tallgrass prairie restoration project. I spent my days toiling under the hot humid Nebraska sun. We spent a great deal of time attempting to fight off small thickets of dogwood and plum trees which would never have been found growing on a tallgrass prairie - because the dense sod of a virgin prairie doesn't have room for woody shrubs.
Sometimes I weapt into the soil as I considered the majesty of a virgin tallgrass prairie compared with the dustbowl and erosion which plagued the nation shortly after we plowed away the last parcels of prairie.
That summer, under the full moon, among towering sunflowers and big blue stem grasses, I bathed my wounded heart in dew and gave to Gaia my heart, my hands, my feet, my pen, my voice, and anything else which could serve HER in discovering balance and relationship with her straying two-legged children.
Now, sixteen years later, I'm still doing Her work. I've embedded myself pretty far into a federal land management agency so that I can extend Her reach. And when I look around I realize I'm not alone. There are many light workers now, each penetrating all major global systems.
About a year ago, Gaia directed me to use Facebook to connect with like minds and to practice spending time in active conveyance of Her words. There is a Gaia Rising profile and every few days I ask Her what she might like to say to Her 444 facebook friends. Frequently I am surprised and honored by the words which flow through my fingers on Her behalf.
But I am no one. Just a mom and civil servant. I am certain that there are many many others in service to Her. I am sure that there are many others who channel Her words and voice, either aloud or in writing. I am sure that we can continue to find each other and partner together to carry on the work. Are you Her dedicated servant? Do you want to be actively involved in the movement to amplify Gaia Consciousness? Even if you don't live near the Coven of Gaia Rising (in Northern Arkansas), you can join us in designing new ways to serve Her. You can help Her find and connect light workers so that together we can stabilize the emerging perfection which is presently disguised as chaos.
Do you want to help? Leave comments on this blog post, or on the Gaia Rising facebook profile.
Showing posts with label Spirituality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spirituality. Show all posts
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Co-creative Partnerships with the Divine
I think of the divine as both Nature and Spirit. Nature, of course, being all matter including our bodies. And Spirit as something which descends from on high to animate the matter in a divine partnership. As humans, we are like bridges between heaven and earth. Our existence is miraculous.
Over time our views of divinity have changed. For two thousand years the western world thought of God as a parent, both benevolent and wrathful. Today both science and spirituality have led us to the view of being connected to divinity as part of a grand unified field, ever emerging and unfolding.
When you set a clear intention both Nature and Spirit reorder your world in order to deliver that which you expect. If you expect bad news... you get bad news. If you expect abundance, you get abundance. I have seen this time and time. Manifestation is a very popular topic, I don't need to explain it here now. However, what I don't think many folks realize is that it all goes much more smoothly if you engage in conversation with both Nature and Spirit.
I'll tell you how I've done it. I ask to connect with Pan and the Deva of Healing - who represent the Nature side of the partnership. They lead the creation and unfoldment of my physical and energetic bodies. Then I ask to connect to the Council of Light. They are the ascended masters, arch-angels, dieties, etc. I don't connect with all of them at once, we each have our own little team of guides. Lastly I ask to connect to my higher self.
From here I either talk directly to them with my voice, or by writing in my journal. I speak about the things I want to heal or learn. Being able to talk about it demonstrates that we're to work on a thing. Most of the time within two or three days some sort of event or drama occurs in my life which appears to be an amplification of that which I've asked to learn or heal. Sometimes it's a re-enactment of something highly emotional. This is an opportunity to live through an event while making new choices and thereby releasing old karma.
Provided I step through the drama with consciousness and care, it then becomes released and I experience an expansion of consciousness as that energy is cleared and re-integrated into my core.
We can work with Nature and Spirit as frequently or infrequently as we like. I generally have a short list of things that I want to work on. There have been periods of time when I healed and released something just about every week. It was a time of rapid growth and change, and it was positive so I let it roll at that faster pace.
