That's Love

Dance into Tomorrow

I'm having fun!
  I'm dancing without thinking about it.
  I'm running, feet off the ground, soaring into tomorrow.
  I'm energized about the happenings and the potentialities and the exploration!

But then I remember,
  I don't have income to pay for the simple process of living.
  My heart shuts down, my mind lurches, my soul retreats into the darkness.
  Thoroughly ensconced in my fear, I stop breathing, forget the potentials, fall into despair.

And without adieu,
  the brilliance is snuffed out,
  eclipsed by the shroud of death that only fear can impart.
  The chi asphyxiated, the potential slaughtered, the exploration terminated.

Turning to the light.
  Letting go the need to hide behind fear.
  Daring again to face forward, to embrace the dance.
  Stepping into the mystery, intention and faith co-creators and bold.

Dancing in the mystery
  is for the courageous, the audacious.
  And, it is for me...reluctant, awkward, regular, uncertain.
  Dance through the fear, even when you forget the steps!  Dance into tomorrow!

Hallelujah

This week, a teacher assigned us to
  proclaim, 'Hallelujah' in midst of suffering.
  This, I believed, is a Spirit-infused response to life.

That was the theory, the inspiration.
  And now, as another 'dark night' descends on
  my soul, I am called to sing, 'Hallelujah', even as I cry.

Through tears, I listen to Leonard Cohen's, 'Hallelujah'
  over and again, because I cannot bring the word to my lips.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
  Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Tears cascading, heart breaking, alone...
  Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Touch my soul.  Hold it gently, for I feel it
  dissolving into the energy from which it emerged.

And then, this 'I' will no longer exist,
  a memory only to those few it touched.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
  Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

'You don't need answers, only prayer.'

Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
  Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

'I hear you.  I feel your pain.  I love you.'

Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
  Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

'There is no worst case, only love.'

Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
  Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

'You are beauty.  You are light.  I AM here.'

Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
  Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

'Your tears are precious, life giving.  You are precious.'

Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
  Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah...

They are cold.  They are hungry.
 Warm them, feed them, hold the holy
  gift of pristine water to their parched lips.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Reach to the depths of your immortal soul.
  Find there the treasures gifted your mortal being.
  Shower the world with those gifts..with wild abandon.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

I don't know the tune, but I feel the rhythym.
  I don't know words, yet they appear on the page.
  I can't see the path, but each footfall illumines the next step.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Wretched, hopeless, frightened, alone.
  The heaviness of our hearts draws us ever
  more deeply into the dark, the holy dark, Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Wealth beyond measure hiding empty hearts.
  The ravenous, bottomless abyss of earthly measures
  turning souls stone cold, collapsing life in on itself, laughing.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

The dark night of the soul.
  Humankind, the scourge upon the earth.
  People, the answer, the Hallelujah, the hope.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

The Dark

The dark is ubiquitous,
  everywhere, ever-present,
  pierced only occasionally by light.

The dark is the mystery.
  It is the hidden, the unknown.
  It is the veil that hides the secrets.

There is more dark than light.
  But dark is not wicked.
  It is not treacherous.

Like the light, it just is.

The light allows us to see with our eyes.
  The dark invites us to see with our souls.
  Our souls open our eyes to the universe.

The dark universe.
  The mystery inside ourselves.
  Close your eyes, witness the All.

for Ryan

There is a young man who
  bears the anguish of faith-aborted
  by religious zealotry and intolerance.

I wish to encourage him,
  'Please don't let religious soldiers
  despoil or hold your faith for ransom!'

'Remember, always, that
  religion is a social construction,
  invented by those who hold power.'

'It will always be imperfect,
  used for both good and harm,
  for it is an invention of humankind.'

'Religion inspires and oppresses.
  It shows people a path to their gods,
  and lays seige upon defenseless hearts.'

'But, religion's most grievous offense
  is tearing asunder souls from the path of
  faith they were meant to journey in this life.'

'Betrayed by religion, grieving souls
  disparage church and turn from spirit,
  mistakenly conflating religion and faith.'

'My friend, don't make that mistake!

'Find in religion that which
  nourishes and leave the rest behind,
  for it matters not to your faith journey.'

