Spiritual Empowerment Series 2008

Judgment: Chief Seattle and Rhythm

April 6 ~ “The Rhythm Of The SeasonsCharles Fillmore

“When we awaken to the reality of our divinity, the light begins to break upon us from within, and we know the Truth; this is the quickening of our spiritual judgment faculty.”
Eckhart Tolle in A New Earth    “We need to honor the world of things, not despise it.  Each thing has Beingness, is a temporary form that has its origin within the formless one Life, the source of all things, all bodies, all forms.  In most ancient cultures, people believed that everything, even so-called inanimate objects, had an indwelling spirit, and in this respect they were closer to the truth than we are today.”

Ecclesiastes 3     “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven”

Corinne Heline    in her metaphysical classic Star Gates: “Man is a universe in miniature.  All that lies about him in the heavens and upon the earth have their small reflection in his being. . .  So the great wheel of the universe turns, and to the man on earth it brings seedtime and harvest, light and darkness, heat and cold.  . . Viewed with the eye of spirit, each season as it comes and goes renders its own unique contribution to the human unfoldment, and the gifts it brings are spiritual as well as material.”

April 13 ~ “The Power Of The Directions”

Famous Quote attributed to Chief Seattle (but probably “loosely translated” by Henry Smith)
“Every part of this earth is sacred to my people.  Every shining pine needle, every tender shore, every vapor in the dark woods, every clearing, and every humming insect are holy in the memory and experience of my people . . . All things are connected.  Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons and daughters of the earth.  Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it.  Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”

Blackfoot Physics by F. David Peek
Similar Visions Coming From Two Worlds: The Quantum and The Indigenous
Irreducible link between observer/observed ~ no separation one/whole, matter/spirit
The implicate/enfolded order ~ whole is found within each part ~ deeper reality
Essential stuff not atoms, but relationship/fluctuations at boundary of matter/energy
Nature not a collection of objects in interaction but a flux of processes ~ verb based
Healing involves whole person ~ body, mind & spirit ~ renewal process of nature
Ecologists stress interconnectedness ~ sensitivity & complexity of life

Indigenous Traditions of Direction ~ World wide      Of Seasons/time  and  Directions/space
East    Rising Sun ~ coming wisdom, insight, own vision ~ approaching future/light of day
South    Earth ~ Foundation, love, Family & Friends, determination ~ history/past
West    Setting Sun ~ Mystery, Transformation, meditation, commitment  ~ moon cycles
North    Sky  ~ Compass ~ Point of Intention/Focus/Choice/wisdom/freedom ~ next step
Center         Oneness ~ Radiant I AM ~ Inner/Christ Light ~ Present & Presence

April 20 ~ “The Great Hoop Of Life”

From BLACK ELK, Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux (1863-1950)

Over a hundred years ago Black Elk had a vision of the time when Indian people would heal from the devastating effects of European migration. In his vision the Sacred Hoop which had been broken, would be mended in seven generations.  The children born into this decade will be the seventh generation. These are his profound words . . .

“You have noticed that everything an Indian does in a circle,
and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles,
and everything and everything tries to be round.

In the old days all our power came to us from the sacred hoop
of the nation and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people
flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop,
and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace
and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain and the north
with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This
knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion.

Everything the power of the world does is done in a circle.
The sky is round and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball
and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls.
Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.
The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon
does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great
circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were.

The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is
in everything where power moves. Our teepees were round like the
nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation’s hoop,
a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children.”

Twisted Hairs Medicine Society    In 1224 in Oaxaca Mexico there was a gathering of respected medicine men/women/shamans ~ all unique because of their ability & desire to seek knowledge from ALL sources, not limited to one tribe, but from all ~ their focus was on the center of all life, Great Spirit, in all its expressions:

7 Arrows of Dark:  Karma/Attachments/Where we start
7 Arrows of Light:  Dharma/Awareness/How you connect
7 Rainbow Arrows: Transformation/Ilumination/Knowing you are here to make a difference

Black Elk    “And I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in Spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being.  And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of the many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center there grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father.  And I saw that it was holy.”

April 27 ~ “ Your Sacred Totem”

Manly Hall/ in the classic Secret Teachings of All Ages
“Realizing that visible bodies are only symbols of invisible forces, the ancients worshipped the Divine Power through the lower kingdoms of Nature . . . The sages of old studied living things to a point of realization that God is most perfectly understood through a knowledge of His supreme handiwork– animate & inanimate Nature.  Every existing creature manifests some aspect of the Eternal One.”

Chief Seattle    Vision Quest for his transition from boy to man ~ His Totem: Thunderbird
Spirit creature of great creative power & might ~ nobility ~ sky bird/thru hole in sky to sun ~
So represents soaring to great heights, seeing all directions, great sight & perception
Related to eagle ~ Great Spirit, resurrection to Christian mystic, soul symbol in hieroglyphs

Your Totem    Represents your life energies ~ head, heart, body, spirit
Which animal has always fascinated you?  When went to zoo as child, what visited first/ most?  What seen when out in nature? Do you dream of animals ~ any from childhood?
What Does It Symbolize?    Research classic meanings & meditate on its connection to you

Star Gates/Corinne Heline  “Man also responds to this cosmic impulse, but less completely & less harmoniously than do the kingdoms of life either below or above his own evolutionary kingdom.  Those below respond more perfectly through an unconscious, instinctive guidance; those above through a consciously attained unity with the Wisdom of God.  Alone among the kingdoms of nature man has fallen out of step with cosmic processes . . . Humanity’s problem in the large, therefore, consists in restoring the harmony which has been broken . . for Spirit and nature, when properly understood, are an harmonious unity, & a spiritual way of life must mean, ultimately, a completely natural way of life, in the best sense of the phrase.”