Can you feel the change accellerating? Mother Earth is opening her arms to us as never before. A new wave of consciousness is washing over us. And, we are changing too. It is necessary to shift your attention from the distractions and demands of the outside world to fully experience these changes. You have to move from your mind to your heart. From there you can sense the flood of new energy flowing into our world.

I haven’t written a blog in some time. In my last blog I said I wanted to watch what was happening in the world and examine who I was becomming. I have gotten lots of help. For one thing, my computer crashed and it took several weeks to correctly diagnose and repair it. Instead of being a bad thing, that has helped me to shift my attention. I have been more focused on experiencing the marvel and the magic. I also took a trip to visit family in the foothills and mountains of northern Georgia and North Carolina. I spent the entire time surrounded by green fields and mountains, streams, and lakes–the Mother. It was delightfully different than I expected.

Before I left on my trip, a friend felt urged to tell me about the book Serpent of Light by Drunvalo Melchizedek. I took it with me and read it. Wow!  That book led me to another of his books called Living in the Heart. Double wow! Both books have had an incredible impact on me (I’ll address that in a later blog).

What I have observed is that everything is changing at an exponential rate, and so am I. Coincidentally (ha ha), my wife, Jackie, was looking at something on my Facebook site and saw my bio there. She noted that none of what I had written there was at all relevant to who I am now: It was all about the past (schooling, profession, businesses, old books I’ve written, etc.). She urged me to change the way I present myself to more accurately reflect who I am now.

As usual, she was right, but I thought it would be quite an undertaking to make those changes. However, I sat down the other morning and it just flowed. As I wrote the new profile, I could feel my heart open. I felt a weight lifting from my shoulders. I felt a new congruency in the outside world. I highly recommend this practice.

I would like to introduce myself to you now:

I am aware that a new day is dawning on this planet and throughout all of creation. Day by day I realize that I know less and less. I try to empty myself of all beliefs, judgements, and prejudices that separtate me, and surrender to Being. I try to align and harmonize myself with Mother Earth, Father Sun, and all of our brothers and sisters on this earth and throughout all of existence.

I encourage others to release their limiting attachments and beliefs, and to live more simply, harmoniously, open-heartedly, and more aligned with Mother Earth and Spirit.

Isn’t that refreshingly simple? It sure feels better to me.

It’s a new day, and I’m a new man. I’m just watching and learning what that means.

These changes that are occurring are affecting you, too. They aren’t just changing the world we live in: They are changing us.  It isn’t the outside changes we make (new light bulbs) that will have the greatest effect, but rather the changes that take place inside us (a new sense of connection). Who are you becomming? Notice that.

I just returned from celebrating the equinox in the desert outside Moab, Utah with my Incan shaman friend Kucho and my local shaman friend Nick Stark. We kept all-night vigils beside a beautiful, roaring cedar fire, surrounded by redrock cliffs, snow-covered mountains, and the powerful plants of the desert. We put the sun to bed, watched the sky fill to overflowing with stars, marveled at the close-enough-to-touch quarter-moonrise, and greeted the rising sun. We witnessed nature and Spirit at their most magical.

The first night we conducted a very special equinox ceremony, connecting with other celebrants all over the world. Kucho reminded us that this particular equinox was a very special time, a significant part of the powerful change  that is now under way. We could feel that power. We felt a very strong connection with our brothers and sisters in the stars and with our creator. We felt our vibrations being lifted, and knew that we were leaving our old selves behind and leaving the ceremony as new men. We sent that powerful, loving energy we felt out to those we love and to all our brothers and sisters on this earth.

We spent the next night preparing and offering a pago (gift) to Mother Earth. We left a gift of thanks and our blessing in that sacred place. We left our gratitude planted there.

It was an incredible, life-changing experience. I have had several magical moments in my life, but I am usually alone when I experience them. One of the things that made this event so special was that I was able to share it with my two dear friends; that we could create that magic and share that magic together.

That magic is always waiting for us if we will only take the time and make the effort to invite it and then be present for it. How very fortunate we are.