'Find spirit in your own heart.
  Allow your faith to come alive to
  the truth that resides deep within you.'

'Rejoice in that faith!  Release your soul to soar!
  That is why you are here.  This is your path and journey.'

Gratitude

I have been gifted with my work.
  It does not come with wages and benefits.
  More importantly, it offers the manna of my soul.

Yesterday morning, my soul wept.
  I feared I had no reason, no purpose here.
  Today, my soul rejoices at my opportunity to give.

I can't see beyond this moment.
  But, on this day, I am thankful, grateful.
  I am comfortable in the dark with my soul work.

The Greatest Blessing

Yesterday, I cried,
  'If you have not need of me, please take me home!
  I see no reason for existence except to gift to life.
  Please!  Don't leave me here without purpose!'

For, much as I fear my imminent financial collapse,
  I fear most that I offer nothing of value to Spirit.
  The possibility is unthinkable, preposterous to
  one who dedicated her all to gift back to life.

Through my tears, I felt Spirit's whisper in my heart.
  'Look. Today, you have an opportunity to give.'
  I remembered the meeting with a food bank.
  So, wiping my tears, I started to prepare.

Later, I left the meeting profoundly aware that
  Spirit has entrusted me with a precious task.
  I get to be part of the answer to hunger!
  I get to give back to life with my life!

There is no greater blessing.

My Descent

I've been trying to step into a different way of thinking. 

  I catch glimpses of a place from which I will draw my power.

  I feel the words on my tongue, but before my fingers hit the keyboard,

  they are gone, and the revelation igniting my heart disappears into the mist.

I believe that I am creating the mist. I am blocking the Divine.

  The mist arises from my inability to grasp the conditions of my life.

  I am incredulous at the seemingly immutable fact of my circumstances. 

  The absurdity parks my mind in a perpetual state of unconsummated analysis.

'What stone sits unturned?  What misperceptions await clearing?
  What silence have I not held?  What lessons remain unlearned?'

  Dancing with lessons, steeping myself in each, gathering its gifts,

  looking to see if it is the one offering my release from purgatory.

I find a landscape unchanged, except the hemorrhaging of my resources.

I list the strategies, silences and lessons alongside the one hundred jobs.

  They share in common big, bold, red letters stamped across their face, 'DENIED', 

  and the concomitant silence in response to my appeals to understand.

The brain is overtaxed by investigations that never resolve in answers.

  My heart is gripped by fear of impending disaster, by deeper fears

  that I am unworthy, have failed once again, don't have what it takes, OR

  that I am superfluous to this economy, a resource sink, expendable.

This all strikes fear in my heart, further perplexes my befuddled brain.

  The brain and heart collude, inciting a riot of unanswerable questions, 

  manic analyses, desperate conclusions. They paint a bizarre backdrop

  on the canvas portraying my life, fear tinted with drunken irrationality.

All my life is superimposed on this backdrop.

  Incidents and people are seen, not as presented, 

  but as scenarios and characters in a predestined plot;

  one written and produced by me; one leading to my demise.

I cannot celebrate other's lives or their fortunes.

  No, I feel envy at their fortune; contempt when I find

  my expertise eclipses theirs; chagrin and humiliation that

  they have the jobs for which I can not even get an interview.

High on this toxic cocktail of jealousy, resentment and swelling bitterness,

  I act foolishly with a foul mix of self-disgust and bombastic showmanship.

  My behavior leaves a bile in my mouth that eats its way to my stomach, 

  turns to acid, feasts on tender flesh and nourishes the burgeoning despair.

All folds in on itself, creates a lethal quagmire out of which

  I cannot climb, or see, or feel, or act, or breath, or believe...
  I can't find the bottom of this pit, can't stop from digging.

  And, amid the chaos, the quiet solace offered by Spirit is lost.

There is a natural resistance to seeing oneself as deplorable or expendable. 

  There is an instinct to protect oneself in any way to avoid this possibility.
  Finding fault and placing blame on an other relieves me of responsibility.
  So, I forge villains out of strangers, those I envy, those I don't understand.

This is one path from fear to hate.
  There are many paths from fear to hate.
  But, they all end in destruction of the soul.
  The journey on this path, I believe, is ever so common.

