[Blog (Non-channeled) March 2010]

The other day a client asked Polaris in session about coffee. She wanted to know whether coffee was good for her since she had heard conflicting reports from various spiritually-oriented sources. In the split second between the client's question and Polaris' answer, I had time to wonder myself. After all, I've been off coffee for two months. In part, it was because I had run out of the "good stuff" (organic, free trade, shade-grown, light roast — none of that burnt stuff for me!). And in part it was because I had heard messages for myself at the beginning of the year to lay off coffee for awhile. And while kicking coffee could almost be a blog post in itself, it wasn't a big deal.

In that split second I figured there'd be judgment about coffee. Maybe to support my own decision to lay off for a while.

But the split second only lasted a, well, split second.

Surpisingly, Polaris said coffee can be useful. One or maybe two cups a day, they said, but get this:

Think of your coffee as a sacred spiritual beverage that connects you to its aboriginal origins.

Ooo. I hadn't thought of that. Sacred spiritual beverage? Aboriginal origins? I'm liking that idea. Suddenly I have visuals of groups of people around a central fire. They have warm skin tones and are passing a vessel around the circle, each taking a drink. The drink and the fire warms them, and the drinking together connects them. It is good.

Having procured some more of the "good stuff" (I get mine from Origins Coffee Roasters in Vancouver, but Camano Island Roasters in Washington is good, too), this morning I decided to drink a cup while connecting to the sacred spiritual aspects of it.

I thought about drinking the coffee pure, that is, black. After all, the aboriginal origins of coffee likely didn't involve lattes. But bleh. I wanted to enjoy the experience. I don't use sugar, but I do bow to the gods of dairy, at least as much as I need to for a tablespoon of organic half-and-half.

Mindful eating can be a wonderful experience. Polaris suggests it often. It involves threading your way back to your food's origins and all the hands it has passed through to get to you, including yours. You also regard the soil that the food grew in, and the sun that warmed it and the rains that fed it. You meditate on that for a while and then when you finally eat, you really explore the explosion of sensory experience that eating is: smell, taste, texture, emotional connections.

Drinking coffee mindfully is much the same. Think of your coffee as a sacred spiritual beverage that connects you to its aboriginal origins.

I held my cup and looked at it, admiring the color of cafe au lait. I brought my face closer and took a big inhaling breath. Instantly I saw the fire again, the people gathered around it, chanting. I saw people picking the ripe coffee beans, singing. There's a song for the ripening, and a song for the harvesting. There's another song for the preparation of the beans, the shelling, roasting, and grinding. I took another deep breath of the aroma wafting from my cup and remembered my own past as a warm-skinned, barefooted person, climbing rocky hillsides, grateful for the warmth of the fire at night when the air is chill.

I sipped the coffee and felt memories course through my body. I feel them still. I am remembering. My past, our shared sacred past, is in my veins now. A part of me forever.

Are you a coffee drinker? This experience is highly recommended. Leave a comment about how it goes for you if you try, too, regarding your morning coffee as a sacred spiritual beverage. Your mornings might never be the same.

The theme for the month of March is Chaos.

March is a month of seeming contradiction. You are perhaps familiar with the adage that March “comes in like a lion and out like a lamb”? This is a reference to weather but could also be applied to the winds of change permeating your very existence. In other words, what appears calm on the surface is seething and roiling underneath, and what appears chaotic is in actuality forming a new, more stable foundation.

Let us examine our theme of Chaos. When defined, one finds that chaos is in actuality quite structured.  In other words, it is unpredictability within a highly defined and perhaps rigid set of rules. Would you not say that this is your world, in part? In your universe there are certain rules within which, at times, there is certain unpredictability. Even the very appearance of individuals within the human race is subject to this: there is a general set of ‘rules’ (DNA structure, for example) within which there are endless – and seemingly unpredictable – variations. Chromosomal abnormalities. Cancer markers that are never triggered into actual cancer. Endless variations in size, color, personality and other peculiarities of the human manifestation that don’t seem subject to any rules. This is the hallmark of your world – this seeming contradiction – yet many of you have endless difficulty with the fluidity of choices available to you at any given time.

This seeming contradiction is part of what is going to be becoming stronger and more apparent as time goes by. How will this manifest in ways easily perceivable?