Now, there are multiple ways to experience receiving information from the divine. Some of the ways include free writing, painting, art of any kind, channelling, dreaming, meditation, muscle testing, I-ching, runes, tarot, bibliomancy, etc. I have dabbled with most of these but lately I just experience a direct dialogue. The format that works best for you depends upon your learning style. Consider how you would go about learning a new skill such as knitting. Would you get a book, watch a video, have someone show you, hear about it from a friend, etc. After you identify your top two favorite ways to learn, then apply that to communicating with the divine. My primary learning styles are verbal/auditory, and kinestetic. That means that when I'm on a vision quest I actually don't "see" anything. Rather I hear information and I simply know it by a feeling in my body.
I encourage you to invite your guides, either in the way described above or in your own way. Create some sacred space and make a list of what you'd like to work on. Lie still and let Nature and Spirit do energy work in your body. Journal or engage in some form of communication so that you can gain guidance on how to work through your learning list.
Then hang on and enjoy the ride to wholeness and vibrant loving presence!
Much love,
Tree of Terrapin Hollow
Over time our views of divinity have changed. For two thousand years the western world thought of God as a parent, both benevolent and wrathful. Today both science and spirituality have led us to the view of being connected to divinity as part of a grand unified field, ever emerging and unfolding.
When you set a clear intention both Nature and Spirit reorder your world in order to deliver that which you expect. If you expect bad news... you get bad news. If you expect abundance, you get abundance. I have seen this time and time. Manifestation is a very popular topic, I don't need to explain it here now. However, what I don't think many folks realize is that it all goes much more smoothly if you engage in conversation with both Nature and Spirit.
I'll tell you how I've done it. I ask to connect with Pan and the Deva of Healing - who represent the Nature side of the partnership. They lead the creation and unfoldment of my physical and energetic bodies. Then I ask to connect to the Council of Light. They are the ascended masters, arch-angels, dieties, etc. I don't connect with all of them at once, we each have our own little team of guides. Lastly I ask to connect to my higher self.
From here I either talk directly to them with my voice, or by writing in my journal. I speak about the things I want to heal or learn. Being able to talk about it demonstrates that we're to work on a thing. Most of the time within two or three days some sort of event or drama occurs in my life which appears to be an amplification of that which I've asked to learn or heal. Sometimes it's a re-enactment of something highly emotional. This is an opportunity to live through an event while making new choices and thereby releasing old karma.
Provided I step through the drama with consciousness and care, it then becomes released and I experience an expansion of consciousness as that energy is cleared and re-integrated into my core.
We can work with Nature and Spirit as frequently or infrequently as we like. I generally have a short list of things that I want to work on. There have been periods of time when I healed and released something just about every week. It was a time of rapid growth and change, and it was positive so I let it roll at that faster pace.
Now, there are multiple ways to experience receiving information from the divine. Some of the ways include free writing, painting, art of any kind, channelling, dreaming, meditation, muscle testing, I-ching, runes, tarot, bibliomancy, etc. I have dabbled with most of these but lately I just experience a direct dialogue. The format that works best for you depends upon your learning style. Consider how you would go about learning a new skill such as knitting. Would you get a book, watch a video, have someone show you, hear about it from a friend, etc. After you identify your top two favorite ways to learn, then apply that to communicating with the divine. My primary learning styles are verbal/auditory, and kinestetic. That means that when I'm on a vision quest I actually don't "see" anything. Rather I hear information and I simply know it by a feeling in my body.
I encourage you to invite your guides, either in the way described above or in your own way. Create some sacred space and make a list of what you'd like to work on. Lie still and let Nature and Spirit do energy work in your body. Journal or engage in some form of communication so that you can gain guidance on how to work through your learning list.
Then hang on and enjoy the ride to wholeness and vibrant loving presence!
Much love,
Tree of Terrapin Hollow
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Growing Pains
The more I grow and learn, the more I notice patterns. Today one is really fresh for me. I have long feared that I would grow into something that my family would be unable to love. I suppose in some ways that has already happened at least once.
When I was in my early teens, my parents seemed a little bit akward around the church ladies who would come by and invite them to church. Sure, my parents bought me a bible and paid my way to church camp... it just wasn't their thing. They may have even been relieved when I dropped it at age 16. But then in my phase of deep existential exploration they seemed equally uneasy. I recall one time when I was about 19 and there was some big cult expose' in Texas. I was chatting with my mom about it on the phone and she was asking me odd questions. As if she had a brochure in hand entitled "10 Easy Ways to Tell if your Teen is Trapped in a Freaky Death Cult." I called her on it and she admitted that she was a little worried about me. I thought my response was pretty funny, "Come on mom, you should be more worried about me starting a cult than joining one!" She didn't find it humerous at all.