Do you recognize this story?

  Can you name the actors?
  Can you describe the plot?

This is the rotting, fetid cesspool, the primordial sludge,
  the undifferentiated mass out of which we must climb.

  Like an unstoppable landslide, fear begets anger which
  sires contempt, jealousy, loathing, resentment, hate...

This is what holds us back from seeing our potential,

  from recognizing our connection and our ONENESS,

  from stepping back from the brink of our extinction.

  

The answer that Spirit calls to me through my insanity

  is love, simply love, incomprehensible, indisputable,
  love.

Résistance

The world is turned upside down for a reason.
  Messages to 'Let go. Stop pushing.'
  all met with bold résistance.

An epiphany this morn.
  The defeat of my plan is absolute.
  All the universe answers me as one, 'NO.'

I see the utter collapse of my résistance.
  No false hopes have been shared.
  Only an abiding, patient 'NO.'

Something else awaits.
  Concealed until I acquiesce.
  Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

The Desk

The desk.
  There was a desk
  and I was sitting in it.

It was old-style,
  desk and chair all-one,
  a basin under the desktop.

All white,
  no floor or sky,
  just the desk and me.

Desktop raised,
  swirling dark vapor,
  wonderous mystery alive.

Nascent promise.
  Spirit awaiting expression.
  Creation from intention and release.

Kriya

Kriya
  That's the word for what happens
  to my body since the Kundalini emergence.

The Kundalini has been gentle this year.

It rises through my crown chakra and
  sparkles around my head with epiphanies.

It puts pressure on my throat chakra
  when creation is stirring and wants form.

It burns in my root chakra in
  anticipation of new growth or awakenings.

And sometimes, it captures my body
  in a storm of chaotic, exploding energy.

It happened again, quite unexpectedly,
  as my friend did reflexology massage on my feet.

Awakened once again, the energy sparked
  and danced through all the muscles of my body.

The energy cascaded from one twitching muscle to
  the next, inciting a riot of chaotic, uproarious potential.

I could feel each of the thousand muscles in my body,
  the individual explosions, and the bed quaking beneath me.

I was happy that the Kundalini is still alive in me.
  I was fascinated by the work of Spirit in my body.

As the Kriya subsided, I fell into a deep peace.
  I felt at One with Spirit and fully alive in this body.

I was reassured that my work is not complete,
  and that Spirit is here, now, for us all, always.

I AM Caring for You

Last night, I gave Spirit an ultimatum.
  'Show me my work!' I entreated.
  'Or, I shall take matters into my own hands.'

I trusted that the strength of my resolve
  shone through my words and demeanor.
  I hoped God was paying heed to my petition.

'I have designed a path forward,' I think.
  'I am walking that path.  I will continue.'
  But, I don't know that it's the path God desires.

A whisper, a friend, a stranger, a teacher
  all tell me this is not the path I am asked to walk.
  It is merely a step toward that path, and a gift for me.

I hear, over and again, that my reach for security is
  misdirected, is not how I am to use my energy.
  I am to follow my heart's (God's) desire.

So, I awaken in prayer,
  'Please God, gift me with my work.'
  'I am wasting time, every day, losing time.'

I remember a friend recently asking me if the
  possibility of financial collapse is my greatest fear.
  My response was, and is, 'No.  It is not my greatest fear.'

My greatest fear is that I will not find a way
  to give back to life, to gift my self and my talents
  to make this life a joy and a blessing for all, everyone.

I feel the press of time against my bones,
  and in the depths of my feminine physique.
  Time passes ever more quickly toward my demise.

And yet, I wait.

This morning, relinquishing my demand on Spirit,
  I tried to quiet my mind to receive wisdom and council.
  And, despite my partial success at quieting my self, Spirit spoke.

I was told to not 'take a definite position', and
  to 'refrain from criticizing the process that
  is occuring within me'. Wait...Within Me?

I hadn't considered the fact that the delay
  is because of a ripening that is occuring within me.
  Or that it isn't, in fact, a delay.  It is a process led by Spirit.

I was advised to have faith, to relax into the process,
  to gift myself with the  freedom to allow the unfolding,
  to follow Spirit's call and trust God to provide my security.