Physical manifestation of energetic chaos

1. Increased weather “events”. We have talked before about climate changes and extreme weather, have we not? You may expect, subject to region, further such extreme events over many areas, some widespread.  Drought is beginning this month across parts of India, Africa, and the southwestern part of the US. At the same time, extra precipitation is expected across much of western and southern Europe, the South Pacific, the central and Eastern US, the Caribbean, and much of South America. This precipitation could arise in the form of hurricane-like weather. Or other extreme events.

2. Earthquakes and volcanic activity. As above, so below. Look for increased visibility and awareness of Pacific Rim (especially the South Pacific, also possibly Alaska) activity this month as well as isolated earthquakes in areas not generally known for them (central US, eastern Europe). It is likely that a fairly devastating quake takes place in a populated area within the next 60-90 days.

3. Discoveries of genetic aberrations or new species are likely to be found in the animal kingdom. Animals and plants are, of course, subject to this chaotic energy as are people and the earth as a whole. While it is true that the animals, plant, and mineral kingdoms respond to such change with greater apparent aplomb, change affects all. What will be likely, then, are overt and tangible effects to the energetic shifts, resulting the “new” species, flocks of “deformed” species found regionally, or other similar discoveries.

Intrapersonal manifestation of energetic chaos

1. People “snapping.” This can be on a low level (increased arguments between spouses and children) or on a wider level (employees ‘going postal’, random attacks, mob situations, etc). It can be helpful to remember that this is occurring worldwide, not just in your neighborhood, and that the statistical likelihood of being a part of such an occurrence is relatively low. If this is a fear for you, please try the following:

Standing near a table or waist high horizontal surface, stand with feet hip width apart while your hands rest on this surface.

Take a moment to breathe and remember your particular fears surrounding this potential occurrence. Imagine while you do so that the charkas in your hands and feet are opening fully to embrace the energy of your planet: your home, the Earth. 

Feel the enormous loving energy pouring in to you now through your hands and feet. Your hands may feel warm and tingling. Feel the pulsating aliveness of your planet, the place you call home and that you, along with billions of others, are creating. Feel the love inherent in this energy of your creation. Feel the safety inherent in this energy of your creation.

Draw this energy, along with the live connected to it, up through your hands, feet, arms, and legs. Allow the energy to meet and mix in your root chakra. Feel your center of consciousness drop a few inches as you do so. Feel any tightness on your heart area now dissipate. Feel the immense sense of perpetual, eternal safety wrap your being in a soft, warm blanket. Feel how this sense of safety was created by you, along with billions of others, in the creation of your world as you know it to be. Remember that you carry with you a bubble that includes this sense of safety and protection.

Feel it now and rest in your ability to re-create this sense any time you wish.

2. Relationship hurdles. This is a huge month of growth for people involved in all sorts of relationships.  Long-held patterns may be released this month. Expect things to re-surface so they can be released.

Welcome these issues rather than attempting to submerge them again.

Those who are less self-aware will have greater difficulties relationship-wise this month, but if it is your practice to be aware of these patterns, then you should have little difficulty allowing them to simply drift away into the winds of change that surround you. Understanding, too, that any seeming surface disruption is for many a sign of healing underneath that is long-lasting and permanent in nature. This relates to all sorts pf relationships, from intimate connections to family dynamics to work relationships, as well as the relationship to Self that each of you possesses. Again, look for outward conflict as a sign of inner healing and change.

3. Spiritual depth. For those of you seeking greater self awareness, this is a month in which you can easily accelerate your growth. We would caution against becoming stuck in linear terms to describe such growth (‘evolving’, ‘moving forward’, ‘ascension’, etc), but at the same time there are exponential possibilities this month that will allow you great enhancement of whatever path you are presently choosing and such terms can be useful in this manner.

Practices to assist in flowing with, not against, the energy of Chaos

You can, of course, enhance your sensation of flow in relation to the energy that is around you at this time. This is not, of course, to allow you to “control” your experience or outcome, but is more designed to help you feel movement in a pleasurable way.

1. Practice an energy movement exercise. This could be tai chi, qigung, or some forms of yoga or meditation – anything where energy is consciously and deliberately moved through the body. This is very much a month in which to let go of conscious thought and allow your other wisdom (of the body, of the soul) to surface. Even if you have mental resistance against such exercises – and we would suggest daily use to enhance the effects – this is a case where “just doing it” is the most helpful approach. A side benefit, of course, is that after 30 days of such practice is becomes a habit, which in our perception would only continue to be beneficial.

