I am sharing the writings of my friend Sally Beckett-McCollum. She is an amazing shamanic practitioner. Her themes for June and July writings spoke to me and helped me understand what I have been feeling and experiencing. It feels universal as the shifts continue for everyone and Earth itself. You can find Sally at: http://www.healingjourneysb.com/meetsally.htm. If you are interested in her monthly writings contact her to get on her email list.
Here are the excerpts I found most helpful and enlightening for me.
This theme of death and rebirth has been cropping up regularly in my journey writings for the last three years…And no wonder, since we have been experiencing relentless Plutonian close encounters of the life-changing kind during this time frame. Pluto is the planet of death and rebirth whose purpose is to destroy that which doesn’t fit with the Divine Plan for our evolution as a planet or individuals. We are still in the midst of the series of seven Pluto-Uranus Squares which occur between June, 2012 and March, 2015. In April, we experienced the Cardinal Grand Cross (including Pluto as one of the key players). In one of my journeys into the Grand Cross prior to its peak, “It felt like going through an ‘energetic knothole.’ What I heard is that whatever ‘doesn’t fit’ through the knothole will be left on the other side.” A later journey at the peak of the Grand Cross further clarified the effects of this astrological configuration: it felt like going through a sort of birth canal into a new version of reality. Here is that theme again: death of what “doesn’t fit” in our journey through the knothole; birth of something new on the other side. I feel that there has been a birth–a definitive change in baseline energy–since the Grand Cross, at least at the causal level. I have been receiving similar guidance over and over for the last couple of years: release the old; release what no longer serves; let go. Most recently, the June energy forecast from Lee Harris talks about how much intense emotion, and especially grief and fear, are being experienced by many at this time. He wisely advises his audience to open to feeling everything–“The light, the dark and the difficult.” Then, he continues: “This is a very strange time because even though we are growing in consciousness all of the time, that growth also requires constant death inside us. So we have to let go of how we felt about something. We have to let go of how we thought about something.” Hear, hear! Or better: Here, Now! In Soulcraft, Plotkin says that in order to come into soulfullness, we must first enter the underworld (and this theme is common to descriptions of the Hero’s Journey and other similar mythological or archetypal journeys such as that described in the epic poem, “Beowulf” (written in Old English around 975 to 1025) or writings by Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, Jean Houston, and many others). When you first enter, “at the threshold of the underworld, the kingdom of the dark, you encounter a demon–a shadowy element of your own unconscious–that guards the passage.” This is the first step on the journey. The descent is essential.
In last month’s journey writing, Journey Into Death and Rebirth (part one)1, I delved into the process of the death preceding a rebirth–death of the ego, old beliefs, outgrown patterns, lifestyles that no longer serve your vision for yourself, or whatever else must die before a rebirth can take place. In this month’s writing we will continue the journey. What happens after the symbolic death? At my spiritual retreat, I learned that what must die for me is my “old stories.” To be reborn I must be willing to have a “Zen Beginner’s Mind”–to release previously cherished beliefs and be willing to see the world with fresh eyes. As Bill Plotkin states in his insightful book Soulcraft, “To relinquish your former identity is to sacrifice the story you had been living, the one that defined you, empowered you socially–and limited you…your goal is not to discover who you used to be, but rather who you really are.” The death of the old stories is what makes possible the “birth of a larger story, a soul story…” The next critical element in performing a ritual is to set sacred space. This can be done by clearing the space using sage, bells, rattles, blessed sea salt, or just with your intentions to clear. After clearing, call in The Divine. This can be whatever Divine Being(s) you normally meditate with or to whom you pray, Divine Beings you call for special purposes (such as Archangel Gabriel, to assist with creative expression or skillful communication), or can be as simple as “I am surrounded and protected by Divine Light.” When we call upon the Divine, we are always answered.
When the intentions are set in a ritual, they are empowered. The key is then to remain conscious of the intentions you set and your higher vision. As Rumi says, “Don’t go back to sleep.” In 2014 we have been immersed in water signs in a state of gestation, according to astrologer Maurice Fernandez. (At times I have felt a little like I was drowning, and you?). As we shift into Fire there is a birthing of what has been forming in the gestational state into physical manifestation. Maurice advises us that we won’t have many years like this, and to use this incredibly fertile, creative energy with purpose. He says things are going to move and shift at an accelerated pace, and “We’ve been through uncertainty, and now things can materialize.”
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.
Jelaluddin Rumi
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