Dear Jeanne: What guidance do you have for us today?
Do not be fooled by appearances. Change is taking place, deep and lasting change, and although this change may not occur in a manner anyone is used to, it is happening nonetheless. This is a time of great shift and with such a time comes great awareness. Are you paying attention? That is the real question?
Are you paying attention to your own deepest knowing, and what are you going to do about it, return to an old way, becoming complacent and docile yet again? Or are you going to flow with the shift now being offered?
Energy is available to greatly advance the cause of human consciousness for the individual as well as the masses. It is up to each one of you to remain aware, to prod the self to stay awake through this time of great shift and be a part of its impact.
Change begins with the individual. Accept what the energy is trying to alert you to on a deeply personal level before you begin to look outwardly. If you will dare to stay awake and move toward a new positive direction, the energy of such change will proceed along the same path, supporting and nurturing and healing you, bringing you forward into new life. If you fail to stay awake this time, be aware that you will have two hard years ahead of you, as you continue to battle your issues of dependence, negativity, and fear.
Though this may sound like a dire prediction, I stress quite the opposite, for it is not. It is equally positive and growth-oriented, for it is only in wallowing in the self that one will find the means to change, for the self is where the answers lie. The question you must ask the self is: Am I ready now to make certain changes? If you are, be aware of what comes to guide you, for there is great positive energy in abundance for the right kind of change. If you are not yet ready, that’s okay too. But you must also be aware of what comes to guide you, for you too will find that you are supported as you take an equally deepening journey.
Change begins and ends within, but is always reflected without, and this is where you will all learn your greatest lessons—in what reflects back at you.
Take the steps you personally need to take. This may involve leaving something, beginning something, changing something, evolving something, but this will also mean that if you are daring the self to change for the right reasons that you will be in alignment with nature and the universe.
I have no doubt that all upon that earth will encounter change, intentioned or not. And, as I said in the beginning, the main question is whether or not you will be aware and available to know this, so that you can take full advantage of it, aware that it will catapult you into new life. Or will you resist it?
Resistance is a result of fear, and fear digs deep into the human psyche, its marks going back to infancy, its roots difficult to decipher from the roots of innocence. Confront the deepest roots of the self. Find your fear and you will also uncover your innocence. Perhaps that is the place to begin the deeper inner work that will lead to new and lasting growth.
…and good will toward all…
Oh, and keep in mind: as you notice how the outer world and how those in power seemingly ignore the deeper issues of compassion, kindness, and love for all living beings, notice how you do the same to yourself. This is a universal issue, and everyone must address it inside the self.
As your world struggles, so do you, and this is good, for it is the key to finding your own deepest conflicts. No blame now, just growth. That’s what is called for, on all levels of life.
The other day, as Chuck and I walked in the early morning, a strange sight greeted us. We had just arrived at a “T” intersection when to our left a commotion arose.
Out of the treetops a strange creature appeared. Squawking and flapping, it came towards us, a phoenix or some other mythical beast. On second glance it appeared to be some manmade object, whirring and clunking along in the sky, much like a Leonardo da Vinci flying machine. As it drew nearer it changed again, into a hawk with two small birds clutched in its claws, the birds flapping and shrieking wildly in an attempt to free themselves from the clutches of this, indeed, mythical beast.
As we watched, one of the birds did free itself. Somehow able to wriggle out of the grip of the sharp claws, it quickly flew off into the woods with nary a backward glance. The hawk flew over us, and though its tasty meal still struggled frantically, it seemed that its fate was sealed.
Much startled by this sight, we turned to the right and continued our walk, our thoughts and discussion turning too. We had been talking about our deepening practice as spiritual beings on a journey in this world, of constantly having to balance the magic of other worlds with the duties and needs of this world. And thus, we could not help but wonder what this sighting could possibly mean.
Our kind hearts immediately projected onto the poor little birds. And two of them! We thought in terms of loved ones. Who was at risk; who would be confronted with some terrible trauma today or in the near future? What did it signify for us, the first thing to catch our attention on this day, and so early in the morning? What did it portend in our own lives?
As we watched the hawk fly off down the road ahead of us, the siren cries of blue jays—the birds I interpret as the police force of the skies—alerted other creatures to be aware that a predator was in their midst. But there was really nothing to be concerned about, for the hawk had gotten what it wanted; its only intent now was to consume it.
