Winds of Change
New
vision and inspiration for the journey.
A Mystery School Newsletter
from Linda Heron Wind
published on each Full Moon
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Contents |
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Winds of Change
New
vision and inspiration for the journey.
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January Full Moon (Introduction) True self love does not
It seems as if this holiday has brought up very intense family and relationship drama for many people. Perhaps the veil that was lifted on the harmonic concordance has allowed us to see through the illusion more clearly to what is real. The choice between re-playing the old dramas in the blame game or loving acceptance of what is in this moment seems to be highlighted as we feed the world we wish to live in with our actions, thoughts and feelings. If the one thing in our lives we want the most is to be loved and accepted for who we are at both our best and our worst, then that is what we must give - to ourselves as well as others. 2004 may well be a year of testing our ability to be in loving acceptance of all that arises in our lives in this time of great changes. To what arises
The spring Mystery School workshops will focus on exploring the East Gate to the Soul and the meditation technique for entering - shamanic journey. At the East Gate we must leave behind attachments to gain freedom upon entering the Circle of the Soul. March 7th will be Shamanic Tools for Everyday Living, April 4th will be Shamanic Tools for Healing, and May 2nd will be Shamanic Tools for Self-Mastery. These will be offered from 1-5 PM in Victor, NY. See the web page for more information. Here at the East Gate * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
These are all held at Shequaga in Dansville near Rochester, NY. Details will be available soon on my web site www.heronwind.com or the CIRCLE web site www.circleinc.org. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
See the Workshops page on my web site for more information.
New Year Re-solutions - What in your life needs a solution? Re-solutions are when we try something different than we have tried before. I have a sign in my waiting room that says, "Insanity
is doing the same thing and expecting different results." One way
to find new solutions is to look for solutions that make you feel good,
that feel authentic, and that bring you closer to the world you want to
live in. On this full moon, find one thing in your life that needs a new
solution. After setting sacred space with clearing and intention, write
the issue on a piece of paper and draw a circle around it. On the outside
of the circle write as many possible solutions as you can think of. Angeles
Arrien says, "A good shaman has at least 100 creative solutions to
any problem." If that is so you ought to be able to come up with
at least 10. Be really creative and open to all possibilities even if
they don't seem likely. Keep your mind out of judging and let spirit guide
you. Spend some time imagining each of the solutions you come up with and see which ones feel the best and most authentic. Choose the one that feels the best and write it on another paper using color, symbols or pictures that capture the feeling level. Put this paper in a place you will see it everyday and take one step toward putting that solution into effect each day, even if it is just imagining the solution and feeling it. Continue this process until the next full moon at which time you can start with something else that needs a new solution. A re-solution
Oasis of Love - Get in a comfortable position and take a few deep breaths to center yourself. Imagine that you are crossing a desert. It is very hot and dry, and you begin to get thirsty. In the distance you see some greenery popping up out of the desert sands. And as you get closer you can see a fairly large oasis with green trees and grass growing. As you step into this lush area, you see the pool of pure water that feeds all the growing things here and you know that you are in the heart of the desert. You walk to the water, bending down and giving thanks for the cool moisture as you touch your lips to this water. After drinking your fill you lay down in the green grass resting in the cool of the shade trees. Your own heart begins to resonate with this nourishing pool and you begin to realize that the feeling of deep nourishment from the water is not unlike the feelings of deep love - a peaceful, full feeling. Become aware of this clear pool and nourishing centered in your own heart and allow the feeling to radiate out like ripples on a pond when a pebble is tossed in. Allow your whole body to resonate with this feeling. As you come back into normal awareness, hold the feeling of this oasis in your heart nourishing and healing your whole body. Place of nourishment
Acceptance or/and Boundaries It seems that some of the resistance we have to accepting
what comes our way is that we think it means that we have no control or
that we have to like it or, worse yet, it will always be that way - or
that it means that we have to allow people to do whatever they want without
responding. I think that this is the understanding of acceptance that
we learned as children - that we had to "accept" or allow whatever
parents or adults did to us and we had no say or control. Another misconception we developed as children was that
to set limits or boundaries we needed to either judge someone or something
as "wrong" or we needed to be angry. As a result, many adults
still set boundaries with judgments and anger because it feels like the
only justifiable way to set them. Anger is also instrumental in that it
often leads to others backing off or not challenging you - so in that
sense it does create boundaries but also destroys connection in the process. So we often walk away from childhood with the notion that
we either accept things the way they are or get judgmental or angry and
those are two mutually exclusive choices. But there are other ways to
be in acceptance and set boundaries that do not conflict with each other
and that maintain good relationships. Acceptance of what arises in the moment is based on the
premise that there is a purpose to what enters your life. Life is not
just random events that you must overcome or deal with. A further premise
is that everyone involved in whatever has come up is doing the best they
can do in that moment. I believe we all have good intentions from our
own views of the world. Accepting, then, means that you are not fighting
with the situation but are willing to look at it to see what it is there
to tell you. It certainly does not mean that you cannot set boundaries
or that it is something you want to let continue. Taking it a step further, loving acceptance means that regardless
of what comes into your experience, you stay in a love vibration while
you determine how you will respond. It does not mean that you cannot respond
or set boundaries, just that you stay in a loving feeling place while
you do. For example, if you have interviewed for a job you would really
would like, but are told that you have not been selected, there are several
ways you might respond: you could be angry with the interviewer; you could
get down on yourself for not being good enough; or you could center yourself,
connecting with your heart, and ask for guidance on why you had this experience.
Only the latter response will move you toward the goal of getting the
job you want. If the response you choose is to set a boundary, when you
remain in the love vibration, you set the boundary with love rather than
with anger or judgment. For example, if a person become abusive with you,
you might say something like, "You know, I'm not sure what is going
on for you that you need to talk to me like this but it doesn't work for
me. If you want to talk about what is going on for you, I am willing to
listen, otherwise I need to leave for a while and we can talk about it
later." So you are taking responsibility for what you are currently
willing or not willing to do while not blaming the other for the situation.
It is important that you don't feel like blaming even though you might
not be verbally blaming. You are accepting what is happening without blame
but choosing to create the boundaries that allow you to feel safe now
while maintaining connection. Perhaps the hardest part of this loving acceptance is realizing that to be loving toward yourself or another person doesn't mean that you necessarily like the behavior or that you can't set boundaries for the behavior. When you stay in the loving place, it allows you to stay connected with the other person and yourself while you communicate what does and doesn't work for you in that situation. It acknowledges that perhaps this was the best the other person could do in that moment while you stay connected to your heart and do the best you can do right now. Given that this is ideal, as two people will often get their buttons pushed at the same time, it is an ideal to work toward while being in loving acceptance of yourself when you don't live up to this ideal.
Loving acceptance Click here for the full article.
If
you have comments on this newsletter or ideas for future topics, call
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