Dear Friends of the Light,
Know that as the world you think you know unravels and shreds, you are not alone.
Dear Friends of the Light,
Like many of you, I've spent much of the past month in retreat. After an active July — during which my "volcano tour" of the U.S. Pacific Northwest took me from California's Mount Shasta and Washington's Olympic Mountains to Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park — I landed for a month in Fort Collins, about an hour north of Denver. There, I did little but draw — 11 new drawings, nearly all of them volcanic in nature.
That's a lot of fire.
The thing about fire, particularly volcanic fire, is that it's a powerful force of both destruction and creation. I think of the Big Island of Hawai'i, where I lived for 18 months seven years ago. There, guided by volcano goddess Pele, Kilauea's outpourings of molten lava altered the island's shape and topography (and mine) almost daily.
Pele, according to Hawaiian tradition, is not simply the goddess of Hawaiian volcanoes. She is the goddess of all volcanoes, including those I visited or saw from the road during my summer travels.
Clearly, Pele was with me in July, once again changing the contours of my life as surely as she transformed the land surrounding Mount St. Helens 26 years ago.
One of the characteristics of fire — volcanic or otherwise — is the uncertainty it engenders. In the midst of the conflagration, it's not always clear to us what is being destroyed, what the consumed landscape (inner or outer) will look like when the flames are extinguished or what new phoenix will emerge from the ash.
All we can do is be in the moment of the fire, in the dance of the flames. All we can do is surrender to the dance of destruction and creation, death and rebirth, that is the hallmark of all transformation.
All we can do is celebrate the certainty of uncertainty and trust that the higher forces conducting this Symphony of Fire are supporting us fully in this unsettling time.
Truly, we have little choice. The cycle of renewal has accelerated to such a degree that the pace of transformation we are experiencing is as relentless as it feels. Ultimately, the resulting uncertainty is the only constant we can count on.
One might think that during a solar eclipse — such as the one we're experiencing today (alongside a new moon and the ushering in of Libra) — anything that masks the sun would provide a respite from all that fire. Don't count on it.
Today's is an annular eclipse, which means a ring of sun-fire will still be visible around the edges of the moon when it passes in front of the sun. As well, even that incomplete masking will not be visible to most of us, given that the eclipse path carries it largely over the ocean.
In effect, uncertainty is the new norm and old definitions of stability and groundedness no longer apply.
Think about it: As we move into an awareness of higher dimensions and planes of existence — as we increasingly live in those "places" — the solidity we grew up with grows, well, less solid.
In physical terms, solidity is an illusion. Our bodies are at least 60 percent water. Even that water (and pretty much everything else) consists of nothing more than atoms vibrating in empty space.
As for grounding, how much sense does it make to ground our bodies into a sphere whose core is molten, a sphere that is hurtling through the largely empty space of a solar system and universe?
Nothing in nature is fixed. Nothing stands still. Everything is in motion, in throes of some sort of trans-formation, change of form.
That's the only certainty.
As much sense as that makes, it's still unsettling. Nothing in our education, upbringing or socialization has prepared us for this experience.
As a result, it's easy to fall into fear, to flounder in overwhelm.
Both are quintessentially human reactions and there's nothing wrong with either of them, as I wrote in the last newsletter (No More Fear!), unless we give in to them, unless we get stuck there.
In the end, there is only one strategy for dealing with the permanent state of flux in which we're now living: Staying in the moment.
The only stability is in the space between breaths. The only certainty is in this moment. The only grounding is in our divinity.
The human body — physical and emotional — that's experiencing the stress and strain of our rapidly shifting "reality" is not alone on this journey, as lonely as it sometimes feels.
Earlier this week, in a moment of just such loneliness, these words moved through me as I hiked through Santa Fe's eastern foothills. I share them now with you.
You are safe. You are protected. You are loved. You do not walk alone.
In these times of great intensity, great upheaval, great uncertainty, great chaos and great turmoil, in these times when it seems you are unsupported, ungrounded, unprotected and insecure, it is important to remember that through all that and despite all that, you do not walk alone.
You see yourself as a body, as a mind and, some days, as a heart, but you are much more than that.
You are many aspects and personalities, many dimensions and energies, many loves and lights, many masters and angels, many fairies and elves, many galactic beings. You are all of these.
All of these walk with you in this moment, for they are within you in this moment, a part of you always.
And so know, as the world you think you know unravels and shreds, you are not alone.
You are supported. You are protected. And in the midst of all this evolution and revolution, you are now and forever safe.
May these words help and support you as much as they have helped and supported me.
Namaste,
Mark David
News & Notes
The fires of uncertainty and transformation have certainly been playing out in my life and work...
• Although I'm still heading north and east for live initiation events, the schedule has changed (and may again). The event in Mount Vernon, IN has been cancelled, and there may be some shifts in my Michigan schedule. As well, I probably won't be swinging back through the midwest in November/December (which means no Lansing event this time around). You can check out the current tour schedule in the sidebar, above right, as well as on my web site's calendar and registration pages.
• It's starting to feel as though my days on the road are numbered. Once I'm done in South Dakota, Wisconsin and Michigan (and if flux doesn't have its way yet again), I expect to "land" somewhere more or less permanent....whatever that means!
• For the first time since starting to offer teleconferences three years ago, I canceled one. If you meant to sign up for the Sept. 12 event and didn't, no worries: it never happened!
• The October 4 teleconference, originally slated to focus on peace has been refocused. Retitled Thriving in the Age of Uncertainty it will help you with the fear and overwhelm toward which we naturally gravitate when life is uncertain, unstable and in flux. The sounds (and it will be almost exclusively sound) will help you ground into your divinity, feel safe and protected and remain anchored in the moment.
• If you have issues or chronic concerns that require more than a single session to resolve, I'm now offering discounts for multiple sessions.
• Starting October 29 and running five Sunday evenings through December 3 (skipping Thanksgiving weekend), I'll be offering a teleclass titled The Wisdom-Keeper Training: The Way of the New Medicine Wheel. Its focus is our move from the Information Age to the Age of Wisdom and your role as a way-shower in this (r)evolution. There's a discount for registrations paid in full by October 3.
• If you subscribe to my New Earth Chronicles, you'll have noticed an unplanned/undesired change. Instead of receiving the full text of the two new posts in your inbox, you will have received only the first few lines. Clicking on the titles in your e-mail (or the above link), will take you to the blog site and the complete text. I hope to have that glitch resolved before the next mailing.
• If you don't subscribe to my New Earth Chronicles, you'll find the two newest posts — Lemuria Calling and Free to Love, Free to Be — at http://markdavidgerson.blogspot.com.
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