Moments later, I received a note from a loved one
  to whom I owe a debt.  He released me from the debt.
  Amid tears of gratitude and surprise, I heard Spirit remind me,

  'I AM caring for you.  Face forward.'

A New Spirit Guide

There is a spirit whom I met just recently.
  She is foreboding and forbidding and strange,
  so very strange.

She calls me to give her voice,
  to announce her presence,
  to share her audacious spirit with the world.

Yet, her very strangeness challenges me
  so I have cowered, prefering instead
  something, someone more 'normal'.

And still, she lingers, waiting...
  So, I will try to share her with you.

the Crone

She has been coming to me in visions.
  She is a spirit guide, but not just for me.
  She is here for us all.

In the first journey, I was taken to a dark place.
  Standing in the dark, I saw a tear in the fabric of reality.
  I was invited to pull open the fabric, to step into the beyond.

So, I took hold of that vaporous tear and pulled it apart.
  Stepping inside, I found myself enveloped again in dark.
  I was in a dense forest, but not one of material substance.

I stood alone, yet sensed beings all about me, watching.

  Then, I saw flickering lights of many colors, everywhere.

  And, I saw the lights were fairies, brilliant, beautiful, dancing.

Though I have traveled far in spirit world, I have not
  allowed for interaction with this aspect of the mystic.
  I have judged it harshly as unworthy, childish, superficial.

Yet, there I was.  So, I watched as the fairies danced,
  lighting up the dark with color, creating beauty as they flew.
  Then, it became too much for me so I left, and all became silent.

The other day, I joined with a circle of friends to journey.
  I intended to journey to see the next chapter in my new book.
  Yet, as I sat in circle, I sensed the presence of a new spirit guide.

So, I opened my self to meet this new spirit guide in journey.
  I was taken back to the portal between the two realities.
  Stepping inside, I saw the brilliant colors lighting up the dark.

And, I sensed a presence.
  Turning, I saw her floating just above the ground.
  And what I saw next bewildered and flummoxed me.

She was wearing a Steampunk Ball Gown, a hoop dress.
  All white, many layers of ruffles folded one upon the other,
  climbing over the massive expanse between her feet and waist.
  A lace and satin bodice sat atop this most peculiar costume.

Looking to the figure it framed, I saw a very old woman.
  Her face was gaunt and, well, ugly.  Her nose protruded
  above stern lips and shielded the eyes set back in her skull.

Her hair, scant and disheveled, was tucked awkwardly
  into a regal Juliette Cap sitting askance on her balding head.
  Her hands bore long, bony fingers, and she was barefoot?!

Stunned, I gazed at this bizarre figure even as she stared down at me.
  I emerged from the journey astonished at the incredulity of it all.
  I understood that she is the Crone, and these words came to me,

Extravagant, effusive, lavish, audacious, regal,
  gaudy, daring, bold, laughing, 'Do not cross me.',
  powerful, adventure, play, a theater in which to create.

She is here.  She has announced her garish self to me and the world.
  Her purpose, I am almost afraid to ask.  But, I'm sure she has
  something to say.  How could one so audacious not?

So, I will await her next visit and endeavor to hear her words
  so that I may pass them on for any interested to hear.

Your Life in ONE Breath

I was sent back to the darkness.
  I saw the slips of color all round me
  and the Crone, magnific, noble, extravagant.

She changed into a woman my age.
  Her demeanor was compassionate, loving, kind.
  She took my hand and we walked through the darkness.

Freed from the prison of my disbelief,
  the slips of color transformed into faeries.
  They danced all about us, enfolding us in color.

Then, the darkness rolled back from the land,
  revealing lush forest, alive and sparking with energy.
  Each flower, each blade of grass was a faery transformed.

Touching my soul, the Crone merged with me.
  I felt a profound love, a knowing, a deep peace.
  And, the energy that was me swelled and fomented.

And then, the world changed.

The material unbodied, became insubstantial.
  Every thing transformed into luminescent energy.
  Vibration and light defined flowers, rocks and streams.

Energy circulated within trees,
  exploding out the thousand leaves
  and radiating from roots into the earth.