The sky is blue and sunny. The unseasonably high temperature here is pushing 60, and there’s a warm, gentle breeze moving through the branches of the still-bare trees. The earth is finally released from the accumulated piles of snow. I know there’s more cold and wet ahead. But today, today it looks and feels like spring here in Salt Lake City. Glory! Glory!

We were outside almost every day this winter. We walked the avenues that climb the hillside near our home, we cross-country skiied, and we snowshoed. It was all fun and wonderful, but there’s something special about being able to touch the earth again, being able to be outside without layers and layers of clothing, and being able to allow the sun to warm your body and your soul. It is always so encouraging when the first bright yellow and purple crocuses appear. My heart sings right along with the flocks of birds that seem to have appeared out of nowhere.

Next week my Incan shaman friend Kucho is returning to Salt Lake for another visit. Kucho introduced me into a deeper relationship with Father sun, Mother Earth, and the magic of Spirit–first at his home in the mountains surrounding Machu Picchu, then here in my own mountains, valleys, and deserts. I’m looking forward to spending time with him once again. The best times are always the ones we spend together outside. Nature is his element…and mine. I have never known anyone whose love for the Earth, Spirit, and his brothers and sisters was so evident, or ran so deeply. And, he will be here for spring. Glory! Glory!

Despite the difficult challenges facing us, our disolving financial and social structures, the sun is shining. Despite all of the concerns, doubts, and fears, spring is returning once again. The force of life is emerging at full strength. I trust with all my heart that life and love will prevail.

December 5, 2008 Iwrote, “A sweeping, life-altering transformation is well under way. Even as old-world structures crumble around us, a new world–bright with possibilities–is already rising. We can begin walking in this beautiful new world—this spiritual renaissance–now.” I also suggested 6 steps you can take to remove yourself from the dissolving “old” world and to begin living in the “new” world (1. release all of your outdated beliefs and attachments, 2. open your heart, 3. simplify your life, 4. reconnect with the natural world around you, 5. harmonize with Spirit, 6. recognize and accept grace–trust).

If ‘you’ve already taken these steps, then you know the amazing power they release. If you haven’t yet taken them, the doorway they represent is still open to you. Take these steps and you’ll elevate yourself to a place of calm and peace, and begin to live with ease and abundance.

The necessary realizations and changes that are taking place in all areas of our culture will continue to occur (Think years, not months.), but you will not be troubled by them. All you need to do is to take the 6 steps to step out of your  frame of reference in the culturally shared reality. You don’t need to go through all of the hardship of decline and dissolution or suffer. You don’t need to wait until the outside changes are complete. You can step out now.

I stepped out. Now I witness the fear and the struggle to shore up the old beliefs and structures going on all around me, but it doesn’t affect me. My life runs along parallel to those events. When I do go into the outside world, it’s like I walk through it, invisible. My relationship, my home, my life are more peaceful than before. Yes, we’ve lost some assets, but we had already simplified our lives and we adapted painlessly. I watch what is happening, fascinated, and welcome the changes that are coming for Mother Earth and us, her children.

Here’s the strange part for me. Because the needed changes are now fully under way, I feel like my own role–my work–trying to affect those changes is over. The guidance I receive tells me the struggle really is over, and that I can relax, lighten-up, create, have fun, and enjoy living in this new world. Wow! That’s been a little hard to accept. It’s hard to see what’s happening out there and not to feel the urge to “help,” even though I know everything must fall apart and that all efforts to avoid that fall only intensify and prolong it.

So, I’ve been walking, cross-country skiing, and snow-shoeing a lot more. I’ve even begun sculpting again (something I love to do, but set aside to do “more important” things). I’m focused on relaxing, trusting enjoying, and being grateful. Rather than “doing” I am “being.” Hopefully, I’m also serving as a beacon that others can follow–if they will only let go.

Beginning at the end of December in 2008, I started receiving a series of messages from my non-physical guides. The first message was very direct and simple, “Let go of separation. Accept your place in everything, and harmonize.” That resonated deeply, but left me asking, “So, how exactly am I supposed to accomplish that?” I got an immediate answer to my question. “Let go of all beliefs, judgments, and prejudices–anything that separates.” This quick round of questions and answers gave me much needed, more specific starting point.