Who’s the predator?
My thoughts turned away from my projections and fears, for self and others, and instead began to look at the reality of what had occurred. The hawk began to lose its predatory role and take on the role of life itself, doing what it needed to survive in this world, much as we all do in our own lives, consuming and taking what we need. The two birds lost their roles as poor creatures of circumstance and instead became the choices we all make each day: the choice to live one way or another, the choice to do one thing or another, the choice to come into this world at all.
“You know,” I said to Chuck, “one bird is going to live and it looks like the other will die, but who’s to judge which one got the better deal. Do I feel sorry for the one that’s facing death? Perhaps it’s being given the opportunity to go deeper into its evolutionary experience? The very thing we seek all the time.”
As I pondered the significance of the event, I realized that we all get carried away by predators in our own lives, by our compulsions, addictions, attachments, our fears, our psychological makeup, by our very nature, and by the very energy of life that is as unstoppable as the predatory hawk simply searching for sustenance to survive. We are all both the hawk and the two birds. Often enough, we are caught unaware, taken from our perch and thrown into turmoil, forced to fight for our lives, to make a choice that will take us on a new journey. Even in the most mundane of circumstances our choices matter. As we plod along in our daily lives it becomes increasingly necessary to train our awareness to stay upon the path of growth, intent upon a life of meaning and evolution, no matter what our circumstances.
I could not judge the outcome of the event, for I saw the potential for growth in both life and death. I see the potential for growth, for going deeper into the life we are in, no matter where we end up. I cannot judge another for where they are in their life, just as I do not wish to be judged for the choices I’ve made in my own.
We all have the same choice to make: How are we going to deal with where we are now? Are we going to be the evolutionary beings we are meant to be, conserve our energy for our journey and go deeper into our experience, no matter what it is? Or are we going to succumb to the predator, our energy consumed by another, by everything from worry and fear to mental illness and disease?
As the shamans of Ancient Mexico point out, we are beings who are going to die. I see death as offering as much choice as life. As I saw what was happening to the two birds, I knew that one chose life and the other chose death, but also that both were worthy choices, both presenting evolutionary opportunities. The opportunity—and this is what we are training ourselves for as we recapitulate, and as we seek connection with our deeper spiritual selves—is to remain aware of our evolutionary potential at all times.
The journey matters…
Recapitulation offers us the opportunity to practice the skills necessary to maintain our awareness. Each time we recapitulate we experience a little death, a loss of our perceived self, while we simultaneously regain a part of our lost energetic self. This involves remaining aware that we are in two worlds at once, both in the energy of the predator and simultaneously the victim of our circumstances, like the two birds in the claws of the hawk that flew over Chuck and I the other morning. Recapitulation is as much practice for how to live this life as it is practice for facing the moment of death from this life, two evolutionary paths of equal value and potential.
We all stand at a “T” intersection every day of our lives—we have choices to make, and those choices matter. No matter what our fate, whether we are the little bird that gets away or the little bird that goes to its death, we always have the opportunity to go deeper, or not.
Today is a day of reconciliation within the self; a day for reflection on all you have learned about the self over the past days, weeks, months, and even longer, for the energy of change has been in motion for quite a long time.
Awareness of self at all times remains key. Awareness of self entails keeping abreast of the changing self, of the changes that have already taken place. With those changes in your cognition, make new choices in alignment with the constantly changing and growing self. Awareness entertains all possibilities, but it also remains fixed on the path of growth that you chose a long time ago.
All who exist upon that earth already chose a path of growth. Life asks you to wake up to this fact, and to force negation of life away, as you embrace the positive aspects of your life. Life is energy and how you view, use, interpret, and allow that energy to flow through you and unfold is really up to each one of you. As an individual you do have ultimate control over your life and so that is what the energy of now asks you to fathom and take responsibility for. The energy of now asks you to proceed on your life as if you were in perfect control, accepting everything as necessary, asking that each day’s tasks and unfoldings be totally acceptable and necessary as well. However, choices matter, and this is where your power lies, in making choices that lead you along your evolutionary path.