At some point I learned that my spirituality and my environmental philosophy were simply not to be discussed with my parents. I don't recall that they ever came right out and told me to omit these parts of my self, or whether it was just painfully obvious to me in other ways.
I played along out of respect, love, and a desire to keep the peace. But I was really challenged and felt broken. The problem is that if you try to be a whole person, but you can't be your whole self with certain people, there are walls created within yourself. Sure, I chose to build them... but after a while there were parts of my soul which felt like step children, or East Berliners.
It was not okay to be a witch. It was not okay to be radical or outspoken about anything. It was not okay to think deep thoughts or practice developing higher sense perception. And you gotta know that I was always very open and honest with my parents until that point. So the shift was painful. I didn't know who to be when I was with them, so I just didn't show up there any more; for several years.
It is clear to me that they love me deeply and that they didn't want to hear the things that amplified their worries. But as I drifted further away they worried even more. And I'm highly perceptive, when someone I love is worrying about me I can feel it across space and time.
Well, okay, so I can't be me with my parents. And I can't be my whole self at work. I've always tried to be my whole self with friends, but most of the time I was lucky if I could find one person with which I could be whole, for a few hours or on and off for a few months. And even that was iffy and problematic. I reckon that I'm not alone in this phenomenon. I reckon that there are other people who are perpetually veiwed as weirdos by EVERYONE they know...
And then I met my beloved, and for the first time in my life I could be my whole self. He didn't always agree with my views and theories, but he didn't write me off as crazy either. I really like the fact that we don't agree on everything, it makes for a much interesting conversation. To me the most important factor in falling in love with him was the fact that we could have really DEEP conversations and I could be WHOLE at last.
But I still carry this scar tissue around, this fear that I'll out-grow friends and loved ones. That people who love and understand me now will one day say, "Wow, she really has become a freakin weirdo!"
Because, from time to time, even my beloved gets freaked out by things I do, say, and experience. Every once in a while we pass through a phase where he is uncomfortable with who I am becoming. Conceptually we have discussed what I envision for myself. We've discussed it many times. But discussing abstract concepts of the future and then living through deep learning events are two totally different things.
I live as true to my heart as possible. I believe in a higher force and I have spent my life listening for that still small voice which points me in the right direction. I trust that voice because it has never been wrong. EVERYTHING which has occurred has been a gift.
Yet my dedication to this emerging path of mine creates fear in my beloved. And if I still spoke about it to my parents, it would create fear for them as well. My beloved has even recently asked me to not talk with him about certain things, or even with other people when he is in ear shot.
In love I pull out the bricks and begin to build a new wall
In fear I restrict that which seeks to grow through me
And something inside of me dies.
When I was in my early teens, my parents seemed a little bit akward around the church ladies who would come by and invite them to church. Sure, my parents bought me a bible and paid my way to church camp... it just wasn't their thing. They may have even been relieved when I dropped it at age 16. But then in my phase of deep existential exploration they seemed equally uneasy. I recall one time when I was about 19 and there was some big cult expose' in Texas. I was chatting with my mom about it on the phone and she was asking me odd questions. As if she had a brochure in hand entitled "10 Easy Ways to Tell if your Teen is Trapped in a Freaky Death Cult." I called her on it and she admitted that she was a little worried about me. I thought my response was pretty funny, "Come on mom, you should be more worried about me starting a cult than joining one!" She didn't find it humerous at all.
At some point I learned that my spirituality and my environmental philosophy were simply not to be discussed with my parents. I don't recall that they ever came right out and told me to omit these parts of my self, or whether it was just painfully obvious to me in other ways.
I played along out of respect, love, and a desire to keep the peace. But I was really challenged and felt broken. The problem is that if you try to be a whole person, but you can't be your whole self with certain people, there are walls created within yourself. Sure, I chose to build them... but after a while there were parts of my soul which felt like step children, or East Berliners.
It was not okay to be a witch. It was not okay to be radical or outspoken about anything. It was not okay to think deep thoughts or practice developing higher sense perception. And you gotta know that I was always very open and honest with my parents until that point. So the shift was painful. I didn't know who to be when I was with them, so I just didn't show up there any more; for several years.