Gossamer energetic cords illuminated the
  depths of the earth, energy exploring and dancing
  in a pulsating, vibrant web of intentionality, of creation.

Then, I saw the energy that was my body.
  And, I saw the energetic cords that held my form
  to this earth even as I lifted my foot from the ground.

Lifting my gaze, I saw the energetic web
  connecting all things, flowing between forms,
  holding shape in response to my thoughts and desires.

Élan Vital,
  the vital force, the impulse of life.
  Élan Vital, the creator and the creation.

My life, your life,
  the form we call 'me',
  what we share and recieve,

  our lives, the steps on our paths,

  all ONE with the impulse of life, Élan Vital.

Élan Vital,
  the inbreath, the outbreath,
  the chi, the life, the ALL...in a breath.

Cailleach: Celtic Crone Goddess of Winter

I was telling my friend about my recent encounters with the new spirit guide.

  Suddenly, she had an epiphany, 'You are speaking about Cailleach!'

  She searched the web and found this depiction of Cailleach.

Stunned at the striking similarity between this picture and my vision,

  I sought to learn if Cailleach was the spirit who presented herself to me.

  The more I read, the more certain I became that she is the spirit of my visions.

These things I learned about this ancient goddess, Cailleach.  

She is known as the Daughter of the Winter Sun, the Crone,

  the Dark Mother, the gigantic Hag, the Harvest Goddess,

  the Goddess of Death and the Old Woman of Knowledge.

Cailleach is mother to all gods and goddesses, grandmother to all humanity.

  She is guardian and defender of the balance between humans and nature.

  She is the goddess of the portal between the realms of humanity and spirit.

Cailleach is extremely powerful, and demands respect.

  If you cross her, she will mete out consequences.  

  She can invoke love or terror, despair or hope.

She is wise and cunning, astute and incisive, 

  and her power will not be disparaged.

A Goddess of Transformation,

  she culls the dead and brings new life.

  She ushers in winter and births the spring.

Cailleach: She Will Not Be Denied

This is the spirit of my visions, this Cailleach.

The awe and wonderment of meeting her
  is surpassed only by my instinct to be wary.

Each time she presents to me, I recoil,
  needing time for repair, to catch my breath.

Her presence, her power, her intent, all
 are perpexing, unnerving and disconcerting.

Yet, even when I steer clear of her, she plants images
  in my mind and sows words with my fingers upon the keys.

So, I met once again with my friends in circle to journey.
  Daunted at meeting Cailleach once again, I volunteered to drum.

My ploy...to focus on drumming and sheparding my friends
  through their journeys, so precluding my own journey to Cailleach.

Relieved at having escaped another encounter,
  I retired to await my friend's reflection on their journeys.

Yet, as soon as I sat she collided with my world,
  and pen met paper to capture the images, the messages.

Cailleach's Wrath

Her anger coalesced into form.

  Mountains shook, oceans swelled.

  Winds whipped into deadly cyclones.

'I awake from my slumber to discover

  you have desecrated this sacred ground!!'

  I hear naught but her terrible, deafening scream.

Her eyes, torrents of  disgust and ferociousness,

  level on me, insignificant, inferior, a minor blip in life.

  As I slouch in fear, she draws near, eyes piercing my soul.

'Humankind is a pernicious pestilence upon this earth!'

  'In one night, humanity slaughters the mother of its soul!'

  'Can you not see you have laid waste to life itself?!' she exclaims.

'The animals depart forever this earth. Their spirits hasten to my side.'

  'Can you count the number you have killed in your indolence?!'

  'Can you not see the vital roles they play in the web of life?!'

Gathering courage, I plead in defense of my sullied species.

  'Yes, we are responsible for the ruin. But, we are young.'

  'We have lost our way. Please, take pity on us, please!'

'Only your extermination will release this earth from

  the plague that is humankind!' Cailleach protests.

  'It is a fool’s errand that you ask me to follow!'

'Please!' I cry, shamed by our brazen disregard

  for the precious gift of life, terrified by the

  blight we have set lose upon this earth.

'I bring winter to this world,' she declares.

  'I will arrest the process of life itself to

  purge the curse that is humanity.'

The Accounting

Flying low above the earth,
  hunched with hammer in hand,
  terrible countenance, sharp eyes.