You know what is right. Be what is right for you to be. Be open to the energy that now aids and abets you as you take your journey. With awareness, make positive choices as you work your way out of your old self and into your new self. The energy of now fully embraces you on your journey.
Every step of your life is meaningful. Keep this in mind as you continue your journey today and every day. Greet life with the same openness with which it greets you. Deeper work now awaits, yet does it gift you greatly to deal with all aspects of life that still hold you to an old routine.
Break away from the old self and open wide to the new self. You already know who that is. Don’t be afraid to live this new self. There is no reason to hold back. It’s your life after all! Don’t you want to live it to the fullest? Approach it gently, thoughtfully, compassionately, but do embrace this energy that now seeks to release you from your old self and catapult you to a new self.
Each one of you must make personal decisions now. That’s just the way it is. Every little decision is important—know that. Each step, each day, is meaningful. Find the truth of that and you’ve found the key to life.
Be aware. Make choices in awareness of the greater meaning of your personal journey, reconciled with the truth that you chose that life and that journey. That is how to evolve.
Everything that comes in the day or in the night is meaningful…
During my recapitulation I learned that everything in my life, waking and dreaming, was supporting my recapitulation journey. I also learned that everything in my life had always been supporting my journey, though it was not until this very intense time of inner work that I was granted this knowledge in a very keen and extremely significant way, on a daily basis.
As I began to piece together how everything not only supported the inner work I was doing, but how it all seamlessly wove together pictures of my past with current situations, I saw how all of it was mirrored and supported in my nightly dreams as well. In a shamanic sense, I was training my awareness, as I went through several years in a perpetual state of heightened awareness as everything, in every moment of my life, greeted me with messages, insights, puzzles to be solved, and issues to be resolved. Since the completion of that recapitulation, I have continued to be taught by life itself, by what appears in daytime and nighttime, in awake experiences and dreaming experiences, by what my own body presents me with on a daily basis.
I know now, without a doubt, that I am guided through this life, that I have always been and always will be, that we all are. Only through offering myself the gift of innocent vision during my recapitulation, constantly asking the busy rational mind to sit by the wayside, as I turned to allowing the creativity and imagination of my adult and child self in cohesion to guide me, was I able to shift how I perceived the world and achieve this understanding. It takes some amount of daring to reject everything we’ve learned and turn inward, to turn to our child self—the defended, rejected, abandoned, frightened child self in my case—and allow the evolving adult self to show the child that, although it is all those things, it is also much, much more.
Perhaps the idea of expending the rational, the voice of reason, the voice that upholds the known and proven world, keeping us safe and comfortable, and turning toward the totally irrational, and listening to a new voice, is a crazy notion, but once the process is begun there is no going back. Once the magic begins, there is no going back to an old way of thinking, perceiving, or living. At this point, life becomes a most fascinating journey, as we accept what comes to us as meaningful, as we accept that each day and each moment in each day holds important information for us.
Once we are in it, there is no going back to the boredom of waiting for life to change or something exciting to happen to us, because we are fully aware that excitement is inherent in each moment. We are living it, painful or otherwise, and at least we can say that we will never again complain about life being boring. We just have to keep remembering the magic, remain open to it, and learn to constantly reinterpret our life and our experiences from new perspectives.
I don’t take much for granted; there is always something else behind the screen of normalcy, of convention, of the usual spin, something that is different, even magical or enchanting, and ultimately the real truth. We just have to learn how to constantly shift our thoughts away from the conventional and into the world of possibility. I trust possibility more than I trust convention, so you won’t find me believing much of anything I hear or see. I prefer to find my own answers and truths. All of this is leading me to relate an experience I had the other night, one in which I allowed my dreaming self to show me something.
It was a cool night; the sliding door in our bedroom was wide open to the brisk night air when the loud shriek of an owl startled us awake.
“An owl!” I said. “It sounds close. It must be perched on the deck outside our door.” We could hear its claws scratching against wood. It shrieked again and again.
“Why is it doing that?” Chuck wondered. “It’s hunting, shouldn’t it be quiet?”
“I don’t know, perhaps it’s calling to others, a mate or young,” I whispered. We listened to it until it grew quiet. As I drifted off to sleep I wondered why it had come.