It is clear to me that they love me deeply and that they didn't want to hear the things that amplified their worries. But as I drifted further away they worried even more. And I'm highly perceptive, when someone I love is worrying about me I can feel it across space and time.
Well, okay, so I can't be me with my parents. And I can't be my whole self at work. I've always tried to be my whole self with friends, but most of the time I was lucky if I could find one person with which I could be whole, for a few hours or on and off for a few months. And even that was iffy and problematic. I reckon that I'm not alone in this phenomenon. I reckon that there are other people who are perpetually veiwed as weirdos by EVERYONE they know...
And then I met my beloved, and for the first time in my life I could be my whole self. He didn't always agree with my views and theories, but he didn't write me off as crazy either. I really like the fact that we don't agree on everything, it makes for a much interesting conversation. To me the most important factor in falling in love with him was the fact that we could have really DEEP conversations and I could be WHOLE at last.
But I still carry this scar tissue around, this fear that I'll out-grow friends and loved ones. That people who love and understand me now will one day say, "Wow, she really has become a freakin weirdo!"
Because, from time to time, even my beloved gets freaked out by things I do, say, and experience. Every once in a while we pass through a phase where he is uncomfortable with who I am becoming. Conceptually we have discussed what I envision for myself. We've discussed it many times. But discussing abstract concepts of the future and then living through deep learning events are two totally different things.
I live as true to my heart as possible. I believe in a higher force and I have spent my life listening for that still small voice which points me in the right direction. I trust that voice because it has never been wrong. EVERYTHING which has occurred has been a gift.
Yet my dedication to this emerging path of mine creates fear in my beloved. And if I still spoke about it to my parents, it would create fear for them as well. My beloved has even recently asked me to not talk with him about certain things, or even with other people when he is in ear shot.
In love I pull out the bricks and begin to build a new wall
In fear I restrict that which seeks to grow through me
And something inside of me dies.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Guru, Teacher, or Servant?
In this time of unprecedented change there are countless beings offering up guidance and support. Every person frames their particular offerings differently. There are thousands upon thousands of gurus, teachers, priests, reverends, swamis, yoginis, authors, etc. I like to think that the reason for this flourishing path is that there is more love and light flooding the planet now than in a long time. As each of us learns and grows we reach that precious moment when our focus turns from personal growth and healing to the growth and healing of those around us.
In my book, The Transpiral Model for Social Change, I describe the relationship between personal transformation and social transformation. In brief, you can't change yourself without affecting change in your family, community, and society. And any changes occurring in your family, community, and society also affect change on you personally. We call that "circular causality".
Only you can judge whether or not someone is qualified to teach or guide you through some aspect of your growth and healing. Sai Maa Devi Lakshmi says that the grace of a guru can take you deeper. She explains that a guru holds the frequency of the 5th dimension and that by being in the guru's presence, the student can experience higher frequencies of being and knowing. As a student, only you can determine whether or not the guru produces this kind of tranformative effect on your awareness, both in the moment and over time.
Teachers generally have a set curriculum including models, tools, and practices which are designed for personal growth and healing. Teaching arrangements span from short term to long term and can be one on one or in group settings. Teachers don't appear to promise as much as a guru, but in some cases perhaps they deliver more. Again, only you can judge whether or not engaging with some teacher is going to deepen your natural ability for self healing and growth.
I've long considered these questions for myself. In some paths the Master is the only access point a student has with the divine. In other paths the student learns to speak with the divine for him/her self. Personally I've resonnated with the latter. Over the course of my path I've created relationships with guides and teachers who are on the other side. I call them by the name "The Council of Light". To me, they inlcude beings like the Archangels, Gaia, Jesus, Pan, and the Nature Spirits. The more I surrender my limited self view in order to share understanding with the Council, the more guidance I recieve. My relationship is collaborative and dialogic. I ever maintain free-will. I ask the Council for advice and guidance and then I choose whether to heed the advice or make a new choice.