Searching
  for the pestilence.
  Intent on destruction of the blight.
  Intent on saving the creatures.

Considering closing the veil,
  dropping the shroud over our darkened eyes,
  disconnecting us forever from life.

Her presence is cold, unforgiving, harsh.

I cower, but cannot find safety
  She knows all rocks and stones,
  calls them by name, they move
  The mountains heave at her call
  exposing me, humanity, in our shame.

Bitter cold
  harsh winds
  against our naked bodies.

She has little patience.
  She is fury.

Winter is upon us
  and when the winter cleanses this earth of humanity,
  then the winter of our souls will begin.

And it will have no end.

the Black Box

What to do with her fury?
  I speak it,
  but it frightens me.

My soul grows cold.
  I hide,
  but I find no safety.

Nor can you.
  No one,
  none is safe now.

All your wealth.
  A Black Box.
  Growing, dark, opening.

Awaken, awaken!
  Wealth.
  Invest in life, now.

The Black Box
  of greed.
  Open it, let it go.

Flood the Black Box
  with light.
  Shine it on the world.

Lay your hand
  upon life.
  Give. Gift. Now.

Feel the Source
  within you.
  Act upon it, Now.

Now, Now,
  Now,
  Now, Now, Now.

She Speaks

These words from Cailleach...

In the universe, brilliance showers through me
  cast from a distant love
  emanating, spreading across this universe to the next.

It sits in the base of our spines.
  We know it as Kundalini.
  It animates all life.
  It is the chi, the ALL

It infuses the earth, settles deep within its core,
  awaits our call, our penitence, our humble acquiescence
  and acknowledgement of the plague we have set lose upon this earth.

The answer is here, among us, in us.
  We are the answer.
  The ALL walks with and among us.

Cailleach transforms again into the child of spring, of hope, of compassion and hope.
  The hate that was her melts into an eternal love for all life,
  even us,
  even us.

In our shrouds of arrogance and ignorance,
  standing amid the destruction we have laid upon this earth,
  even us.

Dance with her.
  Feel the spirit alive in you
  Remember
  Remember

You always have been part of the ALL.
  We never were separate from the ALL.
  The four-leggeds, the slitherers, the winged, the swimmers...
  all our family.

We the lost child,
  we are welcomed back.
  We are forgiven.
  The celebration awaits our humble petition
  to life.

The table of life is set.
  All creatures, all life, animate and imnaminate, awaits
  us.

Look inside.
  Find there in the Spirit.
  Feel the hope, the love, the compassion of which we are made.

Dare to look beyond the soil that holds together this body
  to the soul, the spirit, the life, the chi that animates.

There
  feel it
  it vibrates
  it is luminescent
  it is God, Allah, the ALL, the ONE

contravene nature no more.
  Step back from the brink of arrogance.
  Breathe, feel the ocean
  hear the wind
  remember
  remember.

These words Cailleach speaks.
  Her terrible countenance has transformed to love.
  Her hand is extended to ours.
She awaits our first, timid step forth.

She will respond to even the smallest step.
  She will assist us to bridge the gap
  of the mighty schism we have created between ourselves and all other life.

But she will wait not long.
  She holds winter in her other hand
  and she will lay waste to our arrogance
  if we cannot find the humility and the will to  step forth.

We are the only ones that can clean up this terrible mess we have made.
  Not our children, nor their children,

No, it must be us.

Become, Now

Look out,
  beyond your self
  into the universe.

Eyes closed,
  vision clear, strong.
  All will be revealed.

For you,
  and for them,
  yes, them too.

Hearts open,
  love pours in,
  envelopes you.

Love is
  the answer
  to all questions.

You are
  made from love
  You ARE love.

All fear,
  enemy of love,
  desecrator of life.

Fear is
  anger, envy,
  resentment.
  bitterness,
  antipathy,
  prejudice,
  intolerance,
  bigotry.

Fear breeds
  discrimination,
  power over,
  injustice,
  inequality,
  injury,
  hunger,
  death...

You are
  made from love.
  You ARE love.

Allow love
  to expose
  all your fears.

Ask love
  to quiet
  your fearful heart.