“What does it mean?” I asked my dreaming self. Sometime later, Chuck made a sound in his sleep, waking me. I didn’t want to wake up, I’d been dreaming and I wanted to finish my dream, but the truth was that I was awake. I wondered if I could go back into my dream anyway.
I kept my eyes closed and looked into the darkness behind my lids, into the amorphous, fluid and multicolored darkness. I noticed that my left eye shut down completely and only my right was seeing. Peering sharply into the darkness behind my lid, it honed right into my dream, parting the curtains that had descended when I was startled awake a moment before.
Like a microscope, my right eye honed in on where I had left off and magically finished the dream. Fully awake I dreamed to completion. Satisfied, I opened my eyes and told Chuck what had just happened. It was then that I remembered the owl in the night and I understood the message it was bringing. It was asking me to hone the skills that I work at every day, to use the special ability of the owl to hone in on its prey with microscopic vision, even in the dark, abilities I now know I have inside me, that we all have inside of us.
“Yes,” Chuck said, “the shamans say we all have everything we need inside the human body to do everything the shamans do.”
“It’s true,” I say. “You taught me that when I was recapitulating too, as a means of keeping me focused on the inner journey, offering me some badly needed self-confidence, but really allowing me to accept my experiences as important, to not dismiss anything, but to learn how to perceive everything as meaningful.”
And that’s what I still focus on, allowing everything to be important and meaningful. All experiences are magical if we allow ourselves to experience them that way, not with ego, not by trying to be shamans, but by awakening and utilizing everything that is present in our human state, inside our bodies. The rational mind might not take offense at being pushed aside while we take a ride through our dreams at night, but it sure puts up a struggle during the day. We just have to work at assuring it that it will be okay, that it will be safe, as we let something else guide us to see a new reality, a dream reality during the day too. Our nightly dream training is showing us what we are all really capable of all the time.
Healing ourselves through deep inner work is the first part of learning just what we are capable of doing and experiencing. As we recapitulate, we are asked again and again to suspend judgment and take a look at what really happened, to not blame or attach to anything, but to let ourselves re-experience everything from a new perspective and in so doing experience just what it means when the shamans say that everything we need is inside the human body. Trusting that is the first major obstacle to leaving the rational world and the first major leap into the magical as well. Try it, in waking and/or in dreaming today; see what comes to guide you, out of your own body self, showing you the magic in your own life. Believe me there’s plenty there!
It takes trusting our inner spirit, the innocence comprised of the purity of knowing and perceiving that is ready to embrace our experiences and help us advance in this lifetime. It’s not so hard to defy convention and look at life as magical; it’s quite inspiring, fascinating to imagine that every day we are indeed being guided to learn some of the magic that resides inside all of us. I also now know that the owl’s message is to use that ability to hone my sight during the daytime too, with my eyes open. If I can hone so microscopically with my eyes closed, I should be able to do it with them open as well. That’s my next challenge.
There is a great propensity for success, for change to happen now on a greater level, for real change to take place upon that earth and within a great many individuals as well. For it is only with change within the individual that change on a mass level will occur, as you well know. However, one must be alert to the choices being made. Too often the dullness of everyday life wins out over the magic of the work and possibilities that lie within.
Be aware of your personal choices. Watch how they affect your physical and mental prowess. Be alert to the moment when decisions arise, when you are asked to direct your energy.
What is the proper use of your energy? This is the question to not only ask mentally, but physically as well. Direct the self to be thoughtful and careful and—with concern for the delicate balance between the world without and the world within—choose wisely how best to use your time, your energy, and your life. With concern for duration of life upon that earth as your sobering first thought, choose how to use that finite time to your best advantage.
Present advice is to urge humanity toward remaining alert, for the dullness of life so easily sweeps over the masses and then, no matter how hard some individuals work at changing themselves and the world, there will unfortunately be no greater mass change. And, as you all know, mass change is now necessary.
Mass change, in the right direction, is what the world needs and those who are really awake and aware of this necessity must stay awake. Choose to walk the razor’s edge of awareness, staying alert to the machinations of the mind as well as the energy outside of you. Be alert to what, how, and when it pulls you in one direction or another and make wise personal choices.
Remain balanced through this time of decision-making. Precision of timing is crucial; attention to choice and the best use of personal energy are the most important factors now. Awareness must be honed and kept in good working order for progress to stick. Good Luck!