It has been a very rich relationship over the past 3-4 years which has resulted in very deep healing for myself. While there will always be room to improve myself, of late I'm called to offer support for others who long for self-healing. In my professional career I'm a trainer, facilitator, and organizer of people into groups. When my focus turned from self to others I offered up all my skills and compassion to the Council of Light. The word I use to describe myself is not teacher or guru, or any of the afore mentioned titles. I am a SERVANT. I serve the Council of Light. I serve the emergence of love and light. And I serve anyone who is inviting love and light to emerge in their own lives. In an upcoming post I'll explain the kinds of services I've been called to offer. I'll also elaborate on how I've been guided to release the need to recieve monetary compensation for those services.
Humbly serving Love and Light, ~Tree
In my book, The Transpiral Model for Social Change, I describe the relationship between personal transformation and social transformation. In brief, you can't change yourself without affecting change in your family, community, and society. And any changes occurring in your family, community, and society also affect change on you personally. We call that "circular causality".
Only you can judge whether or not someone is qualified to teach or guide you through some aspect of your growth and healing. Sai Maa Devi Lakshmi says that the grace of a guru can take you deeper. She explains that a guru holds the frequency of the 5th dimension and that by being in the guru's presence, the student can experience higher frequencies of being and knowing. As a student, only you can determine whether or not the guru produces this kind of tranformative effect on your awareness, both in the moment and over time.
Teachers generally have a set curriculum including models, tools, and practices which are designed for personal growth and healing. Teaching arrangements span from short term to long term and can be one on one or in group settings. Teachers don't appear to promise as much as a guru, but in some cases perhaps they deliver more. Again, only you can judge whether or not engaging with some teacher is going to deepen your natural ability for self healing and growth.
I've long considered these questions for myself. In some paths the Master is the only access point a student has with the divine. In other paths the student learns to speak with the divine for him/her self. Personally I've resonnated with the latter. Over the course of my path I've created relationships with guides and teachers who are on the other side. I call them by the name "The Council of Light". To me, they inlcude beings like the Archangels, Gaia, Jesus, Pan, and the Nature Spirits. The more I surrender my limited self view in order to share understanding with the Council, the more guidance I recieve. My relationship is collaborative and dialogic. I ever maintain free-will. I ask the Council for advice and guidance and then I choose whether to heed the advice or make a new choice.
It has been a very rich relationship over the past 3-4 years which has resulted in very deep healing for myself. While there will always be room to improve myself, of late I'm called to offer support for others who long for self-healing. In my professional career I'm a trainer, facilitator, and organizer of people into groups. When my focus turned from self to others I offered up all my skills and compassion to the Council of Light. The word I use to describe myself is not teacher or guru, or any of the afore mentioned titles. I am a SERVANT. I serve the Council of Light. I serve the emergence of love and light. And I serve anyone who is inviting love and light to emerge in their own lives. In an upcoming post I'll explain the kinds of services I've been called to offer. I'll also elaborate on how I've been guided to release the need to recieve monetary compensation for those services.
Humbly serving Love and Light, ~Tree
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
What is Interfaith Wicca?
Wicca is an earth based spirituallity. To me it's more of a spiritual practice than a religion. Wicca, also known as witch craft, falls into the category of Pagan or Neo-Pagan. The word Pagan has two primary definitions: 1. country dweller or farmer, and 2: one who worships many dieties. Wiccan practitioners usually refer to themselves as witches. Wicca and Paganism in general are very loosely organized and individuals usually practice in solitary or in a coven. Each witch has his or her own unique paradigm and rituals, however there are common threads found among all witches and Pagans.
Interfaith is simply the honoring and acceptance of all religious and spiritual traditions. Perhaps the best known Interfaith organization is the Unitarian Universalist Church. There are a number of Ecclectic Witches/Wiccans in the Pagan community. Ecclectic refers to the practice of blending mythologies, for example, honoring dieties from ancient Greece, Egypt, India, and Northern Europe. Interfaith Wicca differs from Ecclectic Wicca in one major way - Interfaith Wicca embraces Christianity as well as all other religions, mythologies, spiritualities, etc.