I take my guidance seriously, so I immediately set out on a several-day-long process of looking for, examining, and releasing all my separating beliefs, judgments, and prejudices. Honestly, I was shocked by how long that list was. I was equally amazed how easy it was to challenge those old, long-held, illogical ways of thinking–ways of thinking I wasn’t even aware of–and let them go.  

Then, a few nights ago, I was outside for my nightly talk with Mother Earth and Being before I went to bed. As part of that conversation, I asked that I be shown any other separating thoughts I might have missed. The response once again came suprisingly quickly.

The very next morning, while I stood outside in the snow having my morning conversation, my neighbor’s son, home from law school for the holidays, came out and proceeded to start and to move three cars to get his own car out of the driveway. He totally disrupted my calm. The arrogance, self absorbtion, entitlement, and unconsciousness of this young man–who has never spoken to me or my wife in all of the years he’s lived in that house– was impossible to ignore. Opps! Were those judgments I heard myself spouting ?

It hit me like a hammer, as I recognized that these were actually pretty damning judgments. How very perfect. I watched as the young man dealt with the inconvenience he faced. He was patient, never swore once, and was never anything but kind with his mom’s dog that was always under his feet while he labored. What, could I perhaps of misjudged the lad? I used the rest of my time outside looking at this and many other similar judgments–misjudgments…and to thank my guides for answering my request.

Since then, this process has continued every day. I step out into the world and I see my judgments, beliefs, and prejudices reflected back to me time after time in the people I encounter. I would never have guessed that I carried so many.

I now realize that I have two choices when I encounter someone who sees things or does things differently than I might prefer:  I can judge and reject the person, or I can accept and love the person. One choice separates, and one choice unifies. It seems so clear now.

My guides tell me that if I will only let go of my separating beliefs, judgments, and prejudices, then oneness will become apparent. Who would have thought that this would be the doorway I’ve been searching for all these years?

We are part of a whole–a oneness. This is not a spiritual platitude: It is a reality. We not only inhabit this earth, we are integral parts of this earth. We are the conscious beings who, along with the other parts of this magnificent interdependent system, represent the fulfillment of billions of years of evolution. Similarly, we and this earth we live on are part of a unimaginably complex and extensive universe. This symphony of existence originated from one common source, and constantly unfolds in one ever-expanding flow of diversity and consciousness.

We are not–we cannot be–separate from anyone or anything…period. We have simply misperceived reality. In order to let go of our imagined separation we will need to release anything that separates us. In fact, the only things that separate us from the reality of our oneness are our own separating beliefs, judgments, and prejudices.

Put simply, we must empty ourselves of all of the separating beliefs, judgments, and prejudices that we hold. Begin by making a list of the separating beliefs, judgments, and prejudices that you already recognize in yourself, and challenge and release those. Next, notice your daily reactions to the people and world around you to discover the remainder, and release those as well. Lift the veils of filtering misperceptions, and oneness will become apparent.

Trending into 2009 by Steven McFadden

Steven McFadden is a journalist, writer, teacher, astrologer, and a valued friend. He gracefully allowed me to present his “Trending into 2009″ here. I hope you find his summary of trends both interesting and useful.