2. Drink water. More than ever, this is an important practice. Pure, filtered water, preferably from a source local to you, is best. A liter per 50 pounds of body weight.

3. Breathe. Again, this is such a basic practice that is welcome at any time. Try simply breathing as fully as possible when you first awaken. Not only are you more relaxed at this time, making it easier to actually “get” a full, deep breath, but it will help create the tone for the day and energize and fully awaken your body. Spending 3-4 minutes in contemplative, deep breathing upon awakening will greatly enhance your abilities to flow with this month’s energy.

In addition to these practices, we suggest going within to seek answers to long-held questions. We are, of course, available to those who seek our advice and will continue to make our presence known to an ever-increasing number, but we also support your abilities to seek the inner guidance that is always inside you.

May you rest in the seeming contradictions.

[Blog (non channeled), Feb 2010]

Sometimes your past comes back to you like an old friend.

Several months ago, I noticed I had a resumed interest in examining the Michael teachings. This has been reflected in part by newer channeling, some of which you can see here in pages about energy dynamics like Martyrdom, Arrogance, Greed, and Self-Destruction. It's also been an internal journey. The Michael teachings have been a basis for and integral part of my personal spiritual cosmology since I was 18. And while that cosmology has expanded exponentially with my work with Polaris, the Michael teachings are a sort of spiritual home for me.

You may have noticed some changes on the site. Some are little but (to my esthetic Artisan heart) vast in feel. Some are a little bigger, and there are more to come as I evolve as a human and as a spiritual teacher. Life is more fun when you allow things to change, you know?

It's my pleasure, then, to call your attention to a couple of smallish but truly huge changes. If you have absolutely no familiarity with the Michael teachings but are curious, or you're just dabbiling your toes in it (or even if you're an old Michael hand), there's a series of pages beginning with this one that explains everything. And on that page is an interactive glossary feature that explains the wonderful and rich lexicon that is particular to the Michael teachings body of work. You can also explore the glossary just on its own. Go ahead, click! You know you want to. Polaris uses some of these terms as well at times, so please explore. Like with every body of spiritual teaching, take from it what is yours, whatever parts resonate for you.

It's our gift to you.

[Blog (non channeled), Feb 2010]

I've recently given a lot of thought and exploration to the idea of separateness.

When I've participated in or talked about either progressive causes and spirituality, there's the beautific affirmation about the "interconnectedness of All That Is". There's some basic truth there. Psychological and health studies have shown our well-being is intrinsically connected with that of our community. Materially, as we extract resources from the Earth in an imbalanced way or ignore the downwind effect of our consumption on other cultures, we may create ripples of suffering at many points in the chain. Or, as is mentioned in various spiritual teachings such as Advaita Vedanta, mystical christianity or channeled teachings, oneness is fact - there is utterly no separation between different manifestations of the one source and Beingness. Resting in the oneness of All That Is - the experience of enlightenment - is the magical realization that creates joy.

What I've realized for myself is that trying to get there has worked out to be simply (if you'll excuse the term) mental masturbation. Have you ever read books over and over again, just trying to get it? Trying to get, for instance, the Law of Attraction so that you can attract just what you want, and assuming that if you didn't get it, it's your doing and you just have to try harder? It's the thought that because this path to joy is so incredibly simple, it must just require a little more effort. And that effort - that trying - turns out to be a fight. And when it becomes obsessive, that fight becomes a war.

Yes, I've at times made war on the idea of separateness and all the things I equate with it. After some suffering - and some laughter - I've realized trying to get there just ends up with me clobbering myself with the concepts. It creates a dogma. Because joy and surrender supposedly depend on that being-based knowingness of oneness, I either consciously or unconsciously push those beautiful thoughts inside my brain. When it doesn't rest, I push harder. I make a great effort, which in this case is about exerting force on myself. Trying to control myself. But there's one indisputable truth:

If control actually worked, we'd all already be happy.

The theme for this month is Flow. When we speak of Flow in this context, we speak of the ability you all have — perhaps something unique to your species, at least in your way of doing so — of assimilating yourselves into that which surrounds you. In other words, you take in the energy of what is around you and breathe it into yourself, sometimes quite literally, creating an ever-changing new organism with each breath.

When we speak of “what is around you” we mean this:

• The literal air and all it contains: particulate matter, the pheromones of nearby lovers, the scent of the pot roast bubbling on the stove in your kitchen.
• Visual stimuli: the flowers in a vase on your table, the piles of clutter on your desk, the view outside your window.
• Clothing and furniture: the touch, smell, and feel of what touches your physical body.
• Energetic information: every tangible item or person (or non-human being, such as pets, plants, and stones) has with it an energetic signal, and this you also take in.