Why would I single out honoring Christianity as a primary difference between Interfaith Wicca and Ecclectic Wicca? To many new Wiccans and Pagans, Christianity is taboo and even the brunt of negativity and hatred. Many of the Wiccans and Pagans in Northern America and Northern Europe who chose Wicca/Paganism as adults were raised as Christians. As individuals, in our quest to find ourselves and to heal and recover from our original wounds, we often rebel against the systems and doctrine which represent the status quo. In many cases finding wholeness and health also requires differentiation from long held family beliefs. During this differentiation and rebellion many individuals develop a strong negative charge against that which they are rebelling from.
Energetically it is a natural phase in self discovery to feel hostile toward your original religious system and doctrine. Indoctrination and socialization permeate our lives. Our families and churches posess a type of gravity which pulls us into making choices which are appropriate based on that culture. When an individual chooses to differentiate from the systems in which he/she has been raised it becomes apparent how deeply pervasive that socialization was. It takes a great deal of courage and strength to break from tradition and strike out into the world to create a new identity. That energy is often experienced as a dynamic tension between the individual and the tradition, church, and or family. It is quite easy to see why, for a period of time, it would be natural to experience negative emotions such as anger, frustration, and even hatred against the old system of beliefs, against the old culture.
I believe this is why it is common that peaceful, loving Wiccans and Pagans are sometimes heard telling Christian bashing jokes. I think it is in our cultural blind spot as Pagans to accept and join in to this activity. But if we are not still in the differentiation phase of creating our own spiritual path then I think it's detrimental to our spiritual growth to be hateful toward any person, religion, dogma, etc.
God is Love. Goddess is Love. The Great Spirit is Love. The Universe is Love. Allah is Love. Buddha is Love. Interfaith Wicca, then, is the celebration and integration of any and all spiritual and religious traditions. Interfaith Wiccans honor ALL beings regardless of their beliefs, practices, creeds, genders, sexual preference, culture, etc. Interfaith Wiccans practice LOVE above all else.
Interfaith is simply the honoring and acceptance of all religious and spiritual traditions. Perhaps the best known Interfaith organization is the Unitarian Universalist Church. There are a number of Ecclectic Witches/Wiccans in the Pagan community. Ecclectic refers to the practice of blending mythologies, for example, honoring dieties from ancient Greece, Egypt, India, and Northern Europe. Interfaith Wicca differs from Ecclectic Wicca in one major way - Interfaith Wicca embraces Christianity as well as all other religions, mythologies, spiritualities, etc.
Why would I single out honoring Christianity as a primary difference between Interfaith Wicca and Ecclectic Wicca? To many new Wiccans and Pagans, Christianity is taboo and even the brunt of negativity and hatred. Many of the Wiccans and Pagans in Northern America and Northern Europe who chose Wicca/Paganism as adults were raised as Christians. As individuals, in our quest to find ourselves and to heal and recover from our original wounds, we often rebel against the systems and doctrine which represent the status quo. In many cases finding wholeness and health also requires differentiation from long held family beliefs. During this differentiation and rebellion many individuals develop a strong negative charge against that which they are rebelling from.
Energetically it is a natural phase in self discovery to feel hostile toward your original religious system and doctrine. Indoctrination and socialization permeate our lives. Our families and churches posess a type of gravity which pulls us into making choices which are appropriate based on that culture. When an individual chooses to differentiate from the systems in which he/she has been raised it becomes apparent how deeply pervasive that socialization was. It takes a great deal of courage and strength to break from tradition and strike out into the world to create a new identity. That energy is often experienced as a dynamic tension between the individual and the tradition, church, and or family. It is quite easy to see why, for a period of time, it would be natural to experience negative emotions such as anger, frustration, and even hatred against the old system of beliefs, against the old culture.
I believe this is why it is common that peaceful, loving Wiccans and Pagans are sometimes heard telling Christian bashing jokes. I think it is in our cultural blind spot as Pagans to accept and join in to this activity. But if we are not still in the differentiation phase of creating our own spiritual path then I think it's detrimental to our spiritual growth to be hateful toward any person, religion, dogma, etc.
God is Love. Goddess is Love. The Great Spirit is Love. The Universe is Love. Allah is Love. Buddha is Love. Interfaith Wicca, then, is the celebration and integration of any and all spiritual and religious traditions. Interfaith Wiccans honor ALL beings regardless of their beliefs, practices, creeds, genders, sexual preference, culture, etc. Interfaith Wiccans practice LOVE above all else.
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