The evening of December 9, 2008, here in Santa Fe, NM, Jose’ and Lena Stevens presented a talk on the prominent trends they foresee for 2009. As a journalist, and as someone scheduled to give a talk on the 2009 astrological patterns the very next night, I paid close attention. As I listened to them speak, I was struck by how vividly their contemplative insights matched the signals broadcast by the major planetary patterns that characterize the coming years: the recent entry of Pluto into the sign of Capricorn until the year 2024, and the ongoing, dynamic opposition of Saturn and Uranus for next two years.   Virtually all professional astrologers appreciate the basic symbolism of these archetypal planetary movements and the profound death-rebirth, and restructuring processes that that they herald for business, finance, government, and the general status quo of personal, household, community, national, and global systems. The themes Jose’ and Lena Stevens articulated in their talk are distinctly reflected in the sky above.   The themes are also embodied in the numbers. Over the course of the evening at the trends talk, I had a chance to visit briefly with Deirdre Morgan, the gifted numerologist at Santa Fe Soul < http://www.santafesoul.com >. Just seeing Deirdre spontaneously inspired me to process a basic numerological equation: The numbers of the year 2009 add up to an 11 – a Master Number year.   Master Numbers (11, 22, 33, etc.) are especially vibrant and intense. When a Master Number characterizes a period of time, it’s understood that the general energy patterns of that period demand more of people, while also representing the potential to give more in return. I asked Deirdre about that. “Yes,” she confirmed. The numerological vibration of 2009 is a mirror, or equivalent, of what Jose and Lena grasped contemplatively, and what astrologers regard as the basic vibrational signature symbolized by the Saturn-Uranus opposition (2008-2010). As above, so below on our Earth: the opposition signals forceful encounters with reality and unavoidable demands; it also crackles with electric opportunities to go forward, creating new ways to live, to organize and to govern ourselves.   Calm and grounded, sober rather than sensational, Jose’ and Lena Stevens shared the stage for about two hours. As they spoke about 2009 they detailed and synthesized the insights they had gleaned from meditations and ceremonies they undertook a week before their public presentation.   Big shift. Big changes. No road map. But there are paths. This is what they said. They observed North American culture and ways of life would experience high stress in the year ahead, perhaps more stress than the country has ever been through, citing the American Revolution, the Civil War and the Great Depression. “We have to change,” they said. “Everyone knows it, but no one yet knows what will replace it.”   Jose’ and Lena Stevens said that, as they perceive it, a healthy goal to embrace for the year ahead is acceptance — acceptance of major changes and new situations. We are well underway with an unavoidable process of re-defining our security, prosperity, consumption, power, and also corporate identity and function in the world. That’s reality, and there is value in swiftly and gracefully accepting it. Staying stuck in wishing that things would not change, being stubborn and resisting change, blaming others and refusing to forgive, will be problematic stances that function as obstacles to optimum adaptation.   They said that an effective way to work toward the goal of acceptance in the year ahead, is through observation. While there may be no road map for the changes, a mode of observation would tend to restrain impulsive or panicky behavior. By observing what is happening, and then responding carefully and pragmatically to new conditions, what needs to be done gets done.   The Stevenses also said they foresaw a markedly emotional year, a human intensity that would be mirrored in substantial earth change and climate events, with a predominant theme of water (too much water as in the case of heavy rains and floods, too little water as in the case of shortages or drought, or ice shifts as in the case of Earth’s Poles).   While everyone already recognizes the profound global and national shifts in general, Jose’ and Lena said we haven’t seen anything yet. Much more is to come. “This is not an ordinary recession,” they commented. “It will likely represent the most stress the country has ever been through.” They counseled listeners to avoid latching on to that nugget of prophecy, and to let it eat into their souls through worry, for the year ahead also brings great opportunity. They said they saw that in 2009 we reach a tipping point for spiritual awakening and for dynamic, positive sustainable initiatives. Critical mass approaching.   They posed a helpful, guiding question. If massive changes are coming about, then how do we – as individuals, communities, corporations, and nations — harness the energy and power of the changes to create a sustainable, just, and prosperous life?   Jose’ and Lena Stevens recorded their remarks on the trends of 2009, and have made the talk available on a CD through their website: < http://www.thepowerpath.com >.   The very next night I joined Arielle Guttman and Leslie Nathanson of the Sophia Center of Santa Fe on stage at Body Café, where we presented our regular Star*Talk. When Arielle took her turn at the microphone, she characterized the year ahead and the Saturn-Uranus opposition (2008-20100 in classic mythological terms as the ‘Clash of the Titans with Olympus’- an epic encounter that marked an earlier Earth-shaking turn of the ages.   Saturn in opposition to Uranus unfolds five times, marking a span of time when the forces of change and revolution directly confront forces representing the status quo. Uranus mandates change and innovation. Saturn tends to resist it. When these planetary Titans are in opposition, the clash is on.   In celestial collaboration with the long sojourn of Pluto through Capricorn (2008-2024), the Saturn-Uranus opposition symbolizes a foundational shift in consciousness over the globe, evolving most of us inexorably from ideological debates and risky, unsustainable economic behaviors, into a time characterized by an unavoidable need to respond to Earthly realities via pragmatism, restraint, and discipline. The imminent questions revolve not around whose God, cosmology, or philosophy is right, but rather what works? What puts shoes on your feet, a coat on your back, and a glass of clean water on your table?   When my turn to speak came at Star*Talk, I noted a dozen likely things for 2009, but spoke most passionately about our food and farms. These matters, I feel, will become of central importance in the years ahead. It’s not just the big planets traveling through the Earth signs of Virgo and Capricorn that brought me to this realization, but also my lifelong, professional interest in matters agrarian: our land and our food. I am just now completing work on my third book on this topic – The Call of the Land: An Agrarian Primer for the 21st Century. < http://www.thecalloftheland.com >   What I have become acutely aware of through researching and writing The Call of the Land, as well as through noting the relevant planetary patterns, is that our farms and food are in the ongoing thrall of a blitzkrieg of mutations, a pattern of change likely to accelerate soon.   Because agrarian matters are foundational, they influence everything else in our world. Impending matters of finance, transport, petrochemical supply, climate stability, food availability and human health, necessitate — right now — that families, neighborhoods, municipalities, and nations take a clear, visionary look at matters agrarian, and engage in swift, sustainable action.   We have commenced a transition the likes of which few people are prepared for, but to which we all can respond with a wisdom that will reverberate into the future to serve at least the next seven generations of our children. There are a host of positive steps that families, communities, farmers, and corporations are taking, and can take more swiftly and vigorously to establish a wholesome and enduring foundation for our land, our farms, and our food. Those positive steps and models are what I have endeavored to illuminate with the new book.   Immediate, wide-ranging change is a theme I hear when I listen to the call of the land. This call is apparent also in the quiet of mystic contemplation as Jose and Lena Stevens expressed, as in the steady simplicity of the numbers, and as in the timeless, gleaming elegance of the stars and planets. From the transformative turbulence that 2009 promises, opportunities to engage the future with wisdom, can and will emerge. These are the trends unfolding.   Steven McFadden Chiron Communications P.O. Box 29662, Santa Fe, NM 87592  USA http://www.chiron-communications.com http://www.8thfire.net

