“To you who are ready for the truth, I say this:
Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the supple moves of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, gift wrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life.
No more payback. Live generously.”
Luke 6: 27:30 Msg.
Once again, days have passed and so much has changed since I last wrote. Whilst events in our daily lives and the world might feel out of control, the steady progress of seasons and planetary cycles hold us in their wisdom and guide us in their turning.
I have been noticing synchronicities, observing my own process and that of the world, applying the hermetic principle – as above, so below, as within, so without, and wondering what to say in this moment.
Earlier this week, I visited a Peruvian family who have made their home in a remote valley, here in Northern Spain. They are living sustainably, off-grid with a heightened awareness of the power they use and how it is generated. Growing almost all their food, they have an intimate relationship with the land, with the plants they cultivate and with the animals who share the space with them. Their passion is to nurture and renew the soil, the literal ground of their being, knowing that, from here, all life is born and nurtured. This family glow with a special radiance. It is beautiful to witness.
During my visit, I couldn’t help but think of Haumea, the creation goddess of the Hawaiian Islands.
Haumea was discovered in our night sky shortly after a devastating tsunami, in which hundreds of people were killed. Because of this, it was initially thought that she was a goddess of destruction. And that is true. But her archetypal energy follows the life-death-rebirth pattern. She also creates new ground, produces food from nowhere, protects and walks alongside her loved ones and rejuvenates herself, her people and the earth.
Thinking about Haumea reminded me of a dream I had.
At the time, I felt that the dream was not just for me. And, with all that is going on in the world – now feels like a good time to share it. The Full Moon will shine a light on our process and reveal to us what we need to see.
(Image by Isa Marie)
Read the dream and, if any of it resonates, ask yourself
Where do I find myself in the dream?
I can feel rumblings far out to sea. And I’ve never seen the tide so low.
A tsunami is approaching.
I need to warn my friends, so I go into the coastal village where I live to talk with them. But they don’t listen.
With dismay, I know there is nothing I can do, and I turn away.
The wave is coming. There is no time. With a sense of urgency pulsing through me, I have a choice to make. Will I be swept away or do I leave now and move to higher ground?
My choice is between death and life.
I want to grab some belongings, to take some precious things with me. But there is no time.
I must leave just as I am, with nothing but the clothes I am wearing and my inner resources.
I start to climb up, out of the village. My feet sink into the ground, it feels spongy and unstable. I struggle keep my balance. The whole world seems to be spinning. Progress is slow, but I push on.
Pausing momentarily, I look back to the village, just in time to see the wave crash over it. Everything I had known is submerged in the tumult, and the waters are still rising.
I move again, knowing that I could still be swept away. With a sense that this is much worse than expected, I know that nothing will be the same again.
Time passes. The sky is darkening, and I enter between tightly knit trees. A pale dog approaches and tells me that she is my guide. In her presence, I settle in the forest to rest a while.
Wherever you find yourself in this dream – how wonderful!
Mythologically, both the deep turbulent waters and the forest represent their versions of the underworld. On the journey of transformation, there is no escaping it! We do have the choice though. Will we choose life and enter voluntarily. Or will our transformation be thrust upon us by some outer crisis?
Both versions of the underworld have their guides. For me, like the ancient Egyptians, a psychopomp dog was to escort my voluntary journey through the tangled forest.
In the deep waters of crisis, Sedna, an Inuit goddess might be your companion.
Sedna was an Inuit princess who refused to follow the social norms of her community. Rather than marry a suitor chosen by her father, she left her island to undertake her own spiritual formation journey.
Her father tried to bring her back to the village, but on the way a storm blew up and threatened to capsize their canoe. Desperate to save his own life, the father tossed Sedna overboard.
In shock, Sedna grasped the side of the canoe, looking for security in the boat, and for her father to rescue her. But instead, her father repeatedly hit her hands with his paddle, until he cut off her fingers.
Sedna’s fingers floated down to the depths, where they turned into beautiful sea creatures – the dolphins and seals and turtles.
Realising that there was no safety or security in the old ways of her father, Sedna dived into the depths, surrendering to the transformative process and emerging as the goddess of the seas who returned to her village to meet her people’s needs by attuning and responding to the quality of their relationships and their actions.
Similarly, Haumea gives us whatever our thoughts and actions tell her we want.
In her wisdom, Haumea reproduces the consequences of our choices for us to work with.
She asks us: How does this feel?
And acknowledging our feelings invites us to continue or to make changes.
Many of us are now speaking in terms of frequencies or energies and (amongst those that I am listening to) it seems to be commonly accepted that we can choose to live from one of two frequencies.
Fear or Love.
Perfect love casts out all fear. (1 John 4:18)
The two are incompatible.
I made my stance clear when I founded Navigating the Mysteries. And whilst I’m on a journey – continuing to learn what it means to love and to become more skillful in my loving – I continue to choose love.
“To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. . . Live generously”
And what does that mean?
For me
It means that I am seeking connection with people, rather than division.
It means that I am choosing to forgive rather than to hold a grudge or seek revenge.
It means that I am choosing reconciliation when that is possible and release when it is not.
It means that I am developing authenticity and respecting the authenticity of others.
It means living from the values of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.
What is your choice?
To enter the process of transformation through a crisis or voluntarily?
To Fear or to Love?
With gratitude and appreciation for each one of you,
Be happy, be safe, be well,