Each of these things that you take in, the actual tangible things as well as the energetic information, also contains within it all the memories you have ever experienced of similar such things. When you observe the vase of flowers on your table and take that into your being, you take with it the memory of all flowers in vases you have ever observed, and all similar-colored flowers you have observed growing, perhaps, in gardens, as well as the memories that come flooding into you with the scent of flowers, the color of flowers, and the feeling of warm sun on your back as you, perhaps, once walked through a garden filled with flowers.

[non-channeled]

Like many people whose eyes, ears, and fingertips are connected by the vast Interwebs, I heard the news of yesterday’s devastating Haiti earthquake via Twitter.

7.0. I’ve been in a 5.5. I know that 6-point-something is pretty damaging. Every point-something is a factor of 10 in magnitude. So this 7.0, in a country where most people are painfully poor and (I imagine) live in the kind of rickety shack housing I’ve seen elsewhere in the Caribbean, is huge.

And it is. According to what little I have read (and I avoid TV news like the plague), 100,000 people could already have died. And the inevitable deaths from disease due to damaged water systems, lack of food and shelter, could raise the figure precipitously.

I am trying to figure out how I feel about this. What I feel.

In 2001, when we all saw surreal footage of airplanes flying into tall buildings that had become part of an iconic skyline, I felt something. That night I lay in bed and imagined helping herald 2000 confused souls into a warm light-filled embrace, and helping tens of thousands more through those first days of shock and outrage. In the days that followed, it became easy. All that shock and outrage got funneled into hating someone and something that someone else decided we should be hating anyway.

That’s how wars start.

But how do you hate an earthquake?

We can’t hate the earth, because it’s our home. It sustains us.

Less than two weeks ago I channeled information about people — many people — choosing to exit their earthly lives this year. In working with this kind of information, I try to remain a little distant and not feel the pain and grief associated with such an eventuality. When just one person dies, many grieve. I’ve protected myself from feeling that on a grand scale. My fear is that I’d be overwhelmed by the immensity of such pain on that large a scale. Many people transitioning? There are 7 billion or so on the planet now. A few thousand here or there doesn’t make much difference overall. Many people would have to be … many.

People.

100,000 beautiful, alive, loving people in Haiti died yesterday, ending lives that had love and pain and laughter and tears. And it wasn’t an ethereal Rapture, where they simply got lifted up into some alternate reality. No, a good many of these people likely died in pain. That’s twice as many people as live in the small city that is my home, and it’s pain that I am afraid to feel.

What is compassion?

I think about Haiti, just as I thought about the Christmas tsunami a few years ago. I hear a big ’should’ in my head. I should be feeling this, because I can. It’s my job, my livelihood, to tap into a global consciousness, or into the energy body of a single person. To me, it’s all the same.

And yet, I don’t.

Last night I approached a woman, older than me, who I knew had been having some physical issues. I asked how she was. I could see how she was, could see where there were energy blockages. I asked her permission to touch her, and I briefly touched points on her shoulders and down her back. I asked about her feet because I could feel immense pain there. I wept, not from the pain but from the sense of it.

I can feel pain without feeling it. Strange, that.

And yet I don’t go to Haiti. This makes me smaller somehow, less human, I fear.

Last night I also wrote a column in which I cried about some of my fears. Fears of my own fragility. In the light of the new day I can see that this was, in some way, an expression of my response to Haiti. I know we all process everything that comes into our being — from near or far, it’s all the same — through our personal perception lenses. That’s not being selfish, it’s being human. We can’t help it. So I transferred the cries of tens of thousands of throats into one cry from a single throat, crying, “Who will help me when I have need?”

I could rationalize that just as children are better off when you let them make their own lives and their own mistakes, that I should keep my virtual hands of Haiti and let things transpire there as they will. I am not Atlas and I cannot hold the world on my shoulders. I have trouble some days with my own piece of the world.

At the risk of sounding trite, or incomplete, I can love. In the end, that’s all any of us can do. For some, love will be a $10 donation to the Red Cross. For others, it’s being airlifted along with dogs and rescue teams to pull people out from under buildings. For still others, it’s prayer. And for others, it’s a blink in the daily crush of living. Who am I to determine which facet of love has more merit?