Change is happening!

A sweeping, life-altering transformation is well under way. Even as old-world structures crumble around us, a new world–bright with possibilities–is already rising. We can begin walking in this beautiful new world—this spiritual renaissance–now.

What will it take to make this shift?

Think of what’s happening as a paradigm shift. Our old assumptions no longer work, and we’re looking for new, different, and better explanations and laws to apply. Our familiar, relied upon ways of thinking and behaving no longer bring the desired, expected results. That’s already pretty clear, isn’t it? The new world paradigm requires an entirely new way of doing things.

In a nutshell, we’re entering a period of love, brotherhood, and peace. I know, that’s still really hard to believe, but it’s true. It’s essential that we move from a focus on the material to the spiritual, that we move from competition to brotherhood, and that we move from fear to love. So, here are some steps you can take to begin living in the new world now:

!.) The single most important step you can take is to release all of your outdated beliefs and attachments (the things you cling to to define yourself)–all of them. They are all hindrances now. If you wait, they’ll all be painfully torn from you, but you can aid the transition by intentionally beginning to empty yourself now. Being empty opens you to seeing and incorporating the new that is arriving. It will serve you much better than being full of old, no longer relevant ways of seeing things.

2.) Open your heart. Go into your heart and will it to embrace an ever-expanding circle of your brothers and sisters, the earth, and Spirit. This will immediately shift your focus away from fear and self-protection, two very limiting alternative motives.

3.) Simplify your life. Reduce you consumption, your use of resources, and your dependence on others.

4.) Harmonize with the earth. Reconnect with the natural world around you. Begin to notice it’s cycles. Begin to think of yourself as a part of the earth, and to see the creatures and plant life as your brothers and sisters. Have an ongoing conversation the spirit of the earth–the Mother.