Bequeath love
  on those
  you know not.

Stand up
  to the dark
  with your light.

Take back
  our humanity
  Take our place.

In life,
  we are born
  protectors, gifters.

For life,
  be
  the gift of love.

Winter settles
  upon the earth,
  too late to stop.

Cailleach
  has sent
  the frost, cold.

Take heed.
  It is not
  over, only cold.

Life begs
  our complete
  courage, heart.

Become
  who you were
  meant to be, love.

Together,
  let us all
  save this earth.

Our gift
  is our essence,
  love come alive.

Step Out of Slumber into Your Birthright

Glaciers heave,
  waters freeze,
  cities fall dark.

Cailleach will
  leave none untouched
  by her cold, hard fury.

Are you frightened?
  If you are, you have woken up!
  The veil has been lifted, and
  you have been gifted with sight.

Just in time
  to see the world fall
  into death's dark abyss.
  The 'pause' threatened by
 Cailleach is upon us, now.

Don't close your eyes!
  Don't run back to the fantasy
  of self imposed ignorance or denial!

You will not find safety there!
  It is just a delusion that allows
  murder, death, darkness to descend.

No!  Force your eyes open!
  Only with clear sight can you
  step into the sacred role reserved
  for humanity in this crisis of our creation.

Stay awake! Stay present!
  The shock, the dismay, the terror
  at seeing the consequence of our crimes
  is natural.  Its gift is to inspire urgency.

Staying awake will enable you to act!
  It will allow you to see others,
  equally awake and seeking.

It will break down boundaries
  and allow the vital gift of love
  to reinvigorate broken bonds.

It will create clarity of perception
  so that we can use our distinctive
  gifts of innovation and creation
  to find our way through the winter.

The winter calls forth warriors,
  not mindless soldiers, but deeply
  contemplative warriors, honor-bound
  by the simple and universal call to love.

Recall the great warriors from your lineage;
  clarity of vision, giant hearts, soulful eyes,
  called to a purpose greater than self interest,
  inclusive of all, great and small, life, love.

That is the warrior in you!
  All are called to awaken, now,
  to step into the armour of love.

That is your calling!

This is your birthright!

Warriors all.

We will be gifted
  courage, sight, capabilities
  as we call them forth for good.

There is no greater calling
  than to become what we
  were born to be...a gift to life,
  warriors of love, creators all.

The Great Slumber is over.
  We awaken.  We accept our birthright.
  We don our armour. We carry the mantle
  of love. We birth the answers. We gift ourselves

  to life.

Full Circle, Deeper Meanings

I just realized that Spirit has brought me full circle.
  So elegant is she in her workings with my soul.

For months, I have been immersed in a deep lesson,
  to let go, gracefully, of things/people not meant for me.

I have been to many corners of this lesson,
  examined its intricacies, seen its many faces.

Recently, I started to 'get it', to recognize when
  something was not for me and to let go of it...gracefully.

And now, I am struck by a deeper meaing of
  'not meant for me'.

'Not meant for me' are those things or people
  that take me out of the flow, are not in my best interest.

'Not meant for me' is Spirit discerning, when I cannot,
  when something is lifegiving and when it is 'lifetaking'.

'Not meant for me' is when Spirit is telling me that
  something is 'lifetaking', and is guiding me back to the flow.

'Letting go, gracefully' is me recognizing Spirit's call
  and trusting, believing in Spirit's pure love for me.

'Letting go gracefully' is stepping back into the flow,
  and if I cannot, allowing Spirit to carry me there.

Step Back into the Flow

I awoke with a deep sense of not wanting to fight against life anymore.
  Some part of my character always falls prey to a mistaken notion
  of the 'warrior' in my self, believing that I must push harder, always,
  when life doesn't turn toward my desires.

It's so hard pushing against life, so tiring, so futile, and often so painful.
  There is a natural flow to life, like a stream flowing from the mountain.
  When I chance upon that stream and step foot in its cool waters,
  I sense I am one with the universe, can expand beyond human limitations...

Yet, when somehow I find myself stranded on the shore or against a rock,
  a veil covers my eyes, allowing me to create a storyline wherein
  I must create the flow myself and accomplish nothing less than
  transforming solid into liquid, or simply, moving the earth.