[non-channeled]

I used to write poetry when I was young. It fell out of my heart and remained caught in a blank space for a long time, but I have made room in my heart for poetry again. It feels good. This piece is like time-travel and speaks from a place in my past.

Longing

I long to travel where my body cannot go;

through doors and walls and windows

to unseen worlds of dizzying possibility.

I lie awake, willing a single silver cord

to emerge from my body like an astral umbilicus.

At the mirror I chant I AM

and wait for the reflected worlds behind me to unfold

like petals after a spring rain,

worlds that will swallow me into nothingness.

One day I will scream for an hour so shards of my

shattered heart will break my brain into halves

and I will disappear between them.

Float away, Self, I whisper in my dreams

that follow me like twisted shadows.

Float away and unwind the becoming,

banners at rest and respectfully waiting,

all time suspended.

A friend recently posted her reflections from 2009 and hopes for 2010, and I was especially intrigued and touched by her chosen theme for the coming year -- gentleness. It's my friend's intention to be gentle with herself this year, releasing herself from the bindings of the need for perfection and from the desire to do all and be all. Isn't that lovely?

I thought it was a wonderful theme for the year, and it got me to thinking. I post a lengthy channeled message every month -- as well as one for the entire year -- which typically includes a theme for that period of time. Why not choose one (or listen to the one your heart sings to you) on a personal level each year?

After upheaval comes quiet, at least for a while. It’s a time of taking stock, of seeing what’s in the larder, and then moving ahead again into new territory. By month’s end, many of you will have unearthed a direction or secret resolve that you intend to move forward upon into the future.

The stabilizing energy is a direction to head toward. There will likely be a number of ups and downs along the way — realizations and discoveries — but on the whole, the energy of January speaks to an overall stabilizing effect so that further deepening and movement can be possible in the future.

Effects on a personal level

What does this mean to you personally? For starters, it’s about bringing things to the surface. Not so much in the dramatic ways of the past few months, but more lovingly, tenderly, almost as if you are greeting inner parts of you for the first time, giving birth to the most precious deep elements to the creation that is you. So you can expect feelings of surprise, wonder, childlike yearnings, and innocence to be crossing your path this month.

Another effect of January’s energy on a personal level is a sense of greater connection. This may occur for you on a family level, between neighbors, in a community, or on a virtual basis, but awareness of the greater whole that is all of humanity will be becoming more evident this month. Deepen this for yourself by reaching out in tangible ways to those around you — volunteer, give charitably, or simply host a gathering.

Right now you – all of you – stand poised at the edge of a precipice, ready to jump. Or to fly.

2010 is a pivotal year. We have been telling you about changes taking place within you and around you these past several months. Many of you have begun deep, lasting, and profound inner transformation as a result of choosing to step into the flow of change that is taking place all around the world. We repeat here what many of you have heard from other sources, or perhaps sensed yourself: you are here – now – for a reason. Most of you reading these words will feel a familiar tingling or chill right about now. You are here, right now, in this place and in this time, to take part in what is likely to be one of your species’ greatest times of expansion.

First, a caveat. The change that we speak of will take years to complete or even to come to a place that is readily discernible by most people as great change. This – now – is just the beginning stage of great overall growth. Expansion. You have agreed to be a part of what will end up being among the beginning stage of this expansion. Many of you will intend to incarnate again later on for a role in later stages of this change that will likely require several hundred years overall.

But understand, too, that change is occurring. Many of you are sensitive enough to feel what’s coming and to incorporate new ways of relating into your own lives. Many of you are now riding the crest of the wave yet to come.

Now, what do we mean by “expansion”? The human species has collectively agreed and chosen to begin evolving in certain ways that will eventually support new ways of interacting. Evolution has been occurring throughout your entire history, of course, but soon there will be more evidential changes taking place. Nothing so drastic, perhaps, as growing gills to breathe underwater, but just as significant in the overall effect.

December is the month of richness. Not “rich” in the material sense, although that is certainly a possibility for those on that path, but rich in the sense of depth. Added complexity. Layers unfolding layers. Last month you allowed what was under the surface to bubble up to conscious awareness; this month you explore things more deeply, in a rich, soul-satisfying way. You'll see the strata of each layer of past experience and insight, and this month the patterns become more clear and beautiful. You sense purpose in your experience. Everything you have been before this moment has built the You that you are now, and you rest this month in that knowledge.