5.) Harmonize with Spirit. Build in times each day when you meditate, contemplate, and pray. Open yourself to hear guidance.

6. Recognize and accept grace–trust. We are sustained by grace. That grace is much greater than we imagine. It is our own doubts and believed limitations that have prevented us from knowing the true extent of God’s grace. Surrender your erroneous belief that you are responsible for what you have, and realize what you already are given (light, warmth, gravity, food, water, love, bodily function, etc.), and open to more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Events have taken a rather unexpected, but delightful turn. Before I left for Peru in June, my friend, Nick, wrote an email introducing me to his shaman brother there. Nick asked me to invite the shaman to come north to visit the US–a follow-up to several earlier failed attempts on his part. So, when I arrived at the base of Machu Picchu and finally met Kucho (see the description of my time with Kucho in my July 16th blog) I reissued the invitation. Rather than refuse as I had imagined he would, he simply looked at me and responded, “September would be good.” I was surprised by that answer…but still had my doubts.

Back in the states, Nick and I began making preparations for Kucho’s visit. We finished roofing, cleaning, and painting a small guest house by the river in the canyon where Kucho would stay–the man loves Pachamama (Mother Earth). Nick reserved the flights, and emailed Kucho the itinerary for his approval. Then we waited…and waited. We didn’t hear back. The flight reservations expired, and we finally gave up. Eventually Kucho did get back to us, and and that time he expressed a strong desire to come north. Nick rebooked the flights.

I had gotten a lot from my work with Kucho in Peru. The trip changed me in ways that have lasted. I saw his visit here primarily as an opportunity repay Nick for introducing me, and as a chance for others to meet this inspiring, loving man. When Kucho–the larger-than-life Incan shaman of Machu Picchu–arrived here, it was like being in a dream: I could hardly believe it. While I was with him in Peru it was all so magical, accentuated by the fact we only spoke Spanish together. Now he’s here in my land–my house…and I discover the man can actually speak very passable English–hmm.

While Kucho was here, he delivered a talk at a local bookstore, did dozens of individual healing sessions, and led several group ceremonies. The amazing thing (apart from his fluency in English) was how extraordinarily well he performed in every situation, even the ones he’d never done before. He greeted everyone he met as a brother or sister. He connected with Spirit…and the spirit of every person…on each occassion. He acknowledged and honored the earth and earth spirits here just as passionately as he had in Machu Picchu. He did everything with exactly the same sincerity of intention. He lived his life just as seemlessly here as I had seen him live it there.

Kucho, Nick, and I drove to Capital Reef National Park in the southeastern part of the state. The place has always been like a temple to me–it’s my own Machu Picchu. I was very excited to share it with the shaman who had shared so much with me in his sacred land. As I hoped, he was as amazed with the beauty and with the “cleaness” of the desert as I have always been. He called it sacred and treated it as sacred. He touched and prayed over many of the rocks we came across, and talked of, and to, the ancient spirits that live in that land. While we were there we did a despacho (offering) for the desert. Kucho told us the earth there was hungery and thirsty because it hasn’t received our offerings. I got it, and I’ll never go there again without giving my thanks and adding my blessing to the place. Kucho showed me how to better worship in my own temple.

We held a final sunset ceremony overlooking the Salt Lake valley. Again, Kucho conducted a very simple, tender ceremony. He invoked the local spirits and honored the earth, particularly the mountains that surrounded and embraced us. He showed us (we the people who live here every day) the beauty, the protection, and the blessings that surround us here. He showed us our home in a way we had never seen it before. He involved all of the 50+ people in creating a despatcho to bless the earth here, inviting each of us to add our intentions to the gift. For most of us this was the first time we had ever given anything back to the place that has given us so much. People were so touched that they were in tears.

In an email before I went to Peru, Kucho mentioned that he wanted me to bring the energy of the North to Peru so that we could harmonize the energies of the North and South. I did my best, but what an incredible and generous gift he gave in return. He has blessed our land. More than that, he has taught us to love and bless it ourselves.