And, just steps away from this epic and fruitless battle of the warrior against life,
  flows the stream, quiet, glistening, inviting, patient, supple, cool, fresh...
  This morning, I awoke with the realization that the earth has not moved,
  the rock has not transformed and the stream flows at my foot.

Step into life.  Imagine, dream what you want it to be.  Stive toward that vision.
  But, learn to recognize when you have run ashore and are pushing in vain.
  I finally recognize this quandary when I am exhausted before the dawn breaks,
  when life feels too hard, when all my efforts come to no avail.

The stream is right there next to you, always.
  Spirit is patient, compassionate, loving, watching, always.
  When, at last, you tire of the battle, Spirit will guide you
  back to the refreshing, healing, life-giving waters.

A Different Creation Story

This is a poem from my new book 'Spirit Walk: Journey of a Soul Embodied'.  I renamed the poem here because it really is a different way of understanding the Creation Story, a way, I believe, that inspires hope.

The Oneness in Our Separation

The Chief took me to the fire circle.

As I took my seat,

  spirits of my beloved-departed gathered.

  Then more and more joined the circle

  until I could no longer see the land,

  only spirits gathered about the fire.

They put their arms around each other,

  holding each other in pure love.

  And then, he spoke.

‘For many generations, the people lived as one.

  There was joy, harmony, love, compassion.

  Each distinct person was honored as of

  essential value to the whole, the ONE.

  Uniqueness, difference, was celebrated

  as all understood that each was necessary

  to unity, wholeness, ONENESS.

‘One day the Creator

  gifted them with awareness of individuality

  and invited them to be co-creators,

  to consider how they would add their

  unique light to create life.’

The people,

  mistaking the gift as

  a severance from ONENESS,

  became frightened.’

‘They mistook the gift of individuality as a

  disconnection from the whole, not realizing that

  individuality and wholeness are indivisible,

  the essential alchemy of ONENESS,

  the potential leaning toward,

  the energy that creates.’

‘Devastated by the perceived loss,

  they sought to understand the banishment.

  In their confusion, they crafted a story of that moment,

  "The Separation from the ONE."

'Unable to fathom that they were so terrible as to cause it,

  and fraught with guilt created from misunderstanding,

  they sought others to bear the burden of responsibility,

  and they assigned fault and punishment accordingly.’

‘Where once there was joy in being ONE with the ALL,

  there developed a feeling of separateness and isolation,

  and a belief that the others and their differences

  were somehow to blame.’

‘Fear replaced love and the people grew thirsty, hungry.

  Striving to satisfy the unquenchable need,

  they stood on the shoulders of others,

  unaware they were crushing the others into the ground.’

‘An undulating mass of humanity clawed toward the sky.

  Voracious was their hunger, insatiable their thirst,

  gluttonous for more, ever more, but never sated.’

‘Searching, climbing, acquiring, using, discarding;

  leaving behind destruction, death, sorrow;

  creating separation, isolation, aloneness;

  frenzied, frightened, climbing, climbing, climbing…’

‘Never realizing that the hunger, the thirst,

  were, in fact, not hunger and thirst.

  They were the soul’s sorrow, the soul’s inability

  to live in this illusion of separation and isolation,

  the soul’s attempts to reconnect to the ONE.’

‘Unsated, lost and misguided,

  humanity struggled in vain in the

  illusion of separation and isolation.’

‘Drinking water that cannot quench thirst;

  eating into obesity, but never sated;

  blaming others..all to quell the insidious,

  devastating perception of aloneness.’

Gazing at us in compassion, the Chief explained,

  ‘We will never find our way on this path.

  It is ONENESS we seek.

  There and only there, will the

  obsession to fill the emptiness be quelled.

  There and only there, will we find peace.’

‘We need only remember,’ he offered,

  ‘we are ONE…

  unique, different as stars in the sky, but always

  ONE.’

‘In our liberation from the illusion of separation,

  we will discover love, compassion, peace.

  We will witness, once again, the light

  within each and every one of us.’

‘And, we can become that which the Creator envisioned,

  co-creators, givers of life, beings of light and love.’