It’s no accident that this energy is occurring along with a few other things going on in the world at this time:

1. End-of-calendar-year review. Now you’ll be looking back over the past year, a convenient marker or milepost, to see where you’ve been and the journey it took to get to where you stand now.

2. December religious holidays, for whatever amount of significance they hold for you personally, are extremely affecting to the vast majority of people in the world. Even if you don’t personally hold religious significance to this time of year, there’s a pervasive sense of global collective awareness this time of year. Now, more so than other times of the year, you are aware of the connections you have to all of humanity.

3. Solstice. For the Northern Hemisphere it’s the winter solstice, the time of inward contraction, which invites inner exploration. In the South there’s expansion with the summer solstice. Two magnetic poles in perfect balance. Overall, this affects your richness explorations by inviting you to feel more in tune with the energy of your region.

4. Copenhagen energy talks. Much of the direction you’ll be headed on a collective basis in terms of how humans and the earth interrelate will manifest through the results of this summit. If you like making predictions, pay attention to what goes on here.

It is helpful, with all this collective energy abounding, to bring yourself to a place of conscious connection to the global collective entity known as “humanity” as well as to the larger global collective entity known as “Earth.” To create a stronger conscious connection, we suggest the following. This exercise is most effective if done as a group experience, but can also be practiced alone:

Lie directly on the ground if possible, or on the floor of what feels to you like a comfortable space.  Lying on your back, take a few deep breaths to relax your body somewhat and to allow you to focus your energy and attention.

When you feel that you have expanded into the space surrounding your body (about 6-8 inches all around your body), focus your awareness on the space within your heart. As you do so, notice that this space is of infinite size – although it is contained within your awareness, it extends in every direction toward infinity.

Maintaining your awareness of that space, allow yourself to imagine a golden light emanating from that space, dropping down into the center of the Earth below you. The center of the Earth, you now notice, is also a space of infinite proportion just as your heart-space is. The two infinite spaces are now connected by the golden light.

You are now connected to this source of energy that exists within your planet that fuels and connects the global collective entity known as “humanity”. You are also now connected to the global collective entity known as “Earth.” You are no bigger and no smaller than either of these entities.

Your own space is as infinite as any other.

Practice this daily if you can this month, especially on the solstice.

Other ways this energy of richness will appear this month, beyond that of a personal nature:

Gratitude is the state of being open to what is present around you. It's receiving, being fully open — without judgment — to the state of what is around you.

Energetically, gratitude is an invitation into the third chakra to take in the totality of the energy of that which surrounds you. You can focus on something particular to hold that openness to. For instance, you could be grateful for a person and be open to their energy, inviting it in through your third chakra to then infuse you. You can be grateful to a situation and allow the energy of the state of something, as you perceive it, to be more a part of you.

Most people, in their normal state, are in a state of resistance. The amount of resistance varies from person to person and will vary for a particular person from situation to situation or from interaction to interaction. In other words, there is a spectrum of resistance.

Since most people are in a constant state of some resistance there is little awareness of the resistance that they are holding. The majority of people are in a rather low level state of resistance. Moving from that low level end of the spectrum to the more intensely resistant end of the spectrum is noticeable — and that's when it kicks in to conscious awareness for most people.

[Blog (non channeled), Nov 2009]

One of my loves is the theatre.  I've studied acting, clowning, and improvisation, and I've performed onstage for years, everything from bedroom farce to Dracula to Shakespeare.  I love it because it brings me to a heightened state of aliveness.

My love of acting has little to do with the adulation that comes from the applause for a good performance, but it has everything to do with acting's relationship to an inner exploration.  In acting, you explore your very identity.  You explore creation.  You explore going within yourself in order to be someone else.  You find other beings and energy inside yourself. By doing this, you expand yourself - and expand everyone else who watches.

All of the other actors I know who value this aspect of acting as I do are also very spiritual people.  We may not write inspiring prose and we may not belong to any congregation, but we see a temple in the exultation of unhibited emotion.  Having surrendered within to our many selves, we've received a firsthand glimpse into the oneness that we all share.  And through all this, we've learned incredible amounts  about ourselves through the intricate tapestry of our most visible measure of ourselves: relationships.

It would be too much in this one post to recount the many lessons in the playfulness that is theatre, so for now I'll focus on one critical element any actor learns quickly: status.

This month, the rage surfaces. Just like bubbling lava that’s been deep underground and now longs to surface, so too in this month will anything you’ve been keeping stored inside you.

Do you fear this? Do you fear that the inner parts of you that now seek sunlight are dark and should remain hidden? They are still a part of you, as much as the parts of you that you show yourself and others.

Now, while we used the word “rage,” it would be inaccurate and incomplete to describe the majority of what is happening this month as angry, or vengeful, or dark. Instead, we invite you to think of what bubbles forth into the sunlight this month as “movement.” Joyful. Opening. Inviting you into your wholeness.

This doesn’t mean that you will feel nothing but good feelings, although the more you invite the hidden parts of you into the light with joy and acceptance, joy and acceptance are what you will feel. But this is a process that brings up emotions and judgments that are connected to the inner parts of yourself you've been hiding. There are reasons you've been keeping them submerged — patterns you've become accustomed to using. Any time you are faced with elements of yourself you’ve been keeping hidden, you could experience resistance. Or feel shame. Or uncertainty. So, too, could those around you, who will be surprised at your new depth and may react with their own reactions to this new energy. But understand that these are their reactions to what they feel inside themselves, and have nothing to do with your relative goodness or lack of goodness.

Let’s explore the various ways that the rage bubbles to the surface this month.

This is Part 2 of the channeling of Arrogance, expanding the chief features of the Michael Teachings framework.   For the previous article, dealing with a full description on the dynamic and energy flow of Arrogance, see Part 1.

We will start by briefly repeating what arrogance is and then move on to healing and balancing methods.

Arrogance is built upon the fear of vulnerability. We have defined vulnerability in the past as a "coming forward" with the complete Self:

It has nothing to do with allowing another person unrestricted access to your energetic core. Vulnerability is about bringing yourself forward as you are.

Healing Arrogance

In this case, and in the case of any of the chief features, when we talk about healing, we simply mean acknowledgment of that energy without the fear that it is driving you. It is awareness that heals, because within that awareness is Love. Trying to "kill' any source of arrogance within you is the surest way to create another wall of an identity, even more elusive than the first.

The easiest and quickest way for those using the energy of arrogance, whether it's cardinal arrogance or ordinal arrogance is simply to become more accepting of the reality of one's Self. 

We repeat:

The easiest and quickest way to heal the energy of arrogance is to become accepting of your own energy — of who you are. The implication here is that you have to be willing to look at you are. From that perception, you must then be willing to work through all the judgments that you have about who you are.

There is a great deal of courage involved in the process of looking at who you are from a realistic basis, acknowledging the judgments that you have about yourself and simply letting them be:  not running, screaming in the other direction.  We do not underestimate the terror at the root of the arrogant.  It's a difficult thing to do for many people, because the overall the overriding typical first response in arrogance is to move as quickly away from the perception of Self as possible — which then becomes either the cloak of invisibility or the wall of projected identity.

Even if there is some movement in seeing the Self for who you are, it is also very possible to simply change the wall of identity to a different one, such as being one "on a healing path", "a screwed up person" or even as someone who "has had an enlightenment experience". Either way, it's still an identity that isn't the totality of who you are.

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Everyone has fears. Everyone feels judgments about themselves. The more willing a person with Arrogance is to look at some of the realities of themselves and be non-judgmental about them, the easier it is to blur the lines of that wall of identity and to not feel the necessity to be invisible.

Healing Arrogance Aid 1: Mindfulness.

Mindfulness meditation is the most useful tool that we know of to consistently look at things — whether it's themselves, others, or the state of the universe — with nonjudgment and equanimity. Understand that by examining your physical body which is your tool for interacting with the rest of the universe with dispassion and without judgment — whether a judgment to good or bad. By employing whatever aspect of mindfulness that you can, you learn to stop looking at yourself with a state of judgment and to stop seeing yourself as eternally empty.

We also give a visualization to help this:

Aid 2: Visualization

With this audio visualization, we are attempting to assist you with feeling this sense of inner identity that you have as a person in different situation. This takes away the attention to the outer shell, it takes away the attention to the cloak of invisibility, and it allows you to re-experience in different situations the being that You Are.

Click Here to Download

(Note: you can automatically download this into iTunes by clicking on this iTunes subscribe link)

Aid 3: An Exercise with a Partner

Ideally this exercise would be with any person that you trust:

Stand and face your partner from about three to four feet apart. If you know that you are the person who has the energy of arrogance, then this exercises is focused more on you; your partner is simply assisting you.  

Look each other in the eyes and imagine the connection that extends from your heart to theirs — and back again. Vividly see this connection, running back and forth to strengthen this connection.

As you imagine this connection that extends from your heart to theirs and back again ask them to say the following :

"I don't like you".

It is very, very important that you keep this heart connection at the same time they are saying this.

After doing this once, you can do this exercise once without imagining that heart connection and a second time while imagining that heart conviction, and feel the difference in your own internal response.  The heart connection, as you will learn, your lifeline to a vulnerability that does not crash down your world.

You can also do the essential part of this exercise at various points in the day at any time you are interacting with another person, even if they are unaware of it.  It can be your partner, a child, a parent, a boss or a colleague: simply imagine the connection that extends from your heart to theirs and back again.  Again, it's very important to imagine the connection back to your own heart. Simply fixate on that for a few moments at the beginning of an interaction that you are having with that person; it can be difficult to focus on the entire time so it is fine if your awareness shifts.  Simply imagine that: picture in your mind and affirm to yourself: "my heart is connected to their heart and their heart is connected to mine."

We guarantee that doing this will help you feel more comfortable within those interactions and keep those immediate protective responses that take you to the energy of arrogance to a minimum. In other words, you begin to be reacting less arrogantly in various interactions that you find yourself.

If you feel you are ready to listen to someone else's judgments about you — their perceptions about you — and if you feel that you will not immediately start piling your own judgments onto yourself as well, starting a "criticism fest" then there is an advanced version of this exercise that can be immensely healing and freeing within the confines of a particular relationship.  It can bring you closer and help you be more true to who you are:

Sit in a meditative state, dropping the cares of the day. 

In this meditative space, face the other person and concentrate on that heart connection that you have.

Now simply listen — without jumping to any conclusions — to one, two or three of their perceptions they have about you.  Simply listen.  Take it in to your heart, feeling that connection go back and forth between you again.  Feel their perceptions coming in part from their heart, coming back to you to help you be in a deeper connection with your own heart. 

We don't recommend having them make a long list, because you could end up getting lost and overwhelmed by it. Simply listen to one, two or three perceptions of theirs about who you are. 

Listen to that and take it in without adding your own judgments, without defending yourself, and without doing anything in terms of responding.  Concentrate solely on the connection from your heart to theirs and back again.  

Allow whatever reaction that you have and do your best — simply in this moment ‚ to let go of any desire you have of anything different.

This is an exercise that we would recommend only after you've become accustomed to some mindfulness practices and after you feel comfortable being present with the energy of this person: trusting who they are and trusting the process in yourself.

Conclusion

There is the perception when talking about any of the chief features that it's a negative energy that has to be gotten beyond. Arrogance is an energy of movement. It's a more dynamic energy. It can be highly effective in drawing other people to you. Because of that, Arrogance is highly useful in anyone who is overtly teaching others. This extends to all kinds of questions from politics to medicine to the obvious self-help field.

In our experience — talking to hundreds of thousands of people in various energetic combinations and permutations — we've found that people tend to live happier and more joyful lives when they are simply aware of who they are, aware of their perceptions and allow themselves to become accepting of their perceptions. Looking at the multitudinous network of different energetic combinations in people, we see chief features as a harmonious pattern that evolves along people that's constantly flowing, moving and juxtaposing. Every one of the energies that a person might take on in a given lifetime has its own perfection, beauty and completeness.

The more you see the utter perfection and beauty of your limitations, the more you can transcend them.

This is fourth in a series on expanding the chief features of the Michael Teachings framework. In this channeling, the focus is on Arrogance.

Arrogance is built upon the fear of vulnerability. We have defined vulnerability in the past as a "coming forward" with the complete Self:

It has nothing to do with allowing another person unrestricted access to your energetic core. Vulnerability is about bringing yourself forward as you are.

In Arrogance, there is a constant sense of defense against vulnerability. Walls are erected around the Self, often in the form of an image given to others, and much attention and focus is given to the creation and maintenance of this wall. However, when such attention and focus is given to a space outside the Self — unless what is inside is just as full and complete as what is within — then there will always be a pervasive sense of emptiness.

In other words, the person with Arrogance is constantly feeling empty inside. Because of this constant feeling of inner emptiness, there is huge fear of being seen and of being found fraudulent. The emptiness will be perceived by others. There is an awareness of the apparent discrepancy between this wall (and image) that is being maintained and the sense of emptiness deep inside the wall.