The promised future was never real – it was a promoter’s dream
The striving and grasping for success / excess
The loneliness, desperation and greed
Limitless growth – untethered to reality
We are in the time of unraveling – chaos – the end times of modernity
The time of uncertainty
The time of deep initiation
Calamities await us
All driven by business as usual
Nature: fire, smoke, flood, drought, wind, heat, tsunami, sea level rise, ocean circulation slowdown/failure, species and ecosystem loss/extinction, crop failure, and multiple ecosystem tipping points
Human: war, disease, artificial intelligence, inflation, deflation, debt default, fascism, mass migration, civic unrest/riots/revolution
To name a few
Time to shed the blind notion that politicians, governments, corporations or other institutions are going to take care of things – that the elites, the aliens, or anyone else, will rescue us.
There is no secret passage to a magical, conscious future
Endings and death always come before rebirth
Acknowledging, knowing and naming our predicament (including what will likely occur in our location), allows us to reclaim our power
To prepare emotionally, spiritually, physically, and with family / community
We don’t get to decide the macro picture of the future – it is emergent and now well set on its course – but we do get to choose how we respond
We face a spiraling mix of fear and grief
Intertwined – what we have already lost, are loosing, and what we fear / know we will loose
There is much to fear:
For ourselves, our families, and communities
As inconvenience transitions to discomfort, through disillusionment, past disruption into disaster. Endings, accusations, regrets, stripped of distractions and delusions.
And to grieve – there is so much to grieve
Watching what we love – breaking down – in the natural world and in society
If we allow ourselves to leave the surface and descend we can fall into the darkness of grief – like we fall in love
But as with love, grief will change us – if we let down our defended identities and protections
In self compassion
Sometimes it is grief we fear the most
Acknowledging, expressing and releasing fear and grief can free us of their tightest grip and builds our inner emotional and spiritual courage
Through vulnerability
There is also so much to be grateful for:
All the gifts of Pachamama, our essentials for life, family, friends, community, beauty, kindness, generosity, creativity, awe and wonder
To name a few
Acknowledging and expressing gratitude builds our inner heart capacity and shifts our focus
As does honoring the sacred
Even while living on the edge of despair
We can know how to be, even when unsure of what to do
Be in community – be kind, generous and passionate
Practice acknowledging fear, grief and gratitude
With sensitivity
Together
.
Workshop Preparation:
Find a piece of wood that will be a symbolic carrier of your grief and fear. This will be burned in the fire, so a piece smaller than approximately “15” long is best.
Find a stone that “speaks to you” and will hold the energy of your gratitude. This will stay with you.
Remember to ask permission to take / use these ‘beings’ and work with them.
When asking permission, if you get a ‘no’ that is likely Pachamama’s way of directing you to a ‘better’ piece of wood or stone.
Grief and Fear
Make a list of what you fear and a second list of what you feel grief about.
Choose two or three of each that carry the most energetic impact and that you want to work on.
Gratitude
Make a list of what you are most grateful for in your life.
Choose two or three of them that are most important and that you want to explore more deeply.
Workshop Process: Two phases of sound work, plus a ceremonial fire
Phase 1 – Grief and Fear
Circle: Describe two or three things that you fear most at the moment – describe where these fears are held in your body.
Describe two or three things that you most feel grief about – describe where they are held in your body.
Sound session: 20+ min. Exploring deeper into the feelings of grief and fear.
Sitting with them, seeing what they might offer you, seeing how they might shift or clear.
Place your Grief / Fear piece of wood on your heart or beside you. (When lying down)
Shaking, tears and vocalizing of grief and fear during the session is fine / appropriate.
At the end of the sound session, blow / sing the grief and fear that is in your body, mind or emotions into your piece of wood.
Sharing and deepening into the sound work.
Drink water / breathe
Phase 2 Gratitude
Circle: What are you most grateful for? Where is this gratitude held in your body.
Sound session: 20+ min Exploring deeper into feeling gratitude.
How does gratitude shift our bodies and minds when we deeply acknowledge it.
Place your Gratitude stone on your heart or beside you.
At the end of the session, blow / sing your gratitude into the stone and ask it to “transmit” the gratitude back to you when you work with it. Continue this back and forth process over time – charge the stone with gratitude for things that come to you (day to day or in meditation) – then ask the stone to “remind” you when you need a “gratitude boost”.
Sharing and deepening of the sound work
Drink water / breathe
Ceremonial Fire
Lighting the fire, calling in the energies.
Rattle / chanting around the fire.
Each person comes to the fire twice – once to burn their wood and release the energy of fear and grief – and once to receive the blessings of the fire and the six directions.
Sharing of food and community
Note:
In these times it is critically important:
To continue to do our personal work of transformation to authenticity
To no longer be stuck / frozen / dissociated in the old trauma-based protection programs
To no longer be controlled by the past triggers, reactions, beliefs, and patterns
To be present and capable of inner regulation of body, mind, and emotions
To increase our open-hearted capacity; to suffering, to compassion, to love
To open to intuition, mystery, synchronicity, wonder and inner guidance
Building our inner foundation